The hardcore first-person platformer Ghostrunner 2 is back in style to test your skill and creativity. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Ghostrunner 2 Review Overview
Ghostrunner 2 Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Satisfying Trial-and-Error Improved Progression Banger Soundtrack | Motorcycle Segments Are Kinda Janky NPCs Leave A Lot To Be Desired Story Needs Context |
Ghostrunner 2 Overall - 82/100
Ghostrunner 2 is a fast-paced, first-person platformer where you die and kill enemies in one hit. The game is intended to test your skill and creativity with all the various tools at your disposal for movement and combat. With a new and simpler skill progression that lets you customize the way you play, Ghostrunner 2 adds more flavor and flexibility to their already creative experience. Suppose you weren’t a fan of the one-hit game style similar to games like Hotline Miami and Katana Zero. In that case, this game may not appeal to you since it was clearly made for that type of audience and even doubles down on it by introducing more ways to string kills faster and more efficiently.
Ghostrunner 2 Story - 7/10
The story of Ghostrunner 2 picks up exactly a year after the death of the Keymaster, the tyrant who ruled Dharma Tower with an iron fist in the first game. The game tries to hook you in with an amazing comic-like intro sequence and does a fairly good job of setting the mood right at the start of the game. However, there are a lot of story bits and pieces that may not be understood by a player who just picked up the game, as it doesn’t offer much context or a recap to set the groundwork for players new to the series. While the game offers dialogue choices when talking to the characters in the hub zone, they are merely there to expand the lore in the game and not to add consequential choices when choosing to interact with them. The dialogue doesn’t really add too much to the story experience if they can just be ignored most of the time.
Ghostrunner 2 Gameplay - 9/10
The game adds more tools and even makes their old mechanics into staple resources like the usage of shurikens and the Stamina bar to be managed wisely for both dodging and blocking. It also adds an all-new feature of vehicular combat and traversal out in the world, which can feel both amazing and janky simultaneously as these vehicular sections may become annoying as they go. The game encourages you to go fast and kill fast, but it does offer you rewards when you explore the levels since there are a variety of collectibles, skins, and even upgrades to be found. The game is difficult and will test your patience and skill in each encounter with the different combat and parkour sections. If you’re not a fan of the trial-and-error aspect or the speedrunner-type gameplay it presents, then I don’t think the game will be enjoyable for you, as the game may be frustrating on that front.
Ghostrunner 2 Visuals - 7/10
The game looks great, and you can see the stark contrast between the cyberpunk theme inside the game’s primary setting of Dharma Tower. The place is populated with different enemies with eye-catching outfits and bright neon lights compared to the bleak and barren outside world filled with radiated beings. The character designs aren’t the greatest and the Asura definitely stand out, but they don’t necessarily look bad for the various characters throughout the game. The non-player character allies feel dry as they look a little dead and empty when talking to them in the hub section before and after missions.
Ghostrunner 2 Audio - 8/10
The soundtrack is similar to Hotline Miami, where its use of synthwave will get your head bobbing while going on a murder spree. The boss tracks are exceptional and get you in the mood to start hacking away with the adrenaline-pumping soundtrack. However, the combat sound effects are a little too weak, and I personally think they should have a little more weight to enhance the experience.
Ghostrunner 2 Value for Money - 9/10
With a fun and fast-paced gameplay loop that keeps you on your toes, Ghostrunner 2 is well worth the price of admission. Multiple options are offered to the player to continue playing, like Roguerunner.exe, a roguelike game mode that is sure to keep things fresh. While the game encourages players to go as fast as possible to try for better times, it also has different collectible items like cosmetics and lore items to promote exploration. Finally, the soundtrack is a compelling reason to encourage new players to try this hardcore platformer and see if they want to become a badass cyber ninja.
Ghostrunner 2 Review: Strike First, Strike Fast, Strike Again
Ghostrunner 2 is a great game. A part of the reason why it's great is because of its difficulty. It does not have a difficulty setting, so this is how the game is intended to be from the developer's perspective. Players are expected to retry every stage multiple times because everybody dies in one hit, including you. The aim is that repetition will improve your skills and knowledge, and the satisfaction of being aware that you're gradually improving is nothing short of incredible.
The mechanics are simple and relatively straightforward. Pushed by the game's difficulty, things eventually start to click as you continue playing. Eventually, you will begin to develop a certain style of your own.
Combat segments are carefully crafted, similar to the previous game, like puzzles you try to solve through trial and error. Additionally, this will test how good you are at improvisation, as while you could plan the whole thing and execute it to perfection, seeing a puzzle for the first time may throw you off. You must be creative with your strategies and attentive to every minute detail to succeed. This, alongside the heavy synthwave music in the background during encounters with big baddies, equates to a fantastic experience that makes you feel like a badass cyber ninja.
Pros of Ghostrunner 2
| Things Ghostrunner 2 Got Right |
|---|
|
Satisfying Trial-and-Error Improved Progression Banger Soundtrack |
Satisfying Trial-and-Error
The game can be broken down into three gameplay segments: the Combat Segments, Parkour Segments, and the new Motorcycle Segments. All three have relatively forgiving checkpoints as they tend to be located right before each segment starts, encouraging the player to fully explore each segment to complete them successfully. Combat segments feature multiple enemies appearing in a diverse group, forcing you to pay attention to their attack patterns and decide to deal with them on the fly. Parkour segments are where the game stays true to its platforming roots. Similar to Mirror’s Edge, the parkour sections are guided by visual cues and different layers of traversal options, including grappling hooks, vaulting, wall running, wall climbing, and the like. These segments tend to have continuous jumps, grapple points, and vaulting along with targets to hit to open certain doors, grapple points, or walls to run. Dividing these gameplay segments into puzzles of sorts makes for a great experience, especially for players who love experimenting with games.
Improved Progression
Progression has been improved in this current iteration as upgrading has been simplified. In the previous game, you had to stack your upgrades similar to a Tetris-like setup in a fixed grid. This was particularly difficult to understand and apply since you would take a lot of time to rotate the pieces around just to make them fit together in the grid you’re given. Now, upgrades are bought using in-game currency collected by killing enemies and chaining combos and then applied through the Motherboard in a simpler and more straightforward fashion. Upgrades are split into different types and improve various aspects of your gameplay and only need to be stacked in the Motherboard in column to focus on a certain ability instead of trying to fit everything together. Some of these upgrades improve stamina efficiency, others improve timing and ease of use of parries and dashes, and some upgrades flat-out change the combo counter so that you can chain together multiple kills longer to maximize rewards. The limit of the grid increases after every mission as well as the amount of collected chips you've gathered throughout the game. This encourages you to replay stages and look for these upgrade chips so that you can fit in more upgrades later down the line. These upgrades drastically change how you play as they expand your options in combat.
Banger Soundtrack
The soundtrack is superb. Sometimes, you will find yourself banging your head to the beat as you slice your way through your adversaries. The hype it generates is especially noticeable during boss fights, which call for much more intense music. The music also becomes like a trance, especially when you get into the zone during combat. This is important because you wouldn't want to repeat boss segments multiple times to terrible music. That's just adding insult to injury, really.
Cons of Ghostrunner 2
| Things That Ghostrunner 2 Can Improve |
|---|
|
Motorcycle Segments Are Kinda Janky NPCs Leave A Lot To Be Desired Story Needs Context |
Motorcycle Segments Are Kinda Janky
Motorcycle combat and traversal are new additions to the game. Unfortunately, their implementation was done quite poorly, as they are unreasonably challenging to get used to. For example, similar to real life, backing a motorcycle up is a massive pain. Additionally, the consequences of a minor mishap may involve having to restart an entire segment. This will often lead you to repeat a stretch of the game multiple times for simply hitting a bump in the road or accidentally going in the wrong direction. Combat during the motorcycle segments is also distinctly different from Ghostrunner's normal gameplay since the weapons take their sweet time getting primed and functional. This starkly contrasts with the regular hack-and-slash slice-and-dice combat, which is instant and responsive. While some of these segments are great, especially ones where you have to speed up to beat the red light, some vehicular combat sections feel frustrating to repeat.
NPCs Leave A Lot To Be Desired
The characters in the game look and feel dry. It feels like you're talking to non-player characters in older Bethesda games like Fallout and Skyrim. There are little to no facial expressions during conversation, and the animations look stiff. These aspects make the characters look dead and bored, even when discussing essential or personal topics. While the game was not particularly made to be a role-playing game where dialogue is necessary, it is something that Ghostrunner can improve on, especially on the human characters.
Story Needs Context
The game drops you into the thick of it straight from pressing New Game in the main menu. There is no introduction or anything remotely similar. It may confuse new players as they will not have any context about who the characters are. You're just immediately bombarded with story jargon, which may simply ruin your immersion right from the get-go. The game does present the characters well, especially the new additions of the Asura. The Asura are mysterious new Ghostrunner variants who are directly involved with the cultists of the outside world with the intention to destroy Dharma Tower. However, Jack, the player Ghostrunner, and his fellow rebels dubbed The Climbers are not really introduced to the player, and newer players will have to piece together the information that the characters talk about throughout the dialogue in the game.
Is Ghostrunner 2 Worth It?
Yes, But Not For The Faint of Heart
The game offers many gameplay modes and even its own roguelike mode to ensure you're never bored. However, the game is also very challenging, and it will kick your butt multiple times until you start using the tools at your disposal and learn about your enemies. You may often feel frustrated by your constant failures if you're not a fan of trial-and-error and its one-hit-death mechanics. On the other hand, decimating your foes and experiencing the satisfaction of successfully clearing rooms full of enemies is unmatched in this hardcore platformer.
Ghostrunner 2 Overview & Premise
Follow Jack as you take on a violent AI cult that has infiltrated humanity's last safe haven. Explore the outside of Dharma Tower with your new motorbike, skills, abilities, and weapons to become the ultimate cyber ninja.
Ghostrunner 2 FAQ
When was Ghostrunner 2 released?
Officially, Ghostrunner 2 was released on October 26, 2023 while offering Early Access to players who pre-ordered the Brutal Edition. Early Access is already fully playable across all platforms available.
Game8 Reviews
Ghostrunner 2 Product Information
 |
|
| Title | GHOSTRUNNER 2 |
|---|---|
| Release Date | October 26, 2023 |
| Developer | One More Level |
| Publisher | 505 Games |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam, GOG, Epic), PS5, Xbox Series X|S |
| Genre | First-Person, Platformer, Action |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | M |
| Official Website | Ghostrunner 2 Website |
