The first minutes of play on Ghostrunner 2 leave a strong impression of the Olympic motto: “faster, higher, stronger”. Or rather, to be honest: more beautiful, faster, more accessible (and no, that’s not a dirty word). Polish studio One More Level took the same formula, polishing Jack’s katana blade to the extreme.
The jealousy of the blue hedgehog
First observation concerning Ghostrunner 2 : the title shines brightly. The artistic direction continues to lean towards cyberpunk à la K. Dick or William Gibson, with buildings crushing the hero with their height, neighborhoods flooded by neon light and advertising screens attached to skyscrapers, the all juxtaposed with filthy areas and slums haunted by the worst scoundrels. The transition to current-gen did the greatest good to Ghostrunner. The lighting effects are splendid, the textures scream truth and for the short period of play that was offered to us on PC, the title was exemplary fluidity.
Where connoisseurs of the first opus will certainly be surprised, it will be in the apprehension of the geography of the levels. Ghostrunner first of the name took its time before releasing the horses of the level design, Ghostrunner 2 chooses to go all out from the start. His eldest indulged in his first hours in a hallway/murder/walljump/corridor… One More Level’s new baby shows that the developers have heard their players’ complaints. The architectural construction is smarter, the grappling hook is used from the start, the walljumps are included in a less artificial way, the rails are omnipresent… Everything seems designed to make progression through the levels more natural. Only a few environmental puzzles based on moving a jumping platform and activating a switch connected to a door slow down our mortuary epic.
From the panoply of the perfect cyberninja
In terms of handling, the gameplay hasn’t changed one iota. The hardcore principle of Ghostrunner is always very present: the hero dies at the slightest blow received, with the same compensation for the enemies: we cut them with our katana of turfu like a knife passes through butter. The One More Level teams have nevertheless made some adjustments, in order to make it less (well, it’s very relative) punitive Ghostrunner 2. The parry is more flexible and benefits from a wider window. With perfect timing, the parade results in an automatic execution, with a brutal staging at will. It is always possible to use various additional accessories to weaken the enemy: shuriken, energy pulse, etc. However, our best ally will remain the katana, and the ability of Ghostrunner to freeze time for a few seconds to move at superhuman speed, like a cyberpunk shinobi.
The real novelty comes from the inclusion of motorcycle riding sequences. Our preview sequence ended in a motorized apotheosis, with a chase phase which will be reminiscent of a certain Ballistics (2001) or the very strange Kinetica (also dating from 2001, and made in Santa Monica Studio please). Launched at full speed, we will then have to dodge the obstacles that stand in our way, even if it means driving on walls and ceilings when the topography of the place allows it. A very satisfactory sequence in terms of feedbackwhich allowed us to finish the demo with a good dose of adrenaline in our blood.
We will close with a bittersweet note. An effort seems to have been made regarding the deployment of the background, with a more clearly brought scenario: one year after the events of Ghostrunner, the Dharma Tower is under attack from various mafia groups, and we have to go and clean up there. However, the narration still suffers from the same problem: it takes place mainly through the audio interventions of our aide-de-camp. But the action is going at 2000 miles an hour, it is difficult to stay attentive and listen to the dialogues (all in English, the VF is limited to the subtitles). The fights and platform phases require constant concentration, conversations fall by the wayside, under penalty of dying under the blows of the first comer…