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We all know Cyberpunk 2077 did not have the smoothest launch out of all the open-world games. On the other hand, Grand Theft Auto V has had a smooth experience since its launch, minus the multiplayer aspect—we’ll get to that later. Since there is no concrete way to know which triumphs over the other, we’ll be breaking down the differences between the two games.
To keep everything fair, we’ll take a look at how both games are doing with their current versions because we all know that if we compare base Grand Theft Auto V with base Cyberpunk 2077, Grand Theft Auto V wins by more than a hundred miles.
For everyone who’s excited to know the difference between the two but doesn’t want to read the entire article, here’s a table showing the differences between the two games and the results of the comparison.
Main Differences Between Cyberpunk 2077 vs GTA 5
The main differences between Cyberpunk 2077 vs GTA 5 are:
- GTA V is a game that is based in a realistic setting that is a satirical take on modern-day America, whereas Cyberpunk is set in the futuristic and fictional setting of Night City. Where cybernetic augments are commonplace and corporations rule the city.
- GTA is traditionally a 3rd-person open-world sandbox, whereas Cyberpunk 2077, while somewhat similar is much closer to a traditional 1st Person RPG.
- Cyberpunk offers the standard singular protagonist which the player can role-play as, whereas GTA V offers three main characters which players can switch to on the fly
- GTA V offers an extensive and heavily populated online community with tonnes of content to explore, whereas Cyberpunk 2077 still has no online functionality. However, there are reportedly rumors of online additions to come in the future.
- Cyberpunk 2077 has much more customization, build options, weapon varieties, and character perks, as it is an RPG adventure.
- Cyberpunk at the time of writing is still a work in progress and is still recovering from a terrible launch, whereas GTA V is the magnum opus of the GTA series and has been the go-to title in the series for nearly a decade.
- GTA V offers much more gameplay variety compared to Cyberpunk 2077, thanks to mini-games, stunts, heists, online modes, and much more.
- Graphically, GTA V doesn’t come close to Cyberpunk 2077’s sheen. However, bugs and issues with the overall title can make this an inconsistent truth.
The Story and Writing
Grand Theft Auto V
The basic premise of Grand Theft Auto V revolves around three protagonists, two of which were former criminals. As they get intertwined with mishap after mishaps, they form a particular bond that culminates in an ending in which the player’s decision plays a significant role.
Grand Theft Auto V’s story revolves more around a chaotic and goofy writing style. While Grand Theft Auto games have been around for a while, I still find the story and writing aspect of Grand Theft Auto V weakest. Basically, you have Grand Theft Auto IV, which has a grim and intricate story, then you bounce to the ridiculous storyline of Grand Theft Auto V.
Even if you compare Grand Theft Auto V’s story to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which has its fair share of quirky moments, it still does not hold up regarding story-depth, which I’m looking for when playing story campaigns.
Although the three protagonists that you can control at will (excluding specific story parts) is a revolutionary mechanic for the series, it still does not elevate the shallow story writing at all.
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077’s story is not a revolutionary story at all. There are far more intricate in-game stories that are better than Cyberpunk; however, that’s not to say that the writers did a poor job with it.
While playing the game, I was hoping something significant would happen, but it fell a tad bit short of my expectations. I think that the game suffers more of a “lots of story and lore build-up, but falls short upon resolving the climax.” To be clear, I am only nitpicking may be due to me being an avid fan of JRPGS, which we all know has better story-telling than most open-world games.
Cyberpunk’s story revolves around the unification of the player’s mind and body with a rockstar and terrorist named Johnny Silverhand, who Keanu Reaves plays. The story creates a dilemma for the players in which you can permanently remove Johnny Silverhand at the expense of your life or find another way of restoring your old life as a lone wolf.
CDPR’s side mission style helped alleviate the lack of a more coherent main story. Most of the side missions in Cyberpunk 2077 are great, and some even have adverse effects on the main storyline.
Overall, I find Cyberpunk 2077’s story and writing great and entertaining, but not on the level of The Witcher 3, for example.
Verdict (Winner: Cyberpunk 2077)
Honestly, I think Cyberpunk’s story has more depth, more intricacy, and offers players some form of freedom when choosing what they want for V. Another excellent part of playing through Cyberpunk 2077 is the relationship you have with characters affects specific outcomes of the game. It is minimal, but it still is a nice touch.
Now, while Grand Theft Auto V’s story is good, however, compared to the other stories that Rockstar was able to tell, it’s way too straightforward, and the lack of depth and intricacy of the characters put it way below my standards for a Rockstar game.
Lore and World Building
A very important aspect of open-world games comes in the form of lore and world-building. From the get-go, I’d say that both CDPR and Rockstar created two of the most beautifully handcrafted worlds in the gaming industry. Let’s dive deeper into lore and world-building!
Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto V’s lore is pretty subtle compared to the Cyberpunk’s 2077. The main lore of the story stems from the location that the game takes place in, which is a reboot of Los Santos, most famously known in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas. There are multiple easter eggs regarding Carl Johnson and the gang’s existence scattered throughout the luscious city of Los Santos.
Rockstar also made an effort to extend Los Santos by introducing a more immersive implementation of their wildlife into Grand Theft Auto’s world. Personally, I feel like Grand Theft Auto is a game that doesn’t build its world centring around the lore of the characters nor the premise of the entire game. It’s more of a game that focuses on gameplay and immersion.
In the world of Grand Theft Auto V, the world of Los Santos is vast and expansive; from the deep waters surrounding the city to the wildlife in the mountains, Rockstar developed an open-world experience that is enjoyable to explore.
There are also multiple storylines that involve alien invasions and even a subReddit made specifically to solve the mystery of the alien markings. This tradition dates to even Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, when people started reporting sights of a mythical creature named Bigfoot.
Cyberpunk 2077
On the other hand, Cyberpunk 2077 has great lore behind its premise. Spanning from the time of Johnny Silverhand as a rockstar and a terrorist, CDPR made sure that the game is as lore-heavy as their former game, The Witcher. CDPR even released a comic based on Cyberpunk 2077, which lets you dive deeper into the lore of the entirety of Night City. A good note here is that while Cyberpunk 2077 is lore heavy, we can not forget that this is an RPG-centered game; it’s normal to have vast lore.
As for the world of Cyberpunk 2077, CDPR completely nailed the futuristic world set in Night City. What makes it more astounding is that they also managed to incorporate an outskirts into this type of environment. Normally, when we talk about the theme “cyberpunk,” we usually think of modernized stuff, flying cars and etc.; while that is true, CDPR made sure to not limit their entire world to that stereotyped environment.
Verdict (Winner: Draw)
World-building-wise, Grand Theft Auto V wins, but when you count in lore, Cyberpunk 2077 makes this segment a draw. The real winner here is the fans who are in for an unforgettable and immersive experience when playing either of these games.
The Gameplay
We’ll be discussing the core gameplay, mechanics, and even including bugs for this section. So let’s get started with the gameplay comparison!
Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto V offers players a third-person or first-person open-world experience wherein you’ll be able to do whatever you want, or you can do some missions and progress through the game’s storyline.
Here are some key takeaways from the gameplay:
- A great blend of realism and simulation gameplay.
- First and third-person options when playing the game.
- Intricate and fun missions plus the heists.
- The better feeling when driving the vehicles.
- Good array of weapon selection.
- Funny computer websites.
- Rockstar Director Mode.
- A bit of freedom when styling your character.
- Minimal bugs, and if there were any bugs, they were not game-breaking.
- On launch, people were having difficulty connecting to Grand Theft Auto Online. Rockstar has already resolved this issue, and now many people are still playing GTA Online.
Cyberpunk 2077
On the other hand, Cyberpunk 2077 offers only first-person open-world gameplay, even when you’re driving your vehicles. It does take inspiration from Grand Theft Auto’s “go here and pick up the quest.”
Here are some of the takeaways from Cyberpunk 2077’s gameplay:
- An authentic fantasy-cyberpunk experience.
- A wide array of weapons from ranged, melee, and cyberware combat.
- Complete freedom when designing your character; however, you are limited to the statistics of the equipment you’re using.
- An authentic RPG experience with skill trees, specialties, and more open-ended combat sequences
- The game’s initial release has issues with driving vehicles; the vehicles felt stiff and wonky. CDPR soon fixed this problem in later patches; however, it still does not come close to a “great feeling” while driving.
- Many game-breaking bugs upon release; CDPR once again addressed this problem later. There are still many bugs around; however, it’s not as bad as when CDPR launched Cyberpunk 2077.
- Horrendous performance on last-gen consoles even today (Playstation 4 and Xbox One)
Verdict (Winner: Grand Theft Auto V)
Although CDPR already addressed most of the problems in Cyberpunk’s horrendous launch, it still does not come close to the “almost perfect” experience out of the box of Grand Theft Auto V.
It’s clear that a fleshed-out open-world gameplay and Rockstar’s experience in creating such a world for the player takes the win here. However, I will still credit CDPR for making such an authentic cyberpunk experience.
The Combat and The Driving
What open-world experience would be complete without weapons and vehicles, to you know, have fun around with and definitely not do criminal stuff.
Grand Theft Auto V
There are lots of weapons available for Grand Theft Auto V, and all of them have a nice blend of realism and arcade feel to them. From melee weapons to ranged weapons, you’ll never feel lost with the simple weapon set.
Now for the vehicles and the driving aspect, Grand Theft Auto V has over 348 vehicles that you can drive. All have different features, feel when driving, and even involve marine or aerial vehicles. The number of cars mainly comes from the multiplayer game, which receives continuous updates up until this day.
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 has a wide array of weapons, more like two times wider than Grand Theft Auto’s. This disparity in the number of weapons is primarily because of the Cyberware system of Cyberpunk 2077. I honestly feel that the combat in Cyberpunk 2077 is more comparable to Skyrim and even Fallout which is what I prefer over the standard simulation style of Grand Theft Auto.
On the other hand, Cyberpunk only has 54 vehicles in total, ranging from cars, motorcycles, trucks, and military vehicles. Other than the difference in speed, most vehicles felt the same, especially the sedans.
Not to mention that there are only land vehicles available. You can’t travel via sea or air. To be fair, the only time you’ll be travelling via air would be during a cutscene where a car can hover over to take you to your destination.
Verdict (Winner: Draw)
The sheer amount of customization and weapons in Cyberpunk 2077 beats the overall realistic weapon set in Grand Theft Auto V. Although; I still commend Rockstar for putting up a fight with this. Since Cyberpunk 2077 focuses more on combat and freedom to tackle missions in various ways, Cyberpunk 2077 wins for the weapons and combat aspect.
However, vehicles are a different matter. The clear winner here is Grand Theft Auto V with the number of vehicle options, all with different “driving feels” and the opportunity to travel via air, ocean, or land. The vehicles have actual real-world counterparts.
In total, with Cyberpunk 2077 taking the cake for weapons and combat and Grand Theft Auto V taking the W on vehicles and driving, this is a draw.
Score and Audio
Audio is highly crucial in these types of games, whether it be listening to the radio station or, in general, going on about your “daily lives” in these open-world games. It serves as the much-needed queue for “immersion” and ultimate experience within the open world. Let’s take a look at how both games stack up against one another.
Grand Theft Auto V
From listening to the radio stations to conversing with one of the people in the streets, the score and audio within the world of Los Santos give Grand Theft Auto V a stupendous and immersive experience.
Pedestrians often have some funny comments about your outfit or even when you point your gun at them. They run, they scream, they burst out agonizing whines when getting hurt; overall, Rockstar justified why they are one of the best gaming companies to count on when it comes to open-world experiences.
As for the music selection, while they are not as great as other games in the series, the radio DJs are still what I consider top-notch, especially when it comes to their funny and quirky segments. It would make you feel like you want to drive for hours on end while listening to the radio.
Cyberpunk 2077
Have you ever taken a stroll down in the beautiful environment of Night City? Well, if you haven’t, you surely are missing a lot. From pedestrian buzz to the sound of the engine whirring of cars hovering over your head, it makes the Night City feel like an actual living and breathing representation of our future lifestyle. As for the radio stations, they are somewhat decent, but not the best that I’ve heard of, although props to CDPR for making a decent set of radio stations.
What I would highly commend is the actual songs on the radio; from bopping pop songs to the lively EDM music, you’d feel a surge of energy booming throughout your whole body while exploring the world of Cyberpunk 2077.
Verdict (Winner: Draw)
I personally feel like, for audio and scores, it’s a draw. As much as people say that Grand Theft Auto V does it better, in my opinion, they are overlooking the important aspects of sound design and direction as CDPR presented in Cyberpunk 2077. Both of these aspects in both games offer a unique and different feel that immerses and draws players into their respective worlds.
The Playable Content
The last off of our comparison would be the amount of playable content available for current game versions.
Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto V has been out since 2013; with almost seven years of constant multiplayer DLC coming out, there certainly is a lot of playable content for Grand Theft Auto V. According to thegamer, here are some of the best game modes available for Grand Theft Auto Online:
- Snipers Vs Stunters
- Trucks Vs Bikes
- RPGs Vs Insurgents
- Demolition Derby
- Manhunt
- Gun Game
- War
- Busted
- Sumo
- The Weakest Link
Cyberpunk 2077
As for Cyberpunk 2077, it’s been out for almost two years now, and unfortunately, there are no expansions available, even for the single-player content. There are rumours already about a multiplayer coming for free on Cyberpunk 2077.
Still, with how the game is going, CDPR should prioritize additional single-player content and bug fixes rather than introducing a multiplayer mode with a sub-par engine.
Verdict (Winner: Grand Theft Auto V)
A clear winner here would be Grand Theft Auto V outpowering Cyberpunk 2077 with so much more content and not to mention modders adding custom game modes to the game.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Would You Still Recommend Cyberpunk 2077?
Answer: Of course, the story is excellent; however, the features that CDPR promised us are not present (if you followed the game’s development.) The combat is fantastic, and it differentiates itself from the linear and monotonous action of Grand Theft Auto V.
Overall, I’d say get Cyberpunk 2077 if it’s on sale; otherwise, I’d steer off of the game as once you finish the story, there’s not much that you can do other than replay the game.
Question: s Cyberpunk 2077 Classified As The Same Genre As Grand Theft Auto V?
Answer: To be fair, Grand Theft Auto V is more of an open-world action-adventure experience, while Cyberpunk 2077 leans towards a role-playing experience. Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world game; however, I’d compare it to Bethesda games such as Skyrim and even Fallout.
Question: Is Cyberpunk 2077’s Graphics Better Than Grand Theft Auto V?
Answer: Cyberpunk 2077’s graphics include more advanced technology such as ray-tracing, DLSS, better specular maps, etc. Based on the base game alone, Cyberpunk 2077 wins easily; however, if you introduce “mods” into the conversation, then Grand Theft Auto V might win. Graphical mods in Grand Theft Auto V can only take you so far, but textures and fidelity are still highly dependent on the game’s base engine.
Even though there are youtube videos regarding “Ultra Photorealistic 4k” for Grand Theft Auto V, once you get into the game, it will look a bit flat than what the video portrays it to be. Needless to say, the latest technology behind Cyberpunk 2077 would still triumph over a modded Grand Theft Auto V; however, this argument is highly subjective.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Grand Theft Auto V edges Cyberpunk 2077 with its much more flawless and seamless open-world experience, finesse in executing the developer’s ideas, plus the amount of playable content and hours of play you’ll get from playing Grand Theft Auto V.
Although Cyberpunk is still a good game, it’s far from what CDPR initially promised us. What are your thoughts about Cyberpunk 2077 vs Grand Theft Auto V? Leave your comments below!
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