Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty — Review
CD Projekt Red's spy-thriller expansion is the rare DLC that meaningfully reframes the base game. Here's how Phantom Liberty lands on its own terms — and what it adds to the Cyberpunk slate as the Switch 2 Edition arrives.
Phantom Liberty is the expansion that closed the loop on Cyberpunk's recovery arc. Judged on its own as a piece of design, it's also one of the best things CDPR has shipped.
What Phantom Liberty Is
A self-contained spy-thriller campaign set in the new Dogtown district, with a separate cast, a tighter structure, and the post-2.0 systems baked in from the first minute. Not a side story stapled on — a deliberate second arc with its own ending state that propagates back into the base game.
How It Plays
The 2.0 systems overhaul is what makes Phantom Liberty land. Skill trees, perks, cyberware capacity, vehicle combat — all rebuilt. Dogtown's compressed, vertical map is the best level-design work in the game, and the contained scope means CDPR can stage encounters that wouldn't be possible in Night City's sprawl. The pacing is the most disciplined the studio has ever managed.
What Stands Out
The writing. The cast. The way the expansion's choices propagate back into the base game's ending state. The score. Idris Elba's performance as Solomon Reed is one of the strongest pieces of acting in any 2020s RPG, and the script knows exactly what to do with him.
What Holds It Back
Some late-act pacing decisions that the community has rightly pushed back on. Vehicle combat is fun but never essential. A few side gigs feel inherited from base Night City rather than purpose-built for Dogtown.
Who It's For
Anyone who played base Cyberpunk and bounced — Phantom Liberty plus 2.0 is the version of the game CDPR were aiming at. Anyone preparing to jump in via the Switch 2 Edition. Anyone who values RPG writing over RPG breadth.
The Verdict
The strongest single piece of writing CDPR has shipped since Blood and Wine, and the cleanest argument for why Cyberpunk's second life was earned. Essential for anyone who's ever owned the base game.
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