author: Adam Belda
Cyberpunk 2077 Without Secrets - A Handy Guide to Night City
In the last few weeks, it's been a bit of a fright to open the fridge, because Cyberpunk 2077 is pouring out from everywhere. But if you want to learn more about the world, jump in for a quick guide.
Table of Contents
- Cyberpunk 2077 Without Secrets - A Handy Guide to Night City
- Soulkiller
- Chrome rock
- Animals and Voodoo Boys
- Genetic engineering
Animals and Voodoo Boys
Living on the streets of Night City is not easy. Why? As V himself put it in the 2018 trailer ""Sky high rate of violence, and more people living below the poverty line than anywhere else." Weird things can happen to people in such circumstance. Some people, for instance, escape into the net and become netrunners, others decide to become solos for hire, hoping to make eddies of it, and still others resort to something that has worked since the beginning of the world. And if it worked from the beginning of the world, why shouldn't it work now?
The tribal instinct is what we are talking about, and it is responsible for the creation of so-called boostergangs, i.e. gangs of usually highly modified individuals, connected by a common cause and ideology. Rejected by society, they try to live by their own rules, often enforcing them with violence and terror. They also fiercely defend their territory – any trespasser better have their testament written down. The machetes of the future vibrate several hundred times per second for more efficient cutting.
Gangs are also characterized by a specific technological subculture. In Cyberpunk 2077, for example, there will be the Animals (without Eric Burdon), who modify their bodies to make them look more animalistic.
Another example is the Voodoo Boys, a gang of Haitian immigrants. In the original, it was mainly involved in the production and distribution of drugs – perhaps in the computer version, this thread will also get exposition. San Andreas 2077? Sounds delicious.
Boostergangs
It seems that in terms of gangs, CD Projekt RED shows a lot of creativity and is not afraid to create new groups. However, the developers will surely also take a few boostergans from the original Cyberpunk 2020. Among the other, unconfirmed, candidates to be transferred to the screens we have:
- Red Chromium Legion – a gang of skinheads focused mainly on hatred for everything that is not "right." Here are their brief descriptions:
- Gilligans – a gang of homosexuals formed mainly to defend themselves against the attacks of the homophobic Red Chrome Legion.
- Piranhas – instead of fighting, they prefer to have quality fun – their life goes in the rhythm of sex, drugs and chrome rock.
- Inquisitors – a gang of religious zealots who believe that the implants are the work of the devil. They promote their idea by tearing chips out of people's bodies with bare hands.
- Kennedys – a gang of people who resemble J.F. Kennedy (plastic surgeries are able to make a JFK out of anyone). Why? To confuse enemies, mark affiliation, and for the kicks.
Unfortunately, most of these gangs probably won't make it into the game in any other form than marginal. It's a pity, because who wouldn't want to face a gang of Kennedys? The conflict between the Red Chrome Legion and the Gilligans could in turn be an interesting commentary on the social situation in many countries strongly divided over morality and religion.
GP: How many gangs live in Night City?
Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz, CD Project RED: That's a tough question. Basically every district has its own dominant gang. There are Animals, Voodoo Boys, Valentino's, Maelstrom, which we've shown in a previous demo; there's a nomadic faction living in the Badlands... I probably forgot a few more.
