Cyberpunk 2077 Puts “A Lot of Emphasis on Destructible Environments”

With Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt RED are clearly placing a ton of emphasis on reactivity not only in terms of story, but also the gameplay, and that’s something that is going to shine through in combat more than anything else, based on all the details that they have revealed so far. One of the many ways they’re making sure that that happens is with destructible environments.

Speaking in an interview with VG247, senior gameplay designer Pawel Kapala said noted that CD Projekt RED have placed a lot of emphasis on having destructible environments in the game, so that when players finish a firefight in an environment, they can look around in the aftermath and see it having physically transformed as a result of all that combat. Kapala says that from more minute details – such as shattered glass and bottles – to things that will have a greater impact on combat mechanics – such as destructible cover – destructible environments are going to be front and center in Cyberpunk 2077.

“We put a lot of emphasis on having destructible environments overall in our game,” said Kapala. “Players will experience things ranging from very simple, so for example, if you have a shootout in a bar, and you’re shooting the environment, you will see glasses exploding, or things like beer bottles disintegrating on bullet impact. We wanted to have that feeling that, basically, after you’re done with a shootout, the place where you had the shootout is destroyed.”

“But this ranges up to very big portions of the level,” he continued. “We have stuff like destructible cover. So, we want the players to actually use some weapons to destroy the cover, so that the enemies are at a disadvantage. We have destructible glass. All of those things give you the feeling that the projectiles from your weapons actually carry power with them. And this also extends to stuff like, you will see bullet decals on most of the things, all of the things in the level. You will see different hit reactions. Like for example, if you hit a pipe with water in it, you will see the water sprouting from the place that you hit it. And this extends to nearly every object that we have in the game.”

Thanks to yesterday’s Night City Wire episode, there’s been a deluge of new information on Cyberpunk 2077 lately, with trailers detailing its Life Path choices, the enigmatic Johnny Silverhand, and the weapons players will be wielding in the game. Additionally, CDPR have also recently talked about the game’s melee combat, and how the combat deals with having (or not having) bullet sponge enemies. Read about all of it through the links.

Cyberpunk 2077 launches on November 19 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and later in the year for Stadia. It will also be optimized for next-gen consoles at launch, but next year, it will also be receiving dedicated PS5 and Xbox Series X version.