Cyberpunk 2077's Melee Combat Could Be Better, According To Developers

Originally scheduled for as early as April 2020, CD Projekt Red has delayed Cyberpunk 2077 twice as it continues to spit and polish every aspect of its RPG. And with just three months left until the November 19 launch, the studio is taking some aspects down to the wire. One aspect CD Projekt Red needs more time to work on is the melee combat. According to the developer, it isn't where it needs to be yet.

In an interview with VG247, senior gameplay designer Pawel Kapala explained that the team is still working on the first-person melee system, stating that they're not "100% happy" with its implementation yet.

"We're spending a lot of time trying to perfect that, and we basically, we're not 100% happy, mostly with visual feedback on the hits, on the melee," Kapala said. "So, we're still working on it."

Visual feedback is crucial in melee combat. Tuned correctly, it can be the difference between a big swing feeling like it's connecting with a weighty target or just slicing through thin air as damage numbers pop up. Finding this balance in a game where combat is determined by role-playing statistics is difficult, as you want to make the player feel powerful while also adhering to their current weaknesses.

It's a problem many games before Cyberpunk 2077 have struggled with, but Kapala is confident the extra time the studio has given itself will be enough to nail it down. He concluded by saying that the system presented to journalists just a few months ago has already been drastically improved.

CD Projekt Red hosted the second Night City Wire stream for Cyberpunk 2077 recently, showing off the three distinct prologues you can play though as well as a breakdown of many of the game's weapons. This builds on the game's Mind Dance gameplay shown off during the previous stream, which we got to go hands-on with in our latest preview.