Ghostrunner 2 – a very difficult but rewarding adventure

After being a surprise hit with the first Ghostrunner game, One More Level is back at it with an even more improved but just as difficult foray into the cyberpunk parkour world.

Picking up a year after the first game we continue as Jack, living his life as a hero, before having to plunge back into the world to take down a new crew. We get a home base in this game as well to move throughout and have conversations in, even if those conversations don’t feel as fresh as everything else the game has to offer. The home base offers a little break though between missions.

Visually the game though is gorgeous. The neon skyscrapers and landscapes feel great to run though and even if the open world desert isn’t the most original it still looks good. Movement is as smooth as every as is your actions. Every little step matters and I always felt like I was in control of either succeeding or causing my own demise.

Ghostrunner 2, similar to the first game, almost feels like a puzzle game due to the mechanics here. Still a one hit kill and one hit death for most things here even the slightest misstep will cause your demise. Weaving and moving around bullets in slo mo, attempting hits, explosions, and more can make you feel either like an ultimate hero or like you want to throw your controller through the tv.

The game, while never really unfair fully, is painstakingly difficult. While checkpoints are a plenty, I hit some areas which required me to retry this 30 or 40 times to complete a section. Dodging attacks and bullets from every angle only to get almost through and die can be a rage inducing thing. Thankfully the game saves after most things and during multiple stages of bosses meaning you don’t have to retrek through too much of the game.

While the game introduces some new attacks and powers, everything works best when its simplest. I found myself using just the shuriken more than powers unless the puzzle at hand demanded it. When the game takes us out of the tower setting as well it loses a bit of its steam. A new motorcycle brings some grand action movie type scenes but when we get shown too much of it in the environment you start to see some cracks in the system. Our later environments just aren’t as fun or vibrant as the first half of the game. Thankfully though the bosses in the later sections are memorable enough to make up for any downfalls.

Overall Ghostrunner 2 is a lot of fun. While the gameplay style and difficulty may not be for everyone, for those that enjoy it this is a top tier game. Even with a second half that doesn’t fully hold up to the first half the game throws enough great things at you to end it on a high note.

Score : 7/10

Played on Xbox Series X

Review code provided by Stride PR