Feedback: Car combat aggro makes the game unplayable for new players

[duckyfuzz69]

I'm a new Cyberpunk 2077 player, having picked up a copy in a steam sale around a year ago.

Having finally got round to playing, I've found I'm hitting a massive difficulty spike with car combat aggro right at the start of the game, which has made it essentially unplayable.

For a bit more context:
- this is right after the spider bot mission at the start of the game
- I took the "shoot everyone" route with Maelstrom, so I understand the reason for the combat
- the moment I get in my car, Maelstrom cars insta-spawn and rush me; I haven't got a chance.

This is super annoying and frustrating for a new player, especially because I wasn't presented with an option to take the peaceful (or non-lethal) route when picking up the bot. In hindsight, I can see that going to the bar would probably have provided a different option, but the consequence of skipping the meeting really wasn't made clear. As a new player I'm basically in tutorial mode, just trying to work out how the world works, what buttons to press and when etc, and the game doesn't seem at all forgiving at this early stage.

I really just want to drive around night city, soak in the vibes, pop some pills, do some netrunning, and otherwise experience the world, but the car combat aggro mechanic is making that impossible.

I'm not sure if CD Projekt Red will see this, but please please find a way to improve the car-combat aggro options for new players.

Addendum: if anyone is reading this and thinking new players just need to git gud, you may have a point as skill is clearly a part of the game and there are different difficulty levels offered - however this game mechanic just seems to reduce player agency, and feels immersion breaking, janky, and pointlessly unfair.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

I'm not a new player and to be honest, I simply flee when maelstromers chase me after the quest which is I think the best thing to do

 

[Bartinga2077]

"Feedback: Car combat aggro makes the game unplayable for new players"​

I'm gonna have to agree with you. I tested this once by not flatlining a single one of them, just incapacitated and still they came after me. Their shard said that V killed their brothers which was absolutely not true. So, yeah, there's definitely some discrepancy there.

All the more as there're quite a number of gigs that know a whole different outcome depending whether V flatlined a single one or incapacitated everyone.

 

[Tarille]

Aye, the hit squads are pretty brutal.

Which is made worse by how awful car combat is (Alongside the unwritten rule whereby if your build isn't using a Pistol/SMG, then the only weapon you get to use while actually in a vehicle, is the basic T1 Unity that is V's default weapon at the start of the game and that V will routinely pull out of their butt in any "Draw Weapon" dialogue or cutscene option)

Even as someone who's played the game a bunch (And plays exclusively on Very Hard difficulty) these hit squads are the most deadly encounters in the game - Even with good builds specifically to deal with them they're quite rough.

The one upside is there is a little trick to avoid them completely;

They only spawn, if you're in a vehicle.

So, if you get hammered by one, you can simply load the last save which will take you back to when you finished the mission and then... Just walk a few blocks away before calling your car and they won't spawn.

It's often what I do since after completing a combat heavy mission like The Pickup, I'm often wanting to get some cyberware upgrades due to leveling up/getting some money so I'll just hoof it to the nearest Ripperdoc so as to not get mauled by any hit squads.

 

[wilczajagoda]

You can delete most of the temporary spawned enemies (whether in cars or on foot) in photo mode. Open photo mode and move the time slider around a bit. I use it in some of the Captain's car gigs, because frankly it's annoying how often they spawn.

 

[Cynwale]

Before I took flying cars mod, I simply immediately left my car to deal with them, once out of your car, you can run and hide, or simply kill them straight away.

It can be annoying, but the only time I died by them was when I accidentally threw a frag grenade at both my car and the Arasaka car, which started a damage chain reaction that exceeded my health regen rate.

Also, I recommend playing in normal difficulty for your first time and to not spare anyone, even when they fall on the ground knocked out, kill them.

 

[Tems]

Kinda. But so does Adam Smasher. I think it's one of those live and learn type situations.