Cyberpunk’s Cars Are Worthless (Because Walking Is So Much Better)

There’s a lot of things to love about Cyberpunk 2077, as well as a lot of things to question, but one of the worst in-game experiences players can have (apart from having their game bug out or glitch to the point of crashing) is just driving around Night City. Driving in Cyberpunk 2077 is not a great experience even with the best of vehicles, but in the early game it is almost unbearably annoying. Thankfully, players don’t have to do much driving outside of missions which require it – and they shouldn’t, because Cyberpunk’s open world of Night City is much better if experienced on foot.

With a proper PC and decent graphics card, Cyberpunk 2077’s version of Night City looks absolutely amazing, especially during the nighttime when neon signs and holographic images dot the skyline. It’s an incredibly dense, populated world (as long as players have their settings properly adjusted to actually show Cyberpunk 2077’s crowds) and the amount of easter eggs, hidden side quests, and small moments of emergent gameplay players can discover borders on excessive. Unfortunately, when driving around Night City, not much of this is immediately apparent.

Night City is much more of an interesting place on foot. The level design of Cyberpunk 2077 is something many of the game’s reviewers mentioned as being one of its best elements, and that’s true. There are dense hallways filled with graffiti and strewn objects leading to bustling marketplaces built in the center of apartment buildings, elevators which allow for access to a number of high-rise rooms and rooftops, and dozens of rooms in which players can, if nothing else, at least hack some money from an access point. Night City seems purposefully designed for on-foot traversal, not just because of how bad the game’s driving is, but because of how good walking and running can be.

Cyberpunk 2077’s Stamina Basically Doesn’t Matter While Running

Like many other games in the same vein as Cyberpunk, players have a stamina meter which depletes when they run, use unarmed or melee attacks, blocks, or otherwise physically exerts themselves. Unlike most other titles, however, Cyberpunk 2077’s stamina bar might as well not exist at all – at least while players are running. Although stamina management does come into play a little bit during melee and unarmed combat sections, players can run down the street for a long, long time before becoming winded, even with a character build that isn’t exclusively focused on beefing stamina. Because of this, players can effectively run wherever they need to go in Cyberpunk 2077, and avoid cars pretty much altogether outside of missions. Whether they want to grab some grub at Cyberpunk 2077’s food stands or find a ripperdoc to change out their body modifications, it’s always more fun to walk instead of drive.

Of course, there will always be some missions which force players to drive vehicles. For Cyberpunk‘s Nomad lifepath players, driving is one of the very first things the game asks them to do, and even after the lifepaths converge there is a good bit of forced-driving segments which players must get through in order to open up the world of Night City proper. Whenever they have the chance, though, players should traverse the game world on foot – not just because the driving is bad (although it is) but because there are just so many fun things to do and find in Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City that not exploring every inch feels like a waste.

About The Author

Christopher J. Teuton
(694 Articles Published)

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Christopher J. Teuton is an author, game developer, film director, and producer based out of Savannah, GA, in the United States. Owner of Filthy & Free Publishing. When not working on his various projects, acting as Screen Rant’s gaming editor, or spending time with his family, Christopher J. Teuton mostly enjoys playing with dogs and climbing on trees.

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