Cyberpunk 2077 will have a few instances of third-person perspective after all, but only in vehicles and cutscenes

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After its new trailer debuted during the Xbox E3 2018 press conference (opens in new tab), Cyberpunk 2077 (opens in new tab) instantly distinguished itself as one of the most anticipated E3 2018 games (opens in new tab). And though much of the gameplay is still under wraps, details are starting to trickle out here and there. First we learned that Cyberpunk 2077 is a first-person game (opens in new tab), which caused some backlash from fans who want a carbon copy of The Witcher 3’s design – but it turns out, the third-person perspective will pop up from time to time. It’s certainly not the focus, but driving a vehicle or watching a cutscene let you take a break from seeing Night City through the eyes of customizable main character V.

During a very brief E3 Coliseum panel hosted by Geoff Keighly, CD Projekt Red’s Kyle Rowley, (associate design director) and Peter Gelencser (level design coordinator) took the stage to chat about some of Cyberpunk 2077’s systems. Rowley made sure to reiterate that Cyberpunk 2077 is “first and foremost a narrative-driven roleplaying game,” with a full melee system to complement first-person shooting combat. In response to a question about the possibility of a third-person camera being an option, Rowley flatly (but kindly) replied “No. The game is exclusively first-person, outside of cutscenes so you can see yourself in third-person and vehicles, we also have a third-person perspective camera.”

You probably guessed it from the trailer already, but yes, vehicles will indeed be integral to getting around Cyberpunk 2077’s world. Rowley confirmed that there will be cars and motorbikes in the game for sure, leaving the door open for more vehicles to be revealed later down the line, but CD Projekt Red doesn’t want players to rely on vehicles as they explore the six distinct districts of Night City. “One of the things that’s important for us is that we don’t want you to be driving all the time… we want the player to explore the world on foot, because it’s such an awe-inspiring place,” said Rowley. There will be much more vertical exploration here compared to The Witcher 3, with skyscrapers and alleyways aplenty, so Rowley wants players to be “exploring these crevices in first-person.”

Gelencser also took the opportunity to assuage fans who felt like going first-person just wasn’t true to CD Projekt’s style. “First person absolutely makes sense for us, because our company has always been about creating high-quality roleplaying games,” said Gelencser. “Only by using first-person for this game, [have we] been truly able to achieve a very immersive experience.” Your character customization won’t be for naught, though – in addition to seeing yourself during cutscenes, it sounds like the inventory system will also give you a full-body view of your version of V. We’ll find out more when we get to experience the behind-closed-doors gameplay demo later this week.

For all the exciting titles at this year’s show, check out the best E3 2018 games (opens in new tab).