Cyberpunk 2077's plethora of features come together to create a truly immersive experience unlike any other, with Night City often feeling like a real place. However, while superficially, these elements work in conjunction to create a mesmerizing experience, when looking under the hood, Night City, and by extension Cyberpunk 2077, can often feel a little hollow. Its best elements are truly phenomenal, but they don't do enough to make the immersion last.

A good example of this is Cyberpunk 2077's many gangs. They feel like they should be absolutely integral to the gameplay experience as they, after all, control much of Night City. Driving through their territory should feel terrifying, heading down a dark alley with Tyger Claws nearby should be a tense experience, even talking with these gangs should feel life-threatening. However, it doesn't, as Cyberpunk 2077 doesn't put as much emphasis on its gangs as it should. Its sequel needs to fix this and to do so, it should look to Star Wars Outlaws.

Cyberpunk 2077's Gangs Are Broken

There Is No Way To Interact With Them Meaningfully

Cyberpunk 2077's gangs are very interesting and a hugely important part of its core worldbuilding, helping to flesh out Night City and its seedy criminal underbelly. They're all quite distinct from one another, from the honor-bound Japanese-speaking Tyger Claws to the chromed-out meatheads in Maelstrom, and this helps to diversify Night City's personality. Unfortunately, while they serve a fundamentally important role in fleshing out the worldbuilding of Cyberpunk 2077, from a purely gameplay standpoint, they fail miserably.

Outside of being canon fodder in the open world, ND missions, Gigs, side quests, and the occasional main mission, the gangs of Night City don't really do a whole lot. Sure, they stand around looking somewhat menacing, and if V approaches them, they may get a little irate and start shooting at them. Very occasionally, they'll chase after the player in vehicles, shooting at them for a bit before giving up. However, outside these instances, which amount to little more than them getting their heads blown off, gangs have little to no function in Cyberpunk 2077.

Prior to the 2.0 update, which added car combat, the gangs of Night City didn't even chase the player in their cars. While it's a fun addition to the game, it still doesn't feel fleshed out enough, as, in most cases, they'll give up the chase early on, especially if they get stuck somewhere.

Of course, the gangs do make important appearances during the main story and in some of the more important side quests, such as during an early mission with Jackie in which V must confront the Maelstrom gang in order to obtain a robot for Dex. However, these appearances are limited in their scope as they are directly tied to the main story and don't affect the open world. Choosing to side against them doesn't have any greater effect on the open world, despite the fact that V kills their leader, Royce.

Gangs should have made Night City a scary place to explore, with them completely controlling certain districts. They should have gotten into conflicts with one another that changed the face of Night City. They could have come to V's apartment in their district to try and scare him away. V should have been able to use them to distract other gangs so they could sneak into locations. However, like one of Cyberpunk 2077's most disappointing major factions, gangs do not live up to expectations, and that is an enormous shame.

Star Wars Outlaws' Reputation Mechanic Could Save Cyberpunk 2077's Sequel

It Would Make Gangs More Impactful

Star Wars Outlaws, for all of its faults, handles its gangs better than Cyberpunk 2077, and that's largely down to its Reputation system. During the game's story, and in certain side missions, Kay can choose to side with one gang over another, thus increasing her standing with them, and decreasing it with the other. The Star Wars Outlaws Reputation system has rewards tied to it, such as unlocking exclusive outfits and gaining unrestricted access to gang-controlled areas. It's therefore important for Kay to ensure her reputation with certain gangs stays positive, otherwise they'll attack her if she enters their territory.

Star Wars Outlaws, for all of its faults, handles its gangs far better than Cyberpunk 2077, and that's largely down to its Reputation system.

Frankly, the Reputation system in Star Wars Outlaws is a little underbaked, although still an impressive example of how a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel should handle its gangs in future entries. Outlaws offers tangible rewards and consequences for messing with gangs, ensuring that players have to take them into consideration with every action they take. It makes the open world more exciting, mission difficulty harder or easier, and every decision feel weighty.

Cyberpunk 2077 has none of that, at least when it comes to its gangs, despite it really being the bare minimum. Night City can feel a little stale and hollow, with V just driving from point A to point B without any real care about what happens in-between, or where the next mission is even located. However, imagine knowing that the next side quest is taking place in a territory that is controlled by a gang that's out to hunt V. It would make it a more stressful endeavor, which is exactly what Cyberpunk 2077 should be.

Cyberpunk 2077's Sequel Needs To Prioritize Gangs

They Should Have A Bigger Impact On Night City

This is why Cyberpunk 2077's sequel needs to prioritize gangs and how they influence and impact Night City or wherever it is set. Cyberpunk 2077's gangs make Night City the scary, practically unlivable place that it is. The corpos and their corruption certainly don't help Night City, but their influence is felt on a grander scale, such as even the existence of gangs and the fact that they're allowed to run rampant. The gangs themselves, their individual gun-wielding , should make wandering Night City a literal nightmare.

They should be able to accost the player, steal their cars, attempt to rob them, or even kill them. They should break out into violent and deadly fights with rival gangs, taking over territory while V is in the middle of a mission in that location. Gangs in Cyberpunk 2077's sequel should feel unpredictable and menacing, but the player should have the ability to tame them. V, or whoever the protagonist ends up being, should be able to side with certain gangs, currying their favor and unlocking unique abilities as a result.

Gangs in Cyberpunk 2077's sequel should feel unpredictable and menacing, but the player should have the ability to tame them.

V could unlock unique clothing with that gang's emblem on it, granting them age into their territory, or the Watch Dogs 2-esque ability to call in that gang for backup. However, ruining their reputation with that gang could see them lose those abilities, causing them to prioritize one gang over another. If V's relationship with a gang slips too low, they could try and hunt them down, or become more aggressive as aforementioned.

Ultimately, Cyberpunk 2077's sequel should focus much more on the various gangs of Night City, ensuring that they have a genuine impact on it as they do in the lore. Pushing them to the sidelines only makes Night City feel like a tame place, despite the protests of everyone who lives there. Cyberpunk 2077's sequel has the potential to implement or even improve upon Star Wars Outlaws' Reputation system, and it absolutely needs to take it.

Source: YouTube/PlayStation