Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Will Draw On James Bond, Bourne, And More

At the recent Xbox Showcase, CD Projekt Red debuted a trailer for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, the first and only expansion for the controversial and best-selling game. Now, CD Projekt Red have released a trailer breakdown with narrative director Igor Sarzyński.

The trailer shows protagonist V embroiled in political intrigue, as they are tasked to rescue NUSA President Rosalind Myers from the district of Dogtown. A mysterious figure known as Songbird has promised them a cure for their terminal illness, should they complete their mission. The breakdown mostly explores explores the expansion's narrative and setting, explaining what makes Dogtown interesting and what players can expect from the new characters.

Intended to be an entertainment district, Dogtown became a combat zone during the last Corporate war and is now run by Kurt Hansen. He protects and controls the district with Barghest, his private army of Militech operators, gangsters, and mercs. Dogtown is a black market paradise, free from corporate or government oversight. Remnants of the war, like the giant Militech Chimera mech shown in the trailer, haunt the district's more dangerous areas.

As previously revealed, Idris Elba will be playing Solomon Reed, a master spy turned sleeper agent, newly awoken to assist V on their mission. Reed is very loyal to his employers, but is also principled and caring. In the course of the expansion, he'll make choices, and V will have a chance to affect the outcome.

Songbird is another NUSA agent and the third-most-important in the expansion. Sarzyński described Songbird as a parallel character to V; each of them are reflections of the different lives the other could have lived. Apparently, she was a divisive character in playtests, with some players sympathizing deeply with her and others totally rejecting her.

In the video, Sarzyński expressed the intention to pull from multiple tones and ideas throughout spy fiction. He said Phantom Library will have cool gadgets a la James Bond or Mission Impossible, but will also draw on Bourne, Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, and research on real-life spy work. It's worth noting here that the narrative of Phantom Liberty takes clear inspiration from the John Carpenter film Escape From New York, also a key source text for Metal Gear Solid.

CD Projekt Red recently explained why the expansion will cost $30, significantly more than either of the Witcher 3 expansions. In the GameSpot Phantom Liberty preview, Jake Dekker found that "[it] feels more like a top-to-bottom overhaul of the original game than a standard expansion."