Ghostrunner 2 is the direct sequel to Ghostrunner (2020) and takes place one year after the events of the first one. For any newcommer there is nothing to worry about as the developers went out of their way to add a story recap option in the title screen
that pretty much sums up the story of the original in a small cinematic clip. The clip does an okay job reminding the old players about the Ghostrunner's adventure and the setting of the world. For the newcommers, its does a decent job to make them grasp the idea of this game.
As mentioned a year after the first game and the fall of the tower many cults are fighting amongs them to established a new powerhouse and a new leadership. A group called the Climbers reactivate Jack the last Ghostrunner with whom we defeated the tower last time. The climbers is a small group of rebels
who want to established a new order by stoping the big powerhouses. Their plans brings them face to face with Hammer, a new group which recently rosed to power and it seems to be an unstoppable. The group learns that some of the members in Hammer are infact ghostrunners and that Jack is no longer the last one. These
new ghostrunners revive their leader Mitra. The group of ghostrunners refer to themeselves as the Asuras.
Through a couple of missions Jack and the climbers learn that the Asuras were the first ever Ghostrunner who defied their masters and went rogue. Their threat is intense as they do not know what to expect from them and they were never seen before to know what to theorize/ strategize againts them. The fact that they re also
ghostrunners adds to their overall threat and arsenals. Each of the new ghostrunners has their own unique attributes such as controlling the cybervoid, enchanced battle forms etc.
The story follows the rebels and Jack trying to stop this new threat and it will find Jack venturing to the outside walls into new territories with new enemies who might hold they key to something special.
Will Jack be able to discover Asuras plans?
What will they discover outside?
What awaits the heroes?
Think fast. Slash fast. Dodge fast
As mentioned the gameplay of Ghostrunner(2020) was heavily influenced by the Doom series and the trending of surfing games such as CSGO and clustertuck, two games that were very popular especially with youtube commentators who were a trend during
2017-2020. To elaborate, in ghostrunner the player gets control of Jack a cyberpunk ninja whose goal is to stop the Asuras and slash his way towards them. Movement is free and fun which allows the hero
to always sprint forward, run on the walls and use a special type webbing in order to swing around near enemies. Similar to Doom, the game is all about moving and killing to not lose the momentum. It also offers the player a small amount
of decent puzzles and platforming tasks based on certain powers ups. For examples some levels offer a power up that allows the hero to slow down time in order for the ghostrunner to move around enemies or even through deadly spots such as spinning blades. Other
powerups allows the ghostrunner to throw shurikens towards electrick boxes to send sparks to gates in order to open their paths and others. The sequel also introduce new powers which further improves on the platforming and Jack's abilities such as shadow clones, glider and others.
Furthermore, the developers made sure that the sequel will offer more than just one road by expanding the areas with multiple paths suiting for all player styles. Platforming is half the fun of the game as the other half is all about the combat.
Hack and slash games allow the hero to freely move around and kill various enemies. The player's best way of attacking is through his use of his blade. The game has plenty of enemies and each time the game introduces new enemies making the whole experience better and keeping it fresh.
For example, there are people with gun, people with miniguns, bots that shoot lasers, ninja's who require to be parried in order to be stunned and killed, people who shoot lazer beams, enemies with shields
that can only be attacked from the back, flying drones and others. Each enemy is unique with their attack patterns and their weaknesses. Despite all the enemies there are items
in the maps that can also kill the players such as spikes, electricity and others. The ghostrunner is always one shot which will mean a single hit will cause death and respawn. Similary every enemy is one shot and can die easily from the
runners blade in close range or shurikens(that are a permanent thing and not just a temporary power up) for long range atacks. To defend himself the ghost has to avoid hits by movin left and right, by perfectly timing the blade swing with the bullet hit, Jack can slow time which is something that the player can do at any point in the game to both
aid him in battle and in platforming tasks. By tapping the right buttons, time slows and the runner has time to react on upcomming bullets and other deadly traps and
projectiles. A new addition is the ability to Block and Parry. This time around the players are given a button dedicated to block. Block works for every mellee attack and for almost all projectiles. Bullets can also be deflected back to the enemies. Perfect timing the block button can
parry the melee enemies.
As mentioned the core combat in the game is using the blade and the environment to slice through everyone. This time around Jack received an upgrade that really adds more than people think. As briefly mentioned, the shurikens from the first game return but this time are available at all time without the need of a power up.
The shurikens can be thrown at enemies to kill them or to stun them if they re of bigger size. This weapon is also used for different puzzles similar to before but they can also be used by throwing them on a wall and using the web to get attached towards them. The new ability added is Shadow clone. By activating this attack Jack created a
clone to the location where the skill was activated which will take the enemies attention of Jack who will turn invisible allowing him to stealthy move around the area. Just like the shurikens, a clone can also be used to solve puzzles. Another ability making its return is Tempest. Tempest is like a force push
that pushes multiple enemies away to their deaths. It is also capable of pushing upcomming projectiles and items such as explosive barrels. This attack is AoE based and can also be used outside of combat to push items where you most need them. Last but not least Jack has his Ultimate attack which is unlocked while killing enemies. The player can unlock
five ultimates in total but can only equip one at a time. Each attack is different based on the players battle style. The first power is a swift strike very similar to Genji from Overwatch. The time moves slowly and the player can move the camera around
in order to get a perfect alignment of the enemies and slice through. If a player alligns more than one, then all of them will fall from the swift strike. The second ability is something similar to beam. The runner moves his palm as a red beam like shockwave is thrown
killing everyone in its path. This is an AoE attack that can kill plenty of enemies as long as they re in range. Furthermore, the third ability gained is a slow time killing spree. Everything slows down and the player can walk and slice every enemy whilst avoiding upcomming attacks. Another attack upgrades all of Jacks abilities by making him move faster
slice faster, cover longer distance with dash, slow time for longer periods of time and overall go Berserk. Last but not least Jack is able to overwrite his opponents. The runner can hack an enemy who will start shooting on his teammates causing them to shoot him back.
Another great addition to the game is the ability to upgrade the ghostrunner through a very decent board. The player can access board at all times and unlock new passive abilities. The board has upgrade for all playstyles.
The game has three different forms of postgame content.
The game has plenty of collectables for the player to find. The collectables are represented with golden question marks. The player will have to find their way around them and collect them by simply running towards them. The game has four types of collectables.
Overall this is a a challenging and fun game with many new game mechanicks to separate itself from its prequel and be worthy of its legacy. The game is not complex but it does expect the player to die alot. They seemed to be aware of it and thus they made sure that each time the player falls they load straight back in to action in no time and continue any dialog amongs characters without reseting it. The story is interesting with plenty of mysteries surounding Jack, the Asuras, the Rebels and the entire universe. The dialogue exchanges throughout the game are also interesting as the player gets to know more about the world, its inhabitants and our player's existance. The levels are very interesting with challenging platforming and challenging encounters that require clear thinking and straight mind. Furthermore, the collectables are hard to spot and might require more effort in order to collect them all. Last but not least the music is very good and suits the game 100% although to some it may sound similar throughout the game. All new additions make the game feel unique as all the new thinks match the game and their usage both in and out combat is fun. The interactive environment and boss fights are very satisfying.
This is a video showcasing and reviewing the Game