In Cyberpunk 2077, a futuristic open-world game where you can drive cars and do crime, there are no police chases. You can draw the ire of the law enforcement of Night City and have a squad of heavily armed and militarized police descend upon your augmented butt, except this is achieved by simply having them spawn out of thin air just off screen. They won’t chase you, per se, but rather rematerialize if you put enough distance between V and them. They won’t come after you in funky sci-if police cars or armored transports, and they won’t send helicopters after you if you do enough mischief - all of which are open-world staples in games with modern settings. This, of course, was a sore point for fans, who envisioned high-octane chases through a pulsing neon-lathered cyberpunk cityscape, where relentless police would pursue you and your escape may or may not depend on the upgrades you’ve tricked your body out with. Now, Cyberpunk 2077 quest director Pawel Sasko actually addressed the issue, but his initial answer - apparently a joke - didn’t really do over well with disgruntled fans. Considering CDPR’s public image in the wake of Cyberpunk 2077’s release, it was definitely an odd decision. Right, so a futuristic open-world RPG with cars, driving mechanics, a law enforcement game mechanic game doesn’t have police chases because… neither does a game with a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog who runs fast from animal-based robotic enemies, nor does the dark fantasy soulslike set in a mythic, medieval-style land. Sure thing. Makes all the sense. Of course, Sasko went on to give what amounts to more of a real answer when it was clear that the preceding comparison didn’t really land the way he presumably intended. That said, the “real answer” was basically the same blanket statement that could be said for all of Cyberpunk 2077’s missing features - the devs just didn’t get it working on time. Not getting stuff working on time landed CDPR in a lot of hot water as far as public opinion is concerned, but despite the vocal blowback to Cyberpunk 2077’s controversial launch, the company didn’t really suffer too much - comparatively, at least. The game’s brief removal from some online storefronts and the recent $1.85 million settlement for a class action lawsuit were the biggest consequences, and in these sorts of cases that settlement is tiny. In any event, Cyberpunk 2077 is still going ahead with the promised DLC support, though timelines on when content will be released is murky. Meanwhile, Johnny Silverhand actor Keanu Reeves revealed that he hasn’t actually played the game, contrary to what CDPR stated in the past.
