Ghostrunner 2 is a fast-paced first-person title that puts you in the shoes of a sword-wielding cyborg who leaps, swings, and slices his way through a futuristic, post-apocalyptic world. While the title is action-packed with plenty of challenging-but-smooth combat, slow pacing and a narrative riddled with jargon might be a challenge for those without knowledge of its predecessor.
Following the events of the original 2020 game that saw the title character end The Architect’s reign of tyranny, the Ghostrunner has reintroduced himself as Jack and looks to help reestablish order in the Dharma Tower that houses what is left of humanity. Despite instilling some freedom into a civilisation that’s finally able to make their own choices, The Tower is now plagued with gang activity that threatens the very peace The Climbers are working hard to restore.
Two things immediately jump out when it comes to Ghostrunner 2’s general gameplay. The first is how it somehow manages to feel simultaneously fast and slow, on account of traversal includes a lot of wall running, sliding, and swinging along dangerous futuristic ruins, but general movement feels unusually slow. The second is that you have literally no second chances in combat - it’s either kill or be killed in one blow, similar to games like Superhot, Hotline Miami and other hardcore action games.
As far as speedy gameplay is concerned, there’s nothing faster in Ghostrunner 2 than its spectacular motorcycle segments. You’ll have to fight your way through a few missions before you throw the cover off the futuristic hog and take it for a spin, but it’s well worth the wait. While I may have some positive biases about motorcycling as a former rider, there’s no denying that the smoothness of the controls, from steering to boosts and wall-riding, make for a very satisfying and thrilling experience. If they made a side project that focussed solely on Jack’s efforts on two wheels, I’d be all for it.
Ghostrunner 2’s game mechanics very much replicate the foundations set by its predecessor, with Jack spending the majority of his time swinging from one platform to another or running along a wall in preparation for cutting an adversary in two with his sword. While the general actions are quick, the movement that binds it all together makes the game still feel slow at times. This is only amplified once you jump off the motorcycle, as the transition from bike to what, at times, feels like a leisurely walking pace is somewhat jarring. The only instance of genuine sprinting I found was in the hub between missions, but when out and about the general movement feels slower than it should. In saying that, the speed at which you slice and dice your way through The Tower makes up for it for the most part.
The boss battles in Ghostrunner 2 are worthy of a shoutout; they are very well done in the sense that no two battles are ever the same and some of them don’t even require a great deal of actual combat. One More Level manages to capitalise on the potential of Ghostrunner 2’s setting by giving its players variety in boss fights - some require skills with your blade, while others require speedy, no-room-for-error parkour sequences that would make Ezio Auditore da Firenze blush.
No matter how you look at it, the one-shot kill, one-shot death system in Ghostrunner is not something you see often. It’s not only a key feature in the game but it’s something that the devs almost maliciously rub in your face. Just when you think you performed well on a level, the summary tears you down by revealing you died more than 100 times. Yikes.
The one-shot system is a double-edged sword as sharp as Jack’s blade. While it is somewhat more realistic than other action games out there where you’ll survive 15 shots from a machine gun before you kick it, it can be incredibly frustrating, particularly early in the game before you’ve got your hands on some upgrades. In other games where you’ll dance your way through dozens of bad guys with your blade, Ghostrunner 2 will be a handful even with a small number of minions in your way. You’ll find yourself repeating the same delicate combat sequences a dozen times before you get it right, but because respawning is almost instantaneous, the difficulty curve isn’t so much off-putting as it is challenging. Combat feels more like a puzzle as you figure out what order to take out your adversaries and figure out how to execute your plan to perfection.
As someone who didn’t get a lot of time with the original Ghostrunner, it was difficult to follow some facets of the sequel’s story as there was a significant amount of game-specific terminology thrown out there from the beginning which took a while to wrap my head around. There is a Ghostrunner recap in the main menu to give some guidance on the original game’s narrative, but it’s a little too vague to be overly helpful. In saying that, I can appreciate what One More Level tried to achieve and certainly think that the environment and music were noticeably suitable to get the audience engrossed in the game’s cyberpunk feel.
Reviewed on PS5. A code was provided by the publisher.