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It’s the end of the world. Nuclear war has happened, the lands are deserted, destroyed. The rest of humanity struggle to find consumable resources and hope for the best for future days. This is what some of us think when we hear the word “post-apocalypse”. But what if humanity, despite all of the hardships, can find a new world through the aftermath of a nuclear disaster? Is this what happens in Cyberpunk 2077? We wanted to dig in a little deeper and ask ourselves: Is Cyberpunk 2077 a post-apocalyptic game?

The action role-playing game Cyberpunk 2077 is adapted from the Cyberpunk franchise in which players take on the role of an urban mercenary equipped with cybernetic enhancements is called a cyberpunk. Set in Night City in the Free State of North California, the population is controlled by corporations and unassailed by the laws of both country and state. Robotics are now taking care of assignments such as waste collection, maintenance, and public transportation. In other words, robots took our jobs. But the question is: how did the world get to how it is in 2077, 57 years in the future from now?

For this question, we need to have a little history course on the lore of Cyberpunk. For the sake of history telling and fact spitting, here’s a small synopsis of the timeline:

Between the year 1989 to 2012

Major events completely change the world as we know it. “The Gang of Four”, a secret government formed by heads from the FBI, CIA, NSA, and the DEA lead a coup that destroys the US government as we know it. A “War on Drugs and Communism” in South America soon after develops and the Gang engineers and releases plagues to kill off the cocaine and opium production of worldwide cartels. This chain reaction evokes escalating conflicts and ends with the Colombian cartel setting off a nuke in Manhattan during the year 1993.

The United States then suffers from a major recession, several epidemics, natural disasters, and the big ‘ol 10.5ML earthquake we’ve all been waiting for on the west coast, which sinks approximately 30% of Los Angeles underwater. The country is deteriorating and one in four people become homeless. Cities have been deserted, and some states become known as “Free States” as martial law predominates.

Oof. Not an easy path to walk through.

Most of the rest of the world is a little better off. The Eurodollar is now the top-ranking currency even with crops dying all over the planet. Several mini nuclear wars have happened in a few countries, which also rendered most of the Middle East into a no-step, unhabitable territory. This all happens towards the end of the 20th century.

Early 2000’s

Multinational corporations take the lead and profit from the masses. Just like the coronavirus made toilet paper businesses rich, petrol, oil, military, and bio-engineering corporations rise up to take advantage of the market. The central African nations develop a space program that takes most of the space-orbit territory and technological innovations in prosthetics and biomechanical integration skyrocket (pun intended). This results in the development of cyberware which is then found almost everywhere in the first two decades of the 21st century.

This brought on cyberwarfare and cybercrime, which pretty much rendered humanity as we know it a 24/7, 365 days Black Friday sale at Walmart stampede of a world. This led the new generation of humans used to living dangerous lives to aspire to become mercenaries to fulfill the needs of others or their own. These people were soon called cyberpunks.

Night City emerged out of all of this in the 2010s and became one of the go-to cities for all of your needs. Although filled with crime and through most of its districts, Night City is a hub for mercenaries and those looking for some action.

The rest, from what is told, is a major spoiler area for those looking to play the game. But the early lore tells us about a lot of destruction throughout the world, the rise of corporations to profit on those who remain, and martial law being very present. 

The verdict 

When we think about a post-apocalyptic world, we don’t usually imagine corporations having control of us, but rather wastelands, zombies, and survival being prominent. However, Cyberpunk has had its share of nukes, natural disasters, and re-dos over more than fifty years. One would think the game is indeed post-apocalyptic. But to some, humanity still kept going somewhat strong, so it isn’t. Still, the overall verdict is that it is.

What do you think? Is Cyberpunk 2077 a post-apocalyptic game? We tend to think so.

Cyberpunk by CD Projekt is set to release on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 10 December 2020.

Sources: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk_2077

https://www.ign.com/articles/cyberpunk-2077-the-story-so-far

https://cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline?file=Cyberpunk_2020_World_Map.png

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Valerie Anne

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Valerie Anne is a Type 1 diabetic, mother, tree-hugger, self-proclaimed granola who loves a good horror story through literature, video games, and movies. She also streams art over at twitch.tv/8bitval

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