Ghostrunner 2 Review – WGB, Home of AWESOME Reviews

Ghostrunner was a shock hit when it launched in 2020, managing to promote a formidable 2.5 million copies regardless of being a brand-new IP. For the sequel, developer One Extra Stage has gone with the tried and true technique of larger is healthier. More often than not, that works completely, taking what was already good in Ghostrunner and making it higher together with a number of new mechanics. In contrast to the surefooted cyborg Jack, although, Ghostrunner 2 does often stumble.

Step one among making Ghostrunner 2 greater is a a lot expanded-upon story that makes an attempt to flesh out the world and characters. Following the occasions of the primary recreation, Dharma tower – an enormous mega-city housing survivors of a world-ending occasion – is in the midst of an influence wrestle. Whereas it’s technically a spot for individuals to stay and survive, Dharma is extra like a large videogame playground stuffed with rails to slip on, partitions to run throughout, insane jumps, useful grappling factors and loads of individuals who wish to see Jack, the titular Ghostrunner, change into a really useless Jack.

Narrative and writing weren’t excessive factors for the primary recreation and the sequel will not be a lot better. To the credit score of One Extra Stage, they’ve actually tried to increase on the world, its lore and its characters however, to be blunt, I couldn’t carry myself to care and even feign curiosity. All of it zipped previous me, although I’m positive extra devoted followers than myself can be to see what’s been taking place in Dharma.

However that’s superb as a result of similar to the primary recreation, Ghostrunner 2 is all about sinking into that zen-like state of circulate the place your thoughts enters some type of alternate state of existence. He may be product of metallic however Jack is an agile bastard able to operating on partitions, dashing in mid-air, grappling, sliding on rails, dodging and extra. The controls are pinpoint sharp, all the time really feel responsive and correct which in flip means fucking up isn’t ever unfair, although it should actually really feel prefer it at instances due to a single enemy unloading a bullet into your ribcage from some unseen angle.

Jack’s velocity and agility are necessary as a result of not solely do enemies die to a single blow hit however so does Jack. A single bullet, punch to the face, vitality wave or stiff breeze is sufficient to ship Jack to cyber-heaven. The trick is to all the time hold shifting, then, to shortly learn the atmosphere and the enemy structure so as to work out the place to go and who to kill first. Typically that’s straightforward as a result of the extent’s structure whispers straight into your ear: “begin with a wallrun, soar early onto the air vent and use that to succeed in the defend drone first, then drop down onto the railing, time your blocks to return incoming bullets to their owns, soar off, slide below the robotic’s vitality wave and chop its legs out from below it,” it whispers. When these moments happen and also you carry out a seamless, excellent run by way of a fight space, by no means as soon as stopping, Ghostrunner 2 releases a lot endorphins into your mind that it ought to most likely be unlawful. It feels completely fucking super.

When it doesn’t try this, Ghostrunner 2 might be annoying. Typically the atmosphere doesn’t whisper to you, it simply stays resolutely silent and watches as you wrestle to search out the appropriate manner of dispatching the dangerous guys. Because it solely takes one hit to place you six toes underground, some areas is usually a case of trial and error as you pilot Jack by way of totally different routes and techniques, looking for out what’s going to work. Sometimes that may even imply cowering behind some bins such as you’re taking part in Shaggy in an episode of Scooby-doo, ready for the particular Shuriken’s or Ghost energy to recharge. It does considerably mar the entire go quick, kill quick ethos of the motion, however there’s all the time the selection to replay the extent or restart from a checkpoint so you may destroy everybody.

Loads of platforming sequences are thrown in as properly, after all, pushing Jack’s capability to parkour across the place like some type of cybernetically improve chimpanzee with a sword. One Extra Stage opted to toss extra puzzle fixing into these moments, too, like big buttons that activate a timer which opens a door, making you race again to get by way of in time. Or a sequence of lasers that may open up a pathway when blocked. These are fundamental and actually add little or no to recreation, aside from slowing it down. That’s most likely the purpose although, because the marketing campaign clocks in at about 6-8 hours relying on whether or not you need to seek out the collectibles and sword skins.

There’s the occasional boss battle, too. Right here, Ghostrunner 2 struggles to search out attention-grabbing methods to deal with them. Bosses don’t die to a single hit which relatively ruins the entire premise of the sport, and as a substitute play out like barely awkward first-person melee fights the place you be taught the sample and beat the shit out of the boss when a spot presents itself. That’s very true to the ultimate battle in opposition to the sport’s massive dangerous (a dude referred to as Mitra) which is totally underwhelming.

Right here’s a query: how do you make a cyborg ninja even cooler? The reply, after all, is to provide him a motorbike. These sections are fast-paced rides the place you must dodge obstacles, drive up partitions and enhance over ramps There are even a number of weapons caught to the entrance of the bike, in case of pesky enemies getting in the best way. The sense of velocity that you just get when driving the bike is great, and dodging issues on the final second or shortly reacting to one thing is nice enjoyable. There’s a sure roughness to those sections, although, as a result of the bike will get caught on terrain actually simply. I can’t rely how usually I acquired the factor caught, particularly in a sure part we’ll talk about shortly, and wound up having to shimmy it round to get it unstuck.

It’s not like that subject is unique to the bike, both. In my exuberance, I very often ended up leaping into the void or wall operating into locations I wasn’t precisely meant to be and acquired wedged into the surroundings like a stray piece of popcorn hiding at the back of your enamel.

The bike is a good addition to the gameplay, actually serving to to interrupt up the motion. The introduction of the bike, although, additionally leads immediately into The Ghostrunner 2’s largest stumble when it decides to take Jack out of the confines of Dharma Tower and provides him extra room to run round. It doesn’t instantly flip into an open-world journey or something like that, however the builders mess around with a number of greater areas the place you may drive round and sort out targets. On the one cybernetic hand, it is sensible for One Extra Stage to experiment with these semi-open areas, however on the opposite it doesn’t meld properly with the sport’s quick, frantic and targeted motion. These exploration sections are basically simply empty area to drive round in earlier than reaching a regular linear platforming/motion part. Although actually not horrible, they interrupted the sport’s pacing.

When you’ve sliced and diced your manner by way of the marketing campaign, Ghostrunner 2 has one thing further up its…properly, Jack doesn’t have sleeves however you get my level. Roguerunner.exe pops up in the principle menu with completely zero fanfare little clarification after making some progress within the story. It’s principally a problem mode divided into 4 levels, and inside every stage are a sequence of fight and platforming nodes to select from. They begin out straightforward sufficient and change into progressively tougher, culminating in a problem that mixes each your combating and parkour abilities. Modifiers like further lives or skills additionally pop up. Other than the satisfaction of finishing every stage, there are additionally bonus rewards within the type of new skins for Jack’s palms and a reasonably badass sword pores and skin for those who can beat stage 4. It’s a reasonably enjoyable mode that provides an additional hour or two to the bundle.

Taking part in on the PlayStation 5, I bumped into a few efficiency woes. There have been a number of sections the place the framerate stuttered and sputtered which isn’t supreme in a recreation that’s all about velocity and precision. These might be powered by way of, although one or two sections felt just like the frames have been dropping down into the 20s. Hopefully, future updates can clean the efficiency out.

Talking of efficiency, whereas I did play on PS5 I reckon Ghostrunner 2, similar to the primary recreation, might be greatest skilled on PC. The precision and velocity {that a} keyboard and mouse provide is ideal for this type if fast-paced recreation. I’m assured that a whole lot of my deaths would doubtless have been prevented on PC the place I may have been correct with my shurikens or slightly faster to spin round.

Like a cyberpunk human coming in for a few upgrades, Ghostrunner 2 is the primary recreation with a number of augmentations bolted to its physique. Many of the new {hardware} its chosen to get is an enchancment, however a few items weren’t actually wanted. There’s extra give attention to a narrative that isn’t very attention-grabbing and the experiment with open areas falls flat. Nonetheless, the core mixture of platforming and fight stays immensely satisfying and enjoyable and the brand new bike sections are cool. Followers of the primary recreation ought to be very happy with this sequel.