Ghostrunner 2 Assessment – WGB, Dwelling of AWESOME Opinions

Ghostrunner was a shock hit when it launched in 2020, managing to promote a powerful 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 methodology 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. Not like the surefooted cyborg Jack, although, Ghostrunner 2 does sometimes stumble.

Step one in every of 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 sport, Dharma tower – an enormous mega-city housing survivors of a world-ending occasion – is in the course of an influence battle. Whereas it’s technically a spot for individuals to reside and survive, Dharma is extra like a large videogame playground full of rails to slip on, partitions to run throughout, insane jumps, useful grappling factors and loads of individuals who want to see Jack, the titular Ghostrunner, develop into a really useless Jack.

Narrative and writing weren’t excessive factors for the primary sport 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 will probably be to see what’s been occurring in Dharma.

However that’s fantastic as a result of similar to the primary sport, Ghostrunner 2 is all about sinking into that zen-like state of movement the place your thoughts enters some type of alternate state of existence. He is perhaps fabricated from steel however Jack is an agile bastard able to working 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 is never ever unfair, although it’s going to actually really feel prefer it at occasions due to a single enemy unloading a bullet into your ribcage from some unseen angle.

Jack’s velocity and agility are essential 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, power wave or stiff breeze is sufficient to ship Jack to cyber-heaven. The trick is to all the time maintain transferring, then, to rapidly learn the surroundings and the enemy format in an effort to determine the place to go and who to kill first. Typically that’s simple as a result of the extent’s format 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 underneath the robotic’s power wave and chop its legs out from underneath it,” it whispers. When these moments happen and also you carry out a seamless, excellent run by a fight space, by no means as soon as stopping, Ghostrunner 2 releases a lot endorphins into your mind that it ought to in all probability be unlawful. It feels completely fucking super.

When it doesn’t do this, Ghostrunner 2 could be annoying. Typically the surroundings doesn’t whisper to you, it simply stays resolutely silent and watches as you battle to seek out the best method of dispatching the dangerous guys. Because it solely takes one hit to place you six toes underground, some areas generally is a case of trial and error as you pilot Jack by totally different routes and methods, looking for out what’s going to work. Often which may even imply cowering behind some packing containers 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’ll be able to destroy everybody.

Loads of platforming sequences are thrown in as properly, in fact, pushing Jack’s potential 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 in time. Or a sequence of lasers that can open up a pathway when blocked. These are fundamental and actually add little or no to sport, apart from slowing it down. That’s in all probability the purpose although, for the reason that marketing campaign clocks in at about 6-8 hours relying on whether or not you wish to search out the collectibles and sword skins.

There’s the occasional boss battle, too. Right here, Ghostrunner 2 struggles to seek out fascinating 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 niche presents itself. That’s very true to the ultimate battle in opposition to the sport’s large dangerous (a dude known as Mitra) which is totally underwhelming.

Right here’s a query: how do you make a cyborg ninja even cooler? The reply, in fact, is to offer him a motorbike. These sections are fast-paced rides the place it’s a must to dodge obstacles, drive up partitions and increase over ramps There are even a number of weapons caught to the entrance of the bike, in case of pesky enemies getting in the way in which. The sense of velocity that you simply get when using the bike is superb, and dodging issues on the final second or rapidly 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 depend how usually I received the factor caught, particularly in a sure part we are going to talk about shortly, and wound up having to shimmy it round to get it unstuck.

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

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’ll be able to drive round and deal with targets. On the one cybernetic hand, it is smart 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 centered motion. These exploration sections are basically simply empty area to drive round in earlier than reaching a normal linear platforming/motion part. Although actually not horrible, they interrupted the sport’s pacing.

When you’ve sliced and diced your method by the marketing campaign, Ghostrunner 2 has one thing additional 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 rationalization after making some progress within the story. It’s mainly 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 simple sufficient and develop into progressively tougher, culminating in a problem that mixes each your preventing and parkour abilities. Modifiers like additional lives or talents 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 fingers and a fairly badass sword pores and skin in the event you can beat stage 4. It’s a fairly enjoyable mode that provides an additional hour or two to the package deal.

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 sport that’s all about velocity and precision. These could be powered by, 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 sport, might be greatest skilled on PC. The precision and velocity {that a} keyboard and mouse supply is ideal for this sort if fast-paced sport. I’m assured that lots of my deaths would seemingly have been averted on PC the place I may have been correct with my shurikens or a bit of faster to spin round.

Like a cyberpunk human coming in for a few upgrades, Ghostrunner 2 is the primary sport 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 concentrate on a narrative that isn’t very fascinating and the experiment with open areas falls flat. Nevertheless, the core mixture of platforming and fight stays immensely satisfying and enjoyable and the brand new bike sections are cool. Followers of the primary sport ought to be more than pleased with this sequel.