Review: Ghostrunner 2 Is A Second Shot Of An Intoxicating High

I have to say I admire the original Ghostrunner, if only for its sheer commitment to the bit. It’s a game that exists in a “love it or leave it” state- with no real concessions if you can’t buy into it’s brand of cyber future parkour violence.

Ghostrunner 2 appears as a case of more of the same, for better or worse. That’s not inherently a bad thing, mind you- but it’s important to contextualize it in the field of the kinds of players that would want to pick up the title.

Flow State High

So the biggest appeal of Ghostrunner 2 is its inherently flow-state approach to gameplay. Just like the original, levels are massive puzzles built around killing everything in one hit lest you be killed in one yourself. You will die over and over in your attempts to master the art of being a Ghostrunner, and that’s definitely where the game is at its most fun. There’s everything from airdashes to wallrunning to even slowing down time, so finally getting that perfect run feels like a perfect release of tension from the levels before it.

The biggest problem people might have with Ghostrunner 2 is that’s the exact same praise you’d have for the first game. While many titles might feel the need to add some sort of new gimmick to change the way you look at levels, Ghostrunner 2 is intent on keeping our mostly-mute protagonist as free from new toys as possible. If you’re someone who’s played the original title ad nauseam, it can be a little frustrating since you’re not likely to experience the same learner’s high you might have gotten the first time you scaled Dharma Tower.

Still, for the casual player, I don’t think the similarities will bother you that much. It’s more of a formula that already felt great, and the fact that the original Ghostrunner already felt so responsive in its controls means there wasn’t much to fix otherwise. Running into a grappling hook swing followed by a time-slow to get a melee kill feels really great, and mistiming it to eat a rifle shot like it was your Iftar is the kind of frustration that keeps you playing the game. It’s so great to see the developers lean into this with just more of the good stuff, especially since it’s been long enough since the original that you might not even remember how similar it was unless you explicitly replayed it to compare.

The World Of Running Ghosts

Instead, where all the new comes in is via the levels themselves. The original Ghostrunner is almost poetic in how linear it is- in it, you scale Dharma Tower, in an incredibly linear crawl up a vertical structure. For Ghostrunner 2, the world has been way more opened up- what was once claustrophobic corridors or limited murder-rooms feels way more open, and whether or not it’s a good thing will definitely boil down to personal taste.

That being said, it opens up a lot of room for creativity- I’ve noticed Dharma Tower has invested heavily in explosive barrels this time around, which opens up a variety of fun ways to find solutions that don’t necessarily work.

My only complaint is that these more open levels aren’t more commonplace. A lot of levels will still feel like the “there’s clearly one solution to this problem” counterparts, which does feel like a bit of a step backwards.

On the plus side, your Ghostrunner isn’t limited to just Dharma Tower anymore. How fitting that the sequel for a game that released during the pandemic would finally allow you to go outside. I only wish that the outside portions were half as fun as the indoor ones- let’s face it, your skillset was built for enclosed spaces, and not even the existence of a cool bike will replace that.

More Of The Same

Ultimately, Ghostrunner 2 will be best remembered as what happens if you stick too close to your preceding game. I don’t think the game is bad by any means- but the problem with something that’s designed around challenging gameplay is that you need to up the ante on sequels. Because players themselves may not realize it, but the magic that hooked them in was the learning, not necessarily the victory- and once they’ve gotten the hang of something it’s going to make them feel like the magic’s gone.

Still, I have to give props to Ghostrunner 2 for sticking where it counts- the game is a thrilling rush, and as long as you don’t care about the game’s less-than-exciting story, you can easily dive in from the sequel to enjoy the latest in cyber ninja murder fun. Building around pandering to some top 1% player isn’t exactly sound advice either, so I have nothing but praise for the team that knew what people liked out of Ghostrunner and just gave them more of it.

It’s not even like there’s no innovation at all- I just wish we’d see the team lean more into it. Stuff like getting to talk to some NPCs is neat and all, but I always feel like the devs keep trying to push the game’s weaker narrative when I’d happily play through 100 murder rooms without ever having to worry what the hell a Keymaster is. The thrill of parkour with sharp objects is alive and well, and this is definitely a title for those of you that need to shut out the outside world in the name of shutting up a rifleman.

Ghostrunner 2 reviewed on PC. Review code provided by 505 Games

Ghostrunner 2

Release Date: 2023-10-26

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S

Blood will run in Ghostrunner 2, a hardcore FPP slasher set in a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk future. Become the ultimate cyber ninja and prepare for epic boss fights, improved skills, an interactive story, new game modes, and captivating synthwave soundtrack.

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