Ghostrunner 2 is a perplexing expertise. Its predecessor, which was launched on the tail finish of 2020, supplied us with a fast-paced, trendy, cyber-ninja-themed motion platformer that managed to rival different video games trying an identical factor. Nonetheless, with the sequel, developer One Extra Stage has designed an entry that seemingly manages to supply that very same exhilarating feeling, although at the price of a bevy of efficiency and technical points (at the very least on PS5). In each efficiency and constancy modes, Ghostrunner 2 suffers from a wide selection of body drops and, extra annoyingly, an absurd variety of glitches that may simply take away from the fluidity it units out to attain with its traversal-focused gameplay sequences.
The story is a direct continuation of the earlier recreation, specializing in a Ghostrunner by the identify of Jack. After his reactivation following the climax of his final journey, Jack now seeks to rebuild Dharma Tower, the final identified bastion of humankind. Nonetheless, quickly sufficient, a large energy wrestle emerges, and it is as much as you to defeat a military of cybernetically enhanced foes. Finally, the sport presents you with the chance to discover the outskirts of Dharma Tower, which provides additional context for the present state of the surface world.
Whereas this will look like nothing new for a recreation of this style, Ghostrunner 2’s narrative is commonly successfully informed by means of its environmental design and lore-specific collectibles. Then once more, the plot incessantly suffers from poor pacing and difficult-to-understand intricacies which might be not often defined to the participant. This may be additional exemplified if you have not performed the unique. Though Ghostrunner 2 presents a fast recap in its menus, it would not successfully encapsulate among the key occasions required to totally grasp the story it desires to ship. Consequently, quite a lot of plot factors can typically really feel rushed or underbaked, and finally result in a considerably anticlimactic ending.
Nonetheless, the sport’s essential focus lies inside its gameplay and stage design. In the identical method as its predecessor, Ghostrunner 2 is an action-platformer with similarities to id Software program’s DOOM. Though which will look like an odd comparability, each require the participant to consistently transfer round ranges, as standing idly by can result in a fast dying. That is the place the comparability ends although, as as a substitute of firing an arsenal of heavy weapons, you are restricted to a sword and some talents. Regardless of having a restricted pool of choices, mastery of Ghostrunner 2’s mechanics is the way you steadily make your method by means of the marketing campaign’s phases.
Moreover, there are some further gameplay components that may offer you a a lot wanted change of surroundings. Boss encounters, for example, are a breath of contemporary air, as they typically really feel like a big puzzle. As an example, one of many recreation’s earlier bosses requires Jack to make use of his grapple to keep away from sure assaults, earlier than beautiful the boss to whittle down its well being bar. Along with some enjoyable bosses, Ghostrunner 2 additionally boasts a rogue-like mode aptly referred to as RogueRunner.EXE, which sees Jack progressing by means of a sequence of fight or parkour-focused “nodes” with totally different paths to succeed in the top. Regardless of not having a lot weight on the general narrative, this mode is a enjoyable additional to experiment with as soon as the credit roll.
Talking of the degrees themselves, we discovered them to be a blended bag in regard to their high quality. The sooner missions really feel fairly repetitive, because the atmosphere does little or no to shake issues up, and you do not have rapid entry to Jack’s talents. That apart, the sport has a pleasant choice of ranges that really feel nice to play by means of, particularly whenever you get to check out a newly acquired talent or instrument. As an example, one of many sequel’s new additions is a motorbike, which dramatically spices issues up by means of quicker sequences and artistic open-world-like phases. Nonetheless, one factor we seen in our 10 hours of playtime is the sport’s tendency to shortly throw away enjoyable concepts in alternate for a similar carbon copy of a stage you performed a couple of hours prior.
Then once more, the vast majority of the degrees have intelligent environmental puzzles it’s essential full with a purpose to progress additional. More often than not, Jack is required to carve his method by means of a sequence of enemy encounters to maneuver on along with his mission. Usually, a room could have wherever from a couple of to a dozen enemies, with every one having the facility to take you out in a single easy hit. Nonetheless, that is the place a few of Ghostrunner 2’s core points lie, as though the problem of determining an optimum path to victory may be enjoyable, the sport’s severe efficiency points solid a shadow over what its attempting to attain right here. For instance, there was one second the place we entered a room and the body price dropped to roughly 10-20 frames-per-second. That is particularly irritating when there’s quite a lot of enemies or obstacles to keep away from, which is one thing we consistently fought towards throughout our playthrough.
One other instance of this being a difficulty is throughout among the recreation’s parkour sections, which is the place you will spend most of your time between enemy and boss encounters. Ghostrunner 2 tries to juggle quite a lot of components in its parkour mechanics, comparable to grind rails, wall operating, utilizing shurikens to activate switches, and successfully utilizing your expertise to navigate optimally. However, there have been many situations of the sport’s mechanics failing to work correctly, as leaping on a grind rail would not have the identical magnetism as what you’d usually anticipate, and wall operating typically results in Jack climbing on prime of it, resulting in an affordable, meaningless dying. We additionally seen a wide selection of visible glitches on PS5, and there was even a second the place we merely fell by means of the ground.
Conclusion
Ghostrunner 2 has some enjoyable moments, although it could possibly typically be troublesome to see previous quite a lot of the efficiency points and inconsistent stage design. When the sport’s at its greatest, slicing by means of a horde of enemies and leaping round like a ninja, it may be an exhilarating expertise. Nonetheless, it may be value ready for a patch to deal with quite a lot of the core points current at launch.