An opponent from Cyberpunk 2077 is almost unanimously considered the creepiest enemy in the entire game. According to some reports in the game, the player base collectively freaks out because of a maintenance robot.
Spoiler Warning! The article discusses the ending of the DLC of Cyberpunk “Phantom Liberty”. Those who already know the ending of the DLC or have no issues with spoilers can read on without hesitation.
What kind of opponent is this? We are talking about the Militech Cerberus MK-II from the DLC Phantom Liberty of Cyberpunk 2077. In the game, V encounters this machine when she decides towards the end of the DLC to hand over Songbird to the FIA and thus betray her.
The Songbird, controlled by Blackwall, then flees to a decommissioned Militech facility, where a particularly nasty surprise awaits players: a similarly controlled Cerberus that transforms Cyberpunk 2077 from an action RPG into a horror survival game for some time. And it has only one goal: to find, pursue, and eliminate V.
The machine is not only uncomfortably fast and indestructible: as soon as it reaches V, she is pierced by a scorpion-like connector or its rotating claws.
In this clip on Reddit, you can see how fast and strong Cerberus is. The player brought it out of the facility to the surface through a mod:
This level, along with its hunter, is almost unanimously considered the scariest experience in the entire game. The Militech Cerberus is actually not a killer machine programmed to kill, but rather a simple maintenance robot.
Cerberus is not scary by coincidence
What does the game reveal about the Cerberus? You encounter Cerberus in a bunker-like Militech facility. There, the corporation experimented 67 years before the events of the game on a tool for their netrunners that they could use in the depths of the Net. After the DataKrash in 2060, the research facility was closed, but not completely destroyed or cleared out.
The Cerberus robot is a six-legged, heavy maintenance machine that Militech developed for their maintenance work in critical environments. In 2010, it was considered one of the most advanced robots and was used solely in Militech facilities for research and development purposes. It is equipped with such indestructible armor that it operates even under extreme conditions, whether radiation or electromagnetic discharges. Additionally, the Cerberus has the ability to work together with AI, making it a technological marvel alongside its longevity – at least in the years between 2010 and 2060.
When the wild AI of the Blackwall, which also corrupted Songbird, used the systems of the Cerberus to hunt V, the Militech tool finally became the monster that players fear so much. And monster is indeed the right term in this case.
Why does the robot seem so monstrous? In fact, the developers hoped that players would find the level along with the Cerberus so creepy. As is often the case, they took inspiration from another work to convey the feeling they themselves experienced there. In the case of the Cerberus, they were inspired by Kankra (in English Shelob), the giant spider from The Lord of the Rings:
Entering the bunker was like intruding into the territory of a monster, and even the scene where Cerberus appears is reminiscent of the moment when [Kankra] appears in ‘The Lord of the Rings’, hovering above – like a threatening shadow.
Paweł Sasko, Associate Game Director of Cyberpunk 2077 in conversation with IGN
You can only encounter Cerberus from Cyberpunk 2077 if you betray the netrunner Songbird, which was extremely difficult for MeinMMO editor Caro. However, after several playthroughs, she wanted to experience it at least once and was subsequently tempted by a weapon to not take back her decision: For a powerful weapon in Cyberpunk 2077, I sold my soul and became a lousy traitor
