After the release of Cyberpunk 2077, the modding community supports the further development of the role-playing game. In addition to visual improvements, some modders also change the gameplay mechanics.
One of them is Manckia: He has published seven mods for cyberpunk on Nexusmods. We took a closer look at two of them and tested them. The Mods »Harder Gameplay” and “Sneak«Promise to make the game harder and more realistic. We have tested for you how well both work.
Main mission “Gimme Danger” as a starting point
Together with Takemura we break into the Arasaka industrial park during the main mission. Rowdies take the front entrance directly and shoot their way through. However, it is possible to climb over the fence in the best Sam Fisher manner as in Splinter Cell, take cover behind walls and silently switch off opponents.
This can be a challenge without mods, but with practice you can quickly find easy ways to outsmart the AI. Because sneaking in cyberpunk follows a simple scheme: If V is seen by an enemy, you simply take flight, hide briefly and the situation relaxes. The Mod Sneak changes these mechanics, because the opponents:
- don’t discover you so quickly anymore
- recognize you more easily when they have noticed you
- can now see you through transparent surfaces and glass
- see each other harder when you sneak
- Cameras and drones continue to behave as usual
The aim of the mod is to bring the sneak into the right balance. In particular, the attention span of opponents is no longer like a goldfish, but a predator on the hunt. This often worked well in our experiments. The enemies discover us later, but remain more vigilant afterwards.
If you like to suffer, use the “Harder Gameplay” Mod: If cyberpunk is still too easy even at the highest level of difficulty, Harder Gameplay will be a real challenge. The mod changes weapon behavior and skill bonuses. You have less stamina, less melee damage and less chance of critical hits. And to top it off, critical damage has been reduced as well. Harder gameplay is also changing the legendary weapons in cyberpunk.
If you are looking for these unique weapons, use our guide and then install the mod:
more on the subject
Cyberpunk 2077 Guide: Finding the Unique Weapons
Modder Mancika points out several times to save the savegames and create a backup. Otherwise your scores could be lost.
How good are the mods?
Florian Franck
@SirMetalizerI’m torn. The mod “Harder Gameplay” doesn’t convince me, because I like to be challenged, but with the activated mod the game was rather overwhelmed. So I removed the mod after less than an hour. For anyone looking for an absolute challenge, the mod is definitely worth a look.
I like the second mod, “Sneak”, very much. Creeping passages are more challenging, more realistic and much more fun.
I myself was rather skeptical at the beginning and wanted to play cyberpunk completely without mods. But both mods have their strengths and ensure a higher level of immersion in the game. So if you want a little more variety, you won’t go wrong with it.
So you install the mods
You can download the mods here at Nexusmods.com:
After downloading the mods from Nexus, unzip them and add the content to the Cyberpunk installation directory under:
If you do not have the »patch« folder, create it and insert the two .archive files there. Be sure to create a backup of your storage status beforehand. You can find them under:
- C:UsersEUERUSERNAMESaved GamesCD Projekt RedCyberpunk 2077
Afterwards you can start the game with the mods and enjoy the heavy version of cyberpunk. And if you get stuck at one point or you prefer to use your charm as a weapon, our large guide overview for Cyberpunk 2077 with tips for romances, weapons, builds and vehicles is guaranteed to help you.
