Ghostrunner 2 builds on the excellent debut it made back in 2020 by expanding its story and improving the combat and parkour, making you feel like even more of a cyborg ninja.
The games begins a year after the events of previous title, you continue as Jack who now fully understands his task as an enforcer. Ghostrunner 2 is much more story focused this time around, while trying to navigate the various areas of each level you’ll be in constant radio chatter with various characters you’ll meet a long the way. I found my self struggling to listen to the conversations half the time because I was concentrating too much because the game is so unforgiving.
When everything comes together you feel like an absolute master of murder, combos of slides and wall running before slashing the head off an opponent feels fantastic but more often than not I found myself comic missing jumps or getting killed at the last moment, thankfully checkpoints are quite forgiving so thankfully you always feel like you are progressing, albeit slowly in my case.
The platforming sections are fun, especially when you unlock shuriken which can be used to disable electrical fields or give you an extra place to grapple onto to help your movement. This is made more complicated by the different pocket of enemies waiting for you when you eventually land. The game wants you to take on enemies in a certain way but it’s up to you to work out the best way of doing so. Thanks to the forgiving checkpoints you can use plenty of trial and error to help you pull off the perfect parkour and execution combos. Boss fights were particularly challenging, even when you had learnt the pattern of attacks. You’ll need to use all of the abilities available to get through each battle.
As you progress through the game you’ll gain access to new abilities, as well as the returning shuriken that we’ve already mentioned, you can also create a copy of yourself while cloaked to create a distraction. The third is a kinetic push which is great for giving you more space to attack or even send opponents over the edge to fall to their deaths.
Dotted around each level are chips which can be used to upgrade all of your abilities at machines dotted around the game, most are fairly easy to find but you may have to sacrifice time to find the more well hidden ones. There are also some challenge terminals that introduce parkour time trials, they are good way to practice your skills.
In attempt to expand on the storyline Ghostrunner 2 eventually see you leave Dharma Tower and head into the wasteland where you’ll discover new enemy types and even a motorcycle to move around on. There are some genuinely entertaining sections to play through but the wastelands are visually disappointing, especially when Dharma Tower’s cyberpunk vibe looks so good.
I reviewed the game on an Xbox Series X and the game performed excellently – I didn’t encounter any issues and the frame rate was smooth throughout. I thought the soundtrack was excellent and was also impressed by the voice acting. More accomplished players will finish the game in around 12 hours
Ghostrunner 2 is a brutal unforgiving game but I can't help but love it - The fleshed out story, the motorcycle sections and the overall look and feel of the game are excellent, I can't wait for the DLC