Indie Game of the Week 408: Ghostrunner 2

Around this time last year I embarked upon the figurative spectral jog that was the first Ghostrunner which, despite being hard as balls, had a very encouraging "one more attempt" masocore approach to its diabolical one-hit, one-kill combat and traversal scenarios in conjunction with its picturesque (if that's the word; certainly shiny) cyberpunk dystopian environments and storytelling. I decided I'd hop on any chance to play its sequel, Ghostrunner 2 (kudos to the devs/publishers for avoiding "2.0"), and EGS was all too accommodating in that regard when the daily holiday giveaways rolled around last December. So here we are again, glowy katana in hand, running across walls and sliding down monorails as I take the fight to the worst street thugs and repurposed military robots Dharma Tower has to offer.

Story-wise, we're a few months after the events of the first game (which I'll elide here for the sake of spoilers) and a new threat has emerged in a prototypical generation of "Ghostrunners"—the mostly cybernetic elite agents of the ruling class that once included series protagonist Jack among their number—and the fragile state of politics within Dharma Tower is looking to crumble under their onslaught. Seeking to preserve the hard-fought peace, as well as gather some answers behind their return, Jack sets off on their trail. New to this sequel are a ragtag collective of NPCs to talk to: the first game just had the sympathetic "Climber" (i.e. freedom fighter) Zoe and the authoritative AI of Jack's creator, the Architect, intermittently piping over your earpiece to deliver exposition and instruction; here, there's several more friendlies who you can converse with in their HQ between missions and get some different perspectives. An expanded Greek chorus following you around is nice enough but the story's not really the focus of these games; they're made in so much more an arcade-style (or, well, closer to the boomer shooters of old perhaps but with way more parkour) that it often serves to get in the way. Still, I can't fault the studio for wanting more of a narrative to draw players in the second time around, since they'd evidently already spent so much work on nailing the setting and vibe.

Gameplay-wise, we're back in familiar territory for the most part. Of course, there are a few new tools and mechanics since that's generally expected of sequels: the challenge there was implementing them in a way that felt natural and didn't overload the player with buttons to memorize. It sorta does and doesn't quite manage to integrate these new additions. An example would be the abilities you acquire from the fallen first boss, who was much better equipped than you were: these include a shuriken for taking down foes at range (though the best it can do to non-small fry is stun them long enough for a quick grapple-kill); a ghost clone that draws heat while you turn invisible and work your way over to the threats incognito; and an ability called tempest that summons a strong gust of wind, used for pushing both enemies and boxes around (though, again, is somewhat less effective on the heavyweights). The issue is that you have to press a separate number button to switch over to each before you can use them, which makes effectively using them in tandem challenging. On the plus side, the game implemented a block to help your survivability, with the parry now attached to a well-timed block rather than sword strike. I understand the purity of the first game's relatively few commands but the added tactical options, plus the extra room for customizing your passive skills to suit your combat style, are definitely welcome even if it can feel a bit like patting your head while rubbing your stomach in the more frantic combat scenarios.

Between the block and the more generous encounter design in general, it feels like Ghostrunner 2 has sanded off the rougher edges of its difficulty without sacrificing what made that original game's challenge level addicting, in a stubborn refusal to throw in the towel sort of way. You'll still die over and over, no doubt, but there'll be less cases where you sigh and get on with practicing the current roadblock until you eventually get the execution down and more cases where you can sit back and reconsider what you have, what the game is expecting, and what badly needs killing first. I'm a little less positive on the motorbike and its related high-speed sections but as a means of breaking up the longer regular levels with the alternating combat and traversal it's a welcome enough palate-cleanser even if it often brings its own distinct frustrations to the plate. Like any good cyberpunk fiction there's also the virtual world, the returning Cybervoid in this case, which allows the game developers to stretch their creative muscles with some reality-breaking tweaks to the standard traversal formula.

In almost every respect, Ghostrunner 2 does what video game sequels are expected to do: they expand the scope of the original game's formula and world (you leave the tower in this one!), add features with consideration to any balance upsets they might incur, and give players plenty of what they liked about that original game while providing new material they hope will land with the same amount of aplomb. It's another case where the achievement list belies the developers' original intent—the idea of playing through any of the game's levels without dying, let alone a third of them, would require a level of patience and speedrunning acumen I doubt I'll ever manifest—but even tackling the game casually it's well within the realm of feasible while still relentlessly pushing your face in the dirt. But, you know, in a nicer way than that. Given how all the new features are packed in almost to breaking point, however, I wonder just how much more they can overclock this series before they brick it entirely.

Rating: 5 out of 5. (So far. I've got a couple of nasty-looking boss fights coming up that might ignite my spiteful side.)

Bonus Video(s)

As always, any game where the indescribable feeling of playing it (or maybe entirely describable if I were a better writer) is a major factor is best served with a small gameplay video, so here's one of me completing the first of the game's many timed bonus challenges. Optional, but the monetary rewards can be very handy for upgrades later on:

Also, apropos of nothing, here's a cool motorbike jump I did (can you believe YouTube lets you upload any old junk?):