Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty isn't a horror game, which is precisely why one uncharacteristically terrifying mission is catching so many unsuspecting players off guard.
*Spoilers for Phantom Liberty ahead*
The mission is titled Somewhat Damaged, and it indeed temporarily transforms Cyberpunk 2077 into a full-fledged survival horror game in the same vein of Alien Isolation. The mission gives you the unenviable task of navigating an abandoned base and evading a terrifying spider robot without any weapons to fight back with.
The brilliant thing is that CD Projekt Red hasn't done any marketing or alerted players to the mission in any way, making everyone entirely unprepared for its horrors.
"Didn’t realise I downloaded a fucking horror game," reads the title of a thread in the Cyberpunk subreddit with almost 500 upvotes at the time of writing.
Didn’t realise I downloaded a fucking horror game from r/cyberpunkgame
"CDPR straight up said: We'll make Alien Isolation 2 ourselves," reads an amusing comment from Redditor ReelRai. "I've rarely had my buttcheeks more clenched than during this mission."
"Yeah, the Killing Moon might be my favorite route and mission but HOLY SHIT did this not miss either!" says Fanboycity. "I was shook, on the edge of my seat, and paranoid as hell. Only Alien Isolation made me this afraid, so great job Cyberpunk. I also realized how crippling it was to not be able to use my Sandevistan to escape from this thing, either. The terror was real."
"Chase me with zombies, monsters, aliens, hell even a lawn mower. No biggie. You start chasing me with a killing machine though? Straight up goosebumps and I’m full on crying in the fetal position. And I did. And I LOVED it!" says Hydrus-606. "It gave me full on Death Machine vibes," they add, clearly a person of taste.
"Lmao, so stressful. I’m about to do a new playthrough of the EP and am already dreading this since i’ll probably have a heart attack this time," says HOTFIX_bryan.
Forget the great Phantom Liberty reviews, the brilliance of Idris Elba, and the potential Cyberpunk 2077 sequel teaser, the sole reason I now have to play this long-awaited expansion is this one mission. Alien Isolation is one of the best horror games ever, so the fact that it's been invoked so many times in this mission's discussion is testament enough for me.
Thinking of giving it a try yourself? Here's a quick guide on Cyberpunk 2077 and how to get started with Phantom Liberty.
