Let's talk about the boys in blue, or should I say, the boys in chrome and corruption. As I look ahead to 2026 and the promised land of Project Orion, Cyberpunk 2077's sequel, I can't help but fixate on one of Night City's most dysfunctional institutions: the NCPD. CD Projekt Red spent a good chunk of the last few years polishing the turd that was the launch police system, turning them from glorified mannequins into something you might actually want to avoid. But oh, the potential they left on the table is like a forgotten, moldy synth-burger in a dumpster behind a Maelstrom den—ripe with possibility for something truly rancid and wonderful.
The NCPD is a joke, but the punchline is a bullet. They were privatized to save eddies, turning from a public service into a private security firm with a monopoly on violence and a cozy deal with the for-profit prison pipeline. Thinking of them as 'police' is like calling a scav a 'biowaste recycler'—a generous label that ignores the horrific reality. They're just another corp, and in Project Orion, this corp should be ready for its hostile takeover of your fun.
Serving and Protecting... Their Bank Accounts
Corruption isn't a bug in the NCPD; it's the operating system. Most officers are either bullies, opportunists, or both. The few 'good eggs' like our fixer pal Regina Jones are navigating a system more treacherous than a minefield made of old landlines and broken promises.
Imagine if Project Orion gave us a central antagonist from within the NCPD. Not just a rogue cop, but the embodiment of the system's rot—a Frank Tenpenny-esque figure but dipped in Night City's special brand of chrome-plated nihilism. A power-hungry sociopath who doesn't just break the law but uses it as a blunt instrument to shape the city into his own violent playground. With zero oversight and a profit motive, such a character wouldn't just be a villain; they'd be a logical, terrifying extension of the world itself. Giving us a front-row seat to that kind of unfettered depravity would make the NCPD more than an annoyance; they'd be a pervasive, psychological threat, as unsettling as finding unexpected organic components in your kibble.
From Glorified Traffic Cops to Relentless Psycho Hunters
Remember launch? When cops would materialize behind you like a bad thought, then forget you existed if you ran around a corner? Yeah, those days are gone. The current system makes them a persistent, escalating threat. But for Project Orion, 'persistent' needs to become 'relentless,' and 'escalating' needs to feel like a tsunami of blue and red lights.
Here's how the NCPD could evolve from a mild inconvenience into a force that makes you think twice about jaywalking:
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Advanced Tactics & Tech: They should fight dirty and smart. Imagine:
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EMP Squads that roll in to fry your vehicle's electronics, leaving you a sitting duck.
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Netrunners in patrol cars hitting you with debilitating quickhacks from a block away—System Reset while you're driving at 150 mph, anyone?
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Psycho-Suppression Teams in heavy armor, deploying smoke and sonic weapons, treating you like the cyberpsycho they're getting a bonus for bagging.
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A Truly Dynamic Wanted System: Your crime shouldn't just spawn cops; it should change the district.
| Wanted Level | Old Response | Project Orion Nightmare |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| ★ | A few cops on foot. | Scanner drones track you, broadcasting your location to all nearby patrols. |
| ★★ | Cops in cars give chase. | Roadblocks appear. Civilian AV traffic is diverted. NCPD starts interviewing (intimidating) witnesses. |
| ★★★ | MaxTac is called. | Local Security HQs go on lockdown. Corporate reinforcements (Militech, etc.) might get involved if you're near their assets. The hunt becomes city-wide. |
The Budget Boost from Hell
Narrative-wise, it writes itself. After failing to curb Night City's crime wave (partly thanks to a certain mercenary named V), the NCPD's corporate backers would demand results. This means a bigger budget and even fewer ethical constraints.
Think about it:
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Prototype Weaponry: They'd be the beta testers for the most sadistic, non-lethal (or very lethal) tech from weapon manufacturers.
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Predictive Analytics: Using the city's surveillance net to predict criminal 'hot spots' and saturate them with officers, making free movement a challenge.
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Bounty System 2.0: Not just for cyberpsychos. Your face and alias could get tagged with a public bounty, turning every low-level ganger and edgerunner in the city into a potential informant or threat. The city itself would turn against you, becoming a panopticon as claustrophobic and inescapable as a malfunctioning subdermal grip.
Ultimately, for Project Orion to truly immerse us in its dystopia, the NCPD needs to stop being a video game police system and start being the perfect capitalist law enforcement entity: brutal, efficient, profit-driven, and utterly devoid of humanity. They shouldn't just chase you; they should hunt you, disrupt your life, and make you feel the true cost of crossing the line in a city where the line was erased decades ago. Making them smarter, meaner, and systemically terrifying is the key to turning Night City from a backdrop into a character—one that's always watching, and is deeply, profoundly pissed off. 🚨