CD Projekt Red had decided to ditch one of "Cyberpunk 2077's" highly anticipated features ahead of its release. The developer's first major release since "The Witcher 3" is set to become as bar-setting as the previous offering.
"Cyberpunk 2077" is easily one of the most ambitious games of the year, if not, the generation. But in a surprising turn of events, a previously advertised feature will be scrapped after years of development.
Perhaps the most spectacular look (and also the earliest) at the title happened in August 2018 when CD Projekt Red showcased nearly 50 minutes of gameplay footage. It was essentially how fans were introduced to the game's many features and gameplay systems. Part of this amazing footage was a moment of V, geared up with mantis blades and wall running in order to get the jump on some enemies.
The mantis blades are still in the game, but the wall running part? It has, unfortunately, been ditched.
In an interview with Game Reactor, level designer Max Pears said that wall running has been deleted from the game because of "design reasons." He did not mention any specifics as to what these reasons were, but he did promise that players will still have a lot of "flexibility." That seems fair, considering "The Witcher 3" was a bit stiff and kind of lacked variety in movement.
Wall running is pretty awesome though -- flashy and honestly an impressive move in vertical slices. But if you think about it, not many games have this mechanic because it is difficult to implement. Getting it right is a big challenge for designers.
Still, Pears was vague on the reasons and we wished he revealed more details on the matter. As for CD Project, no response was given in a request for comment.
The demo for "Cyberpunk 2077" showed how the mantis blades could be used to wall-run short distances before letting the player look around while perched. Perhaps this was really too difficult if the developer decided to cut it out of the game.
That being said, a lot of gamers were looking forward to trying out the mechanic, so naturally, this news is pretty disappointing. Good thing the hype around Keanu Reeves being an NPC is still strong and in general, the game is undeniably still cool.
"Cyberpunk 2077" is in development for Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Google Stadia, and PC. It's set to release worldwide on Nov. 19.
