PLATFORM: PC, PS5, XBOX SERIES (REVIEWED) | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (BRUTAL EDITION) / 26TH OCTOBER (STANDARD EDITION)
In 2020’s Ghostrunner, a sword-wielding cyber assassin was tasked with rescuing the ruler of Dharma Tower, humanity’s last refuge in a post-apocalyptic world. Now, one year later, Ghostrunner Jack returns to take on a violent AI cult that is attemptting claim the tower as their own…
Just like the first game, Ghostrunner 2 is a lightning fast parkour platformer where precise movement and split second decisions are vital, except – like all the best sequels – that formula is expanded upon and enhanced by bigger and bolder gameplay. With slick and satisfying swordplay, enemies are carved into pieces at the touch of a button, but they’re more than capable of taking you out with a single hit so you really need to be at the top of your game at all times. Taking cues from 2D titles like Hotline Miami and Katana Zero, with their emphasis on learning each level’s layout to determine the best course of action while giving you plenty of options to try other methods if Plan A doesn’t succeed, those ideas are transplanted into a high-speed fully 3D cyberpunk world that now not only takes you into the Dharma Tower itself but also across the surrounding terrain, all filled with intense platforming and combat challenges. Instant restarts take the sting out of your hundreds (or maybe even thousands) of deaths, but Ghostrunner is definitely a very challenging game aimed at the more hardcore players.
New skills allow you to tackle levels in more ways than before, although enemies adapt to your loadout so they don’t always behave in the same way, and upgrade chips allow you to enhance your abilities even further. A new stamina bar allows you to block projectiles, although the speed at which the bar depletes means this is a last-ditch option rather than anything you can rely on to get past any tricky obstacles. Jack is now able to ride a motorbike, speeding up walls and across ceilings, slashing and shooting away at anything in his path, and a new roguelike sub-game – RogueRunner.exe – is a fun distraction that rewards players with cosmetic enhancements.
Ghostrunner 2 can feel a little disjointed when you’re figuring out how to get through a level, dying over and over again as you slowly piece together the best way to pass whatever might be in your path – you definitely need to master the controls so that you can string together the right series of buttons with pinpoint accuracy. The game’s more difficult sections are often capped off by a simpler set of hazards that you can zip past relatively easily, maintaining the adrenaline rush of completing a difficult area but giving enough breathing room to let you relax and enjoy the feeling of overcoming the odds with your newly-mastered skills. Bolstered by its eye-catching environments and incredible synthwave soundtrack, Ghostrunner 2 is one of the most exhilarating games this year. Just make sure you’re up to the challenge before diving in, because it really does get quite tricky!
