CD Projekt Red is one of those developers that just can’t do anything wrong. They are like that really cool kid at school that everyone wants to be friends with. The Mr/Mrs Popular of the class.
In all fairness, they have earned that reputation, with utterly fantastic games and DLC, culminating in the open world masterpiece that is The Witcher 3, so it is well deserved. When Cyberpunk 2077 was revealed at E3 2018, along with over 40 minutes of gameplay, the likes of which we’ve not seen before, the hype-o-meter blew up. The world of Cyberpunk 2077 looked realised, detailed, enthralling, gritty, and gorgeous, all at the same time. There was some negativity though, as the game was from a first person perspective, not the third person perspective that fans of this developer are used to.
However, fast forward to E3 this year.
If the hype-o-meter blew up last year, then just as they got it fixed, it exploded again.
We all knew more details were going to be announced this year, but what we didn’t expect was that the Mr Cool of Hollywood, Keanu Reeves himself, was going to announce them.
An adoring crowd literally screamed themselves silly upon realisation that the John Wick actor had just walked on stage. Reeves looked just as shocked at the reaction he was getting as the crowd were that he was there. Almost laughing at the whole situation, he tried to calm an already frenzied crowd, but failed, because he then revealed not only that he was going to be part of the game, but he further announced that he was going to reveal the release date of the game!
The new trailer itself was a well crafted four minute vignette of what to expect, though apart from great storytelling and superb cinematic graphics, was nothing particularly special, so far as trailers go. It did however reveal a great new combat feature of melee weapons coming out of the players’ arms, and of course also served to showcase Keanu himself.
Cue mass hysteria!
If you have watched the trailer, one thing that you may have noticed, and which infuriates me, as someone that knows a thing or two about self defence techniques, is that you don’t put people in a choke hold in the crook of your arm. No, you crush their larynx with the straight of your arm (bet you weren’t expecting martial arts tips this morning).
John Wick would have known this, and the scene would have been correct if he was in it, but then this begs the question that no one is asking: How much of the game is Keanu Reeves going to feature in? Cameo appearance? More?
Either way, as for CD Projekt Red, you have to applaud their planning. This may be something Holly Bennett (formerly of the Playstation Access team and now head of CD Projekt Communications) was responsible for? They have now got fans talking about Keanu and his eleven word cameo in the trailer, and steered conversation away from the first person perspective controversy.
The steps they walk on really do turn to gold it seems, and whilst the 16th April 2020 may seem a long way off for now, as we’ve seen here at E3 2019, the kings of cool really are working on something very special indeed. Something we all want to be part of.
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