Games with high difficulty levels have been popular for, well, ever. The trend has been increasing over the past decade or so thanks to a notorious series of games and games like them. One of the keys to those games' popularity is despite the high difficulty, a methodical approach can be taken where strategy can be devised to overcome the greatest challenges. It can be a slow study at times, but it pays off.Ghostrunnerdecided to embrace the concept of high difficulty, but cater to those with shorter attention spans. The original cyber ninja speedster was all about creating a punishingly-difficult game at the fastest possible speed. While this concept can sound stressful and potentially dangerous to the life expectancy of controllers, enough people like this concept to warrant a sequel.
Set one year after the events of Ghostrunner, the Keymaster has been defeated which seemed to usher in a new age for Dharma Tower. This peaceful age where it seems like there is once again hope for humanity is short lived, as the power vacuum left by the absence of the Keymaster created room for new unsavory characters to take over. It isn’t long before Dharma Tower returns to its dystopian state as regular citizens are fearful of the heavy presence of violent gangs and deranged cultists. The Interface Council is an organization that wishes to restore order to Dharma Tower and their trump card in doing so is ninja named Jack.
Ghostrunner 2 does what a lot of successful sequels do which is keep the general premise of the predecessor’s gameplay and build upon it. The basic premise of the original was travel as quickly as possible through each area. This was done through leaping across building, running across the sides of buildings, grappling across wide chasms and killing before being killed. It sounds simple when described as such, but does offer quite a challenge. It’s an interesting approach to game design and those that enjoyed the original Ghostrunner will likely feel similarly about this one.
Of course Ghostrunner 2 would be a disappointing sequel if it didn’t do anything to expand on its gameplay. The basic premise of constantly moving forward as the key to survival remains, but this has been enhanced by including a bit of motorcycle combat. Jack is fast and deadly on foot, but throwing vehicular combat into the mix adds a new dimension to his battle prowess without sacrificing his need for speed. Because Jack is used to traveling so quickly, he has been gifted with the power of sensory boost which allows time to slow down around him, giving him an advantage when dealing with multiple enemies. If he can pull off a perfect parry, he’ll automatically deliver a fatal counter attack, plus his trusty shurikens are always useful when closing the gap seems too risky. The danger is constant, but Jack has plenty of new tools and abilities to help even the odds.
Much like its predecessor, Ghostrunner 2 doesn’t hold the player’s hand. Death will be a frequent occurrence to all but the most experienced and skilled players. Everyone is on equal footing where one hit is all it takes to kill anyone, whether it be Jack or an enemy. The odds seems less fair when its factored in that Jack is almost always outnumbered and his enemies have projectile weapons, but the one forgiving aspect of the game is the checkpoint system. Jack may die a lot, but he’s never restarting too far away from his point of death. Traversing through enemy-infested areas does require a bit of trial and error. Jack may spot and kill three enemies only to be killed by an unseen threat. Adding a kill camera, even an optional one, would speed up the learning process for “how did I die?” but even without one, after a few attempts the player should be able to figure out where the hidden assassins are.
The generous checkpoint system does a lot to make Ghostrunner 2 enjoyable. The challenge is real and having to constantly redo a level from scratch would make most players give up and possibly increase the mortality rate of their controller. As the game is designed it encourages the player to push past whatever area is causing the problem. Victory is never out of reach, it just might take a couple tries or significantly more than a couple tries, but doesn’t seem impossible. Whether pure stubbornness or the game psychologically manipulating the player to keep going, during the review there were several frustrating areas where I was stuck, but because the game made it possible to visualize how to achieve the objective, I kept going until it was reached, shameful death count notwithstanding.
Ghostrunner 2 is a game that is good by any objective metric, but seems like it would only appeal to a limited audience. It does have a somewhat addictive gameplay loop. Maybe I’m terrible at this game, but it’s likely most players will die a lot during their time with Ghostrunner 2. The checkpoint system assists with this, but after going through a stretch and dying there’s a desire to attempt to do it again, get revenge on whatever killed you and progress to the next area which makes this the type of game where the player can say “one more run” and end up playing for another hour or two. But this drive to keep myself and progressing through the game did wane after a while, and progressing through the areas started to feel more like a chore than an enjoyable challenge. Which isn’t so much a knock against the game since it seems to do what the developers set out to, it just didn’t have lasting personal appeal.
Ghostrunner 2 creates a wonderfully-dystopian cyberpunk environment. The environments look bleak, but technologically advanced. Whether Jack is running along the sides of buildings, jumping between train tracks or riding his motorcycle, the setting perfectly captures the cyberpunk aesthetic. The visual elements are accompanied by a thumping electronic heavy soundtrack. What really makes Ghostrunner 2 fun is the controls. Jack’s mobility has few limitations when it comes to running, jumping and grappling, which makes the player feel like an agile ninja as they slaughter those who wish to keep Dharma Tower in a dystopian state.
Closing Comments:
Ghostrunner 2 is a high-speed adventure that combines punishing difficulty with satisfying rewards. The challenge level is on the higher side, but victory never seems out of reach. Due to the generous checkpoint system it’s easy to stay motivated to keep pushing oneself through each checkpoint, which can lead to some play sessions lasting longer than intended. While this feedback loop can keep the player going for a while, it can’t sustain enjoyable gameplay indefinitely. It can be thrilling for a few hours, but the charm is likely to wear off after a while for most players. Ghostrunner 2 does succeed in what it set out to do which is create a challenging, fast-paced action game that can make the player feel like an invincible ninja, but the end product is something that would only really appeal to gamers seeking out this specific type of experience.
Ghostrunner 2
One More Level’s Ghostrunner 2 expands on its predecessor’s ideas, offering an action-packed cyberpunk thrill ride that blends platforming, one-hit kills, and boss fights.
