Ghostrunner 2 is an Action-Slasher Platformer game set in a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk future world where the AI cult rules over the humanity living in Dharma Tower. This game is a sequel to its original and brings back Jack, the main protagonist from the original game to fight and demolish the AI cult by becoming the ultimate cyber ninja. The ‘One More Level’ developer has taken the Ghostrunner 2 to a finer state than the original game as it includes more skills, better parkour, epic boss battles, and much more.
Story
The story of Ghostrunner 2 continues from its original game as the events taken back in the prequel set the destruction of Dharma Tower. By killing the Keymaster in the original game, the humanity of Dharma Tower has been overtaken by a rebellion of AI cult. The AI cult has spread over Dharma Tower both inside and outside of Dharma Tower and Jack must use his Ninja Skills to put an end to the cult.
The story of the game is very interactive as various NPCs from the original game join back in Ghostrunner 2 and elevate the stage of the story for the players to have a more immersive experience. The context provided in the narrative is enough even for any new player who hasn’t touched the original game to understand the state of the city that they are trying to protect from AI factions.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Ghostrunner 2 is more extensive than the original game as there are more modes introduced that allow players to think for themselves to come up with a conclusion to solve a level. However, the base premise of the game stays the same requiring you to slide, slash, grapple, and deflect the attacks of the enemies to progress to the next level. Every level in the game has multiple possibilities through which you can solve them by utilizing the skills of Jack.
Speaking of Skills, there is now a new skill system providing you with several skills that can be unlocked using the points you earned from killing the enemies and surpassing the levels. Unlocking any skill from the skill tree will install the skills on Jack’s Motherboard allowing him to unleash his new Ninja Skills. However, no matter the advancement in skills, Jack is still one hit away from restarting the level like in the original game. Every puzzle/level you come across has to be solved perfectly without falling to death or getting hit by a projectile. You have to be fully aware of Jack’s movement and Katana’s combat mechanics to wall-run while grappling and deflecting the shots of enemies to prevent Jack from restarting from the checkpoint.
The game is very forgiving in terms of checkpoints as clearing each stage will save your progress so, that you don’t have to restart from a while back. Restart is instant and there is no loading screen for that which keeps the flow of the game consistent. Throughout the first 4 hours of the game, the game will introduce you to every new addition that you need to get your grasp on for the challenges ahead. The new non-linear levels will introduce you to motorbike sections which will allow you to venture across the highway leading into the city while you encounter various adversaries along the way. It does not strict you to keep driving the motorbike as you have the freedom to jump from the bike to take care of any threats and jump back to the bike using the grappling hook. Another great addition for Jack in Ghostrunner 2 is Wing Suit which changes the course of the levels along with combat. Jumping from platforms allows you to fly for a bit and traverse in the air to get close to distant grappling platforms. Alternatively, you can create grappling points by shooting the stars on the platforms which allow you to traverse ahead.
The boss fights in Ghostrunner 2 are immersive as they give more freedom to players to think of a method to defeat the boss. Each boss fight can be tackled in multiple ways and they are the only fight where you have to attack more than once to defeat an enemy but you will still go down in a single hit. Fortunately, the game also offers checkpoints in between the boss fights to keep you engaged with the boss fight without breaking the flow.
Sound and Visuals
The visuals of the Sci-Fi world shown in Ghostrunner 2 look stunning and the post-apocalyptic cyberpunk vibe of the world does fit with the whole fast-paced action that takes place in it. One of the biggest factors that immerse the experience of the game is the Synthwave Soundtrack and music. However, the character models of the NPCs that you meet in the narrative feel like they lack real personality but the group of Ghostrunners fills up this flaw greatly.
Verdict – Score 9/10
Ghostrunner 2 is an amazing Action Platformer both in gameplay and narrative as it delivers all the factors of a great story game along with fast-paced action that requires you to become a Ninja that does everything perfectly. We recommend Ghostrunner 2 to any gamer who likes fast-paced games and story-driven games with the freedom of handling the anomalies in their way.
Ghostrunner 2 is available on PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X, and Series S.
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