Ghostrunner

Puzzles should’ve been a nice break between intense slasher-parkour sequences. But they’re so drawn out that instead of giving you a breather, they choke the life out of the action. [Issue#250, page 54]

Ghostrunner overwhelmingly succeeds at making the player feel like an agile and deadly cyber-ninja. Just as often, though, it feels like the worst parts of an older Sonic game: players want to rip through at the highest possible speed, but the level design slows them down or trips them up too often to keep that momentum. In spite of that, the undeniable satisfaction of a perfectly executed battle is more than enough to make this game worth the effort it demands.

There are many gamers, I’m certain, who will not only enjoy Ghostrunner’s challenges but be perfectly happy with its demanding and repetitive mechanics. I enjoy challenge, too, but I also want to learn from my mistakes and maybe even succeed the first time around. Ghostrunner is a well-made game with a very specific intention, and there are players for whom this title will be Nirvana. Just not me.

Without my suffering-tinted lenses, Ghostrunner is a fast-paced, tough-ass platformer. Every stage is a non-stop barrage of fresh new challenges. Death is around every corner if you ever stop moving. You’ll experience crushing defeat in a host of different ways, but your victories will be all the sweeter. You can choose your path to victory, with multiple routes available through some of the larger stages. On the aesthetic side of things, more or less every stage is drenched in cyberpunk minutiae. The neon, the grime, and the violence lend an electric urgency to your already death-defying exploits. My only warning is this: know what you’re in for first. First-person action platform games aren’t for everyone. Of course, I had to play one to discover this, so who knows! Maybe a new favorite subgenre is waiting in the wings.

Ghostrunner has ferocious melee combat, nimble first-person platforming, and cyberpunk style to spare. Unfortunately, it's also frustrating and needlessly unforgiving.

Let’s be clear here: a tightly-crafted, bug free game that does exactly what it wants to do, Ghostrunner deserves an audience. The appeal might not be universal, but the art and style behind the game cannot be ignored. It really is good, despite a personal distaste for how it handles certain elements. If a killcam is implemented to help the player learn their mistakes, then this title becomes an easy recommendation. Until then, check out the demo; it’s a good representation of what the game is. Anyone who enjoys that will have a blast with Ghostrunner. In the meantime, I’ll be applying salve to my now-wounded ego.

Ghostrunner is a thrilling ride for most of its 8-hour runtime, thanks to its fantastic soundtrack, sci-fi visuals, and fast-paced gameplay. The game starts to stumble, however, when the platforming stops and the combat begins.

The game is not forgiving, but if you are in the market for an environmental puzzler and enjoy splashing limbs every which way, then it may just be for you. It really makes you feel like Spider-Man if spiderman was a cybernetic murderninja set on saving the last vestiges of humanity from the ravage of poor architectural design.

When Ghostrunner rips, it really rips. Wall-running, jumping, sliding, and cutting through enemies as you go is empowering and impressive. For a good portion of the game, you'll only experience how impressive it feels to dart around a room in short bursts, but even that's enough motivation to keep you pushing forward to master the art of robot ninja parkour. There's bound to be a lot of frustration along the way, so it isn't all smiles, exactly, but the rush you feel in the moment as you perfectly run a room is worth the grit.