Ghostrunner reviews how to#

Ghostrunner is equal parts challenging and fair in both its platforming and combat, as it gives you plenty of challenge whilst also giving you enough tools to have a fair chance of succeeding. I referenced Hotline Miami earlier, and that’s mostly due to the difficulty, which is likely going to be a talking point. As awesome as these moves are, I loved that you didn’t have to use them if you didn’t want to and all of the encounters can be done just by using your sword if you want to. As you get further into the story you’ll slowly unlock abilities that help turn the tide of battle in your favour, such as a force blast and a projectile slash.

When you finally learn the rhythm, it feels fantastic, although getting to that point is going to take a lot of deaths and learning. Each of these areas also has platforming elements to it as well, so it always feels like Ghostrunner is going at a breakneck pace. There are a fair amount of enemy types, all with their own unique abilities that make each time you enter combat feel more like a puzzle than a fight. Do you wall-run to avoid projectiles until you get in close, or do you master the timing and try and reflect shots? Do you use your blink ability to dodge towards enemies or do you try and grapple around them? These combat encounters all feel very open to whatever you want to do, and by the end of the game you end up feeling unstoppable.

Ghostrunner reviews how to#

Enemies will pop up as you play in sections that feel like puzzle-combat arenas as you figure out how to take them down without dying, which is pretty hard to do when you can only take one hit. Jack doesn’t just jump around though, he’s got plenty of enemies keeping him from getting to his goal.

There’s almost a rhythm game-like quality as you time your jumps and swings to an electronic beat. It’s nothing that hasn’t been done before, but it all feels really good to do here and makes the adventure feel like it’s evolving as you play. Many of the levels also introduce new gimmicks that help keep things fresh, like grind rails and air flows that blow you around. The puzzle-platforming starts out pretty basic, but eventually has you running on walls as they move and hacking platforms so they shift around the environment. Jack (a name given to the Ghostrunner that’s far easier to type out across a review) can wall-run, slide and do pretty much all the things you’d expect from a first-person platformer, but he can also grapple onto surfaces from far away and use a short teleport blink that also slows time down. Each element here is incredibly fine-tuned, with the movement rivalling the parkour perfection of Mirror’s Edge and the combat making you feel cool with (relative) ease.Īs great as combat encounters can be, it’s the movement that’s really the star of the show here. You control the Ghostunner from a first-person perspective as you platform through levels, slice through enemies in puzzle-like combat arenas and learn new abilities that give you a hand through the game’s brutal eight hour campaign. Thankfully, it’s playing Ghostrunner that’s the truly memorable part of the experience. Similarly to the story, it didn’t stand out as much as the actual gameplay but all of the presentation and set-up elements are good enough in their own right. As you’re running through these environments you’re accompanied by some awesome cyberpunk music tracks and visuals that are synonymous with the genre think neon lights and drones everywhere. It was enough to keep me going from mission to mission, but I can’t say I was following the actual events too closely.

If that sounds a little generic, that’s because it is, but it’s also surprisingly well-acted with some interesting characters giving good voice performances as you play. Ghostrunner has you playing as the titular cyborg ninja, who must slice his way through a cyberpunk cityscape to prevent it from being corrupted by an evil overlord.

Beyond some minor issues, it’s also some of the most fun I’ve had with an indie title, and one of the most satisfying-to-play games this year. All throughout my playthrough, I couldn’t help but think that Ghostrunner is the result of what would happen if Hotline Miami, Ninja Gaiden, Mirror’s Edge and Metal Gear Solid all had a weird drunken night, and it is glorious. Neo-futuristic, first-person, action-platformer is a weird jumble of words, but it’s a collection that matches Ghostrunner very well.