Cyberpunk 2077: How CD Projekt RED Will Avoid Bullet Sponging

Cyberpunk 2077 is arguably one of the most anticipated releases in 2020, and it appears that developer CD Projekt RED is pulling out all the stops in order to make the game perform at its very best.

Bullet sponging is an issue that happens in plenty of first-person shooter (FPS) titles and involves weapons hardly making a dent in the health bar of enemies.

So how exactly is the Cyberpunk developer attempting to eliminate the issue?

Never Experiencing Bullet Sponginess

In an interview with VG247, senior gameplay designer Pawel Kapala discussed how players should never experience any form of sponginess when encountering an enemy in Night City: “In the core of the game, if we’re talking about the normal NPCs that you meet on the street, they can have different rarities to them, I would say."

"Most of the NPCs that you will meet are normal, just goons. And if you’re continuing to level up, and if you’re on the level of the enemy, you should never experience bullet sponginess. They will feel quite fast to kill, quite fast to engage. However, they’re quite deadly as well, so you need to basically use cover, and move around a lot.”

Rather than players repeatedly hitting a target that doesn’t react to any gunfire, NPCs in Cyberpunk will react to your bullets. They will stagger and fall to the ground before they eventually succumb to your gunfire. So, the key for no sponginess appearing in Cyberpunk is for the opposition to react accordingly when under fire.

Kapala also stated that “we never want to have” bullet sponginess in Cyberpunk, suggesting that Cyberpunk could well be one of the smoothest titles ever seen despite its vast depth and graphical detail.

The game's recent Night City Wire broadcast showed off plenty of the game's weaponry, as well as the Lifepaths that determine your character's backstory and standing in the world of Night City.

On top of that, we also got a look at how the band Refused were transformed into in-game rock band SAMURAI. Check it out here.