For both good and bad reasons, Cyberpunk 2077 has been one of the most talked-about video games in the past few weeks. Since its release, it has made headlines over and over again, probably none as odd as this one.
Yes, Cyberpunk 2077 has “Baalbek arak” as a consumable for the protagonist… But there’s a twist about it that not many Lebanese will be as enthusiastic about.
For the uninitiated, consumables in video games are items that the main character can eat, drink, or otherwise use in order to gain various attributes and perks, such as increased health and stamina.
Unsurprisingly, Cyberpunk 2077’s Baalbek arak “reduces movement speed by 10%” and “reduces weapon accuracy by 50%.”
However, the twist is in the last piece of text that displays upon viewing the item in the game.
“We’ve bottled the heat of the desert sun,” the in-game item’s description reads. And, last we checked, there are no deserts in Lebanon.
But, in all fairness, the northern Bekaa region does have a semi-desert habitat, so this particular brand of arak might have been crafted there in the game’s lore. That or someone was too lazy to look up Baalbek pictures on the Internet.
With that said, it’s worth noting the nice touch of tiny Temple of Jupiter pillars depicted on the green bottle under what appears to be an overarching figure of the sun – a reference to Baalbek’s old name, Heliopolis, i.e. “Sun City.”
Cyberpunk 2077 is a long-anticipated role-playing game (RPG) developed by the Polish video game developer CD Projekt Red and released on December 10th, 2020.
