Why Project Orion Should Diversify its Map From The First

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 20, 2024 5 Views 7 Min Read
Why Project Orion Should Diversify its Map From The First



Cyberpunk 2077 owes much of its identity to its setting. While somewhat derivative of past media in the cyberpunk genre, the crime-ridden Night City was an immediate draw for many players. Its distinct aesthetic combined with the lore provided by Mike Pondsmith to make the city itself feel like a primary character within Cyberpunk 2077.




The officially announced Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, Project Orion, has a tough decision to make when it comes to its setting. Night City is one of the most memorable video game settings in recent history, so sidelining it would be a controversial decision. However, if CD Projekt Red wants to make Project Orion’s setting an open world worth exploring, venturing beyond Night City would be the developer’s best bet.

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Cyberpunk 2077’s upcoming sequel, Project Orion, has the opportunity to make an important set of NPC interactions feel truly worthwhile.

Improving Upon Cyberpunk 2077’s One-Note Open World

While the in-game representation of Night City was serviceable for Cyberpunk 2077‘s scale — especially with the addition of Dogtown in the Phantom Liberty DLC — it had its flaws. Alongside the repetitive nature of Cyberpunk 2077‘s open world events, Night City itself could be repetitive to explore. The open world was broken up into different city districts and even allowed players to explore parts of the neighboring Badlands, but it was still fairly lacking in variety.


Besides occasional warehouses and residential areas, most of Night City’s districts felt too similar. This applies not only to the composition of city blocks but to their overall aesthetics. During the day, vast swaths of Night City were covered in a saturated yet unremarkable palette primarily consisting of beige, gray, and tan. This applies even more so to the Badlands region of the map, whose lack of distinct landmarks makes it only worth visiting during story missions.

Some games like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 can get away with reusing the map from previous entries in the series, but Project Orion would benefit from more than a couple extra boroughs. Night City should still be part of the game due to its prominent involvement in the Cyberpunk franchise, from Cyberpunk 2077 to Cyberpunk RED to Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. That said, Cyberpunk 2077‘s missions and a few recent rumors have already revealed new parts of the world — and beyond — that Project Orion could explore to add some much-needed flair to the map.


Widening Project Orion’s North American Scope

Outside of Night City, Cyberpunk 2077‘s world has many locations that could be worth developing into new regions and biomes for Project Orion. Within Night City’s nearby vicinity, interesting areas lie both north and south. Project Orion could expand further into the Badlands, taking a deeper dive into nomad lore and opening the door for a more developed vehicle system. In the opposite direction, the Pacific Northwest already played a role in certain variations of Judy’s storyline in Cyberpunk 2077. Seattle has a historied past in the world of Cyberpunk, and the region’s iconic woodlands would not only add some nice diversity to the game’s map but could make way for Project Orion’s rumored inclusion of animals.


There are also plenty of options should Project Orion choose to move away from the West Coast. Phantom Liberty set up plenty of intrigue regarding the New United States of America, making it a country worth investigating in a sequel. V’s Street Kid background saw the character returning to Night City after trying their luck in Atlanta, and the Cyberpunk timeline established that a railway route that connected Night City to Chicago was built in 2077. Both options still focus on urban environments, but Chicago would have plenty of visual contrast as its overgrown ruins — a result of an in-universe plague — clash with corporate reconstruction efforts.

Exploring Space in Project Orion

A major shakeup for Project Orion would be to have part of the game set in space. Cyberpunk 2077‘s canceled space DLC has already led many to theorize about Project Orion taking its story to the stars. Not only would this help Project Orion’s open world exploration to stand apart from its predecessor’s, but it could be a great way to build upon the mention of moon colonies in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.

Regardless of what directions Project Orion’s story takes, Cyberpunk’s world is vast and detailed enough to allow CD Projekt Red to expand the game’s borders. Night City was a memorable setting for the first game; there’s no denying that. However, adding more diversity to Project Orion’s explorable areas would go a long way in improving the player experience and addressing Cyberpunk 2077’s open world issues.


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