While very much an RPG, Cyberpunk 2077 is also a first-person shooter. Furthermore, it’s a first-person shooter with melee weapons. And if you’ve ever played anything with swords in first-person, you’ll know video games don’t have the best history with that combination. It’s something developer CD Projekt Red is very much aware of, and still working on getting just right.
In an interview with VG247, senior gameplay designer Pawel Kapala explained that the studio is not “100% happy” with where melee combat is right now, but believes that in the months leading up to release the team will make the required improvements.
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“We’re spending a lot of time trying to perfect that, and we basically, we’re not 100 percent happy, mostly with visual feedback on the hits, on the melee,” Kapala said. “So, we’re still working on it.”
“It wasn’t an easy task, since we basically come from a pedigree of creating TPP games,” he added. “It was also a big part of our development to actually figure out, how do you do melee in a first-person perspective? We’re working on it.”
Kapala also acknowledged that the feel of melee combat wasn’t great in the demo presented to journalists as part of the recent round of Cyberpunk 2077 previews, but notes that it’s “much better than it was”.
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First person melee is notoriously difficult, and even accomplished games that use it – such as Dying Light and Arkane’s Dark Messiah and Dishonored games – still don’t always feel quite as natural as swordplay in third-person perspective games. Hopefully weapons like the Mantis Blades will feel satisfying in the launch version of Cyberpunk 2077.
For more from CD Projekt Red, check out the latest episode of Night City Wire to learn about Legendary Weapons and Lifepaths. You can also check out the first details of the Cyberpunk anime, coming in 2022.
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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer.
Source: IGN.com Cyberpunk 2077: CD Projekt Red Not '100% Happy' With Melee Combat