Developer: One More Level
Publisher: 505 Games
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS5
Ghostrunner 2 – Review
Almost three years have passed since the release of Ghostrunner, which proved to be a great, adrenaline-inducing action-packed experience. The original title was tough as nails, but the fast-paced gameplay motivated players to keep trying over and over again until they finally saw the credits roll. That being said, Ghostrunner wasn’t all too accessible to casual players, as the learning curve was rather high. This proves to be the same case for the recently released Ghostrunner 2, which is a direct sequel to the 2020 original. This second iteration offered similar gameplay to the first title, albeit with a higher focus on combat and newly-added segments with your own tron-like motorcycle.
Story
Ghostrunner 2 is a direct sequel to the first game, and this means that the story will follow what happened in the original. You’ll play as Jack, who has been outside of Dharma Tower for over a year now, doing heroic acts together with his companions. While there has been a short period of relative peace, it seems a new organization wishes to take control over Dharma City and once again create an undesirable situation for the last bastion of humanity. If you didn’t play the first title, Ghostrunner 2 added a short story recap, which was certainly appreciated.
This sequel puts a heavier focus on its story and its world-building. As you explore the in- and outside of Dharma City, you’ll have a bigger world that opens up around you. The NPCs are also fleshed out, and you can talk to most of them in between missions. While not every conversation is that interesting, all characters get a more substantial background, and it also creates a bigger attachment to the handful of significant NPCs. The story progresses at a steady pace, if you can make it past the obstacles and enemies the missions throw at you.
Graphics
Graphically, the cyberpunk visuals still impress even in this second installment. The world of the Ghostrunner universe has expanded, and your fight now also takes place outside of the tower of the first game. You’ll of course still have quite a few levels that utilize the same types of backdrops and futuristic assets, but as you’ll also be driving a cyberpunk motorcycle later in the game, the environments do shift a bit. Enemy character models did look a bit more basic at times, and friendly NPCs also suffered from dodgy facial animations. That being said, the game is a delight to look at, even though we feel it never truly pushed our PlayStation 5 to its limits.
Sound
The sound design is great. The action-packed synthwave soundtrack complements the fast-paced gameplay really well, and there’s quite a bit of track variety. Granted that some of the songs sound a bit the same, we didn’t notice that much looping, except when we died a lot during certain segments of the game. The voice acting is also quite decent during dialogues, which is certainly a plus. In terms of nailing its cyberpunk dystopian future atmosphere, Ghostrunner 2 nails it to a T.
Gameplay
Ghostrunner 2, like its predecessor, is a so-called FPP-slasher game in which you’ll play through high-speed action-packed levels, platforming and slashing your way through enemies. From the get-go, it’s very clear that Ghostrunner 2 isn’t an easy game, and you’ll find yourself dying over and over again. The overall offset is quite straightforward, as you just have to make it to the end of the levels, killing all enemies in your path, while also solving environmental puzzles. As the game progresses, you’ll learn new abilities, which help when facing more and more enemies.
As stated above, dying is a key component of the Ghostrunner 2 experience. If you have played the first game, you probably know what to expect, so you’ll be jumping, hacking, and slashing quite quickly. If you’re a newcomer, and you haven’t played any games like this, you’ll probably struggle a lot, but the game becomes rather rewarding the further you delve into it. While arguably there are a lot of frustrating segments, it does feel very nice when you nail a hard platforming segment or kill a few enemy units in a few fluid motions.
With only one hit you can take before you perish, we were more than happy to see an actual skill system in play. You of course get skills by just progressing through the game, as some are even necessary to solve puzzles, but you’ll also have a Motherboard in which you can equip other (passive) boosts. To equip more of these upgrades, you’ll have to explore the different levels in order to find more memory chips. If you skip exploring, you might miss out on valuable upgrades and improvements for Jack. Your regular skills are a main component of the game, and these will get unlocked when you progress through the story. You will get things like an ultimate ability that can slice and dice a few enemies in range, but you’ll also receive shurikens to stun enemies and activate switches, or even a shadow clone to distract enemies.
A new component in the game revolves around the usage of your very own motorcycle. This new feature does provide a nice change of pace, as you’ll mainly be dodging obstacles when riding your motorcycle. These new segments are quite straightforward, but they’ll test your reflexes.
All in all, the game’s controls are great on PlayStation 5, but we couldn’t help but feel as if this title is best enjoyed with a mouse and keyboard setup. We lacked a bit of control at times, especially when having to aim our shurikens at enemies while flying through the air, hoping to stun our foes by the time we landed. We sometimes missed a bit of an overview when having to deal with multiple enemies, as the sticks are a bit slower than a mouse.
Outside of the main content, there is also the Roguerunner.exe mode, which is basically a short Roguelike mode you can play through. In this mode, you’ll have to clear nodes, which allow you to pick passive upgrades. Beat the entire run, and you’ll get additional rewards. This mode works with limited lives, so it’s very skill-dependent and you cannot keep trying if you die. If you die too many times, you’ll have to start from scratch.
Conclusion
Ghostrunner 2 is a great sequel that expands upon the content of the original. While the game didn’t really push our PlayStation 5 to its limits when it came to its visuals, we still enjoyed our action-packed adventure through Dharma City and its outskirts. The gameplay is smooth, even though we reckon playing this game with a mouse and keyboard will provide you with an even better experience. If you loved the first title, you’ll absolutely love what’s on offer here as well.
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