The newest game from One More Level and 505 Games, Ghostrunner, feels like it was created with the intent of crafting one of the coolest games on the market. The game seemingly takes titles like Katana Zero, Titanfall, and Doom as direct inspirations for its core gameplay loop, and executes on them extremely well. Wrap these inspirations in a beautiful cyberpunk aesthetic and players will find the challenging yet satisfying package that is Ghostrunner.
Players take on the role of a Ghostrunner nicknamed Jack. Ghostrunners were a group of cybernetically-enhanced soldiers designed to protect Dharma Tower but unfortunately were destroyed by the game's main antagonist, the Keymaster, in a massive plot to gain power over the Tower. Now Jack is the only remaining Ghostrunner after being repaired by a group of rebels, and has one mission in mind: ascend Dharma Tower and get revenge against the Keymaster.
While Ghostrunner's story is engaging, its gameplay is where it really excels. Players have access to a variety of traversal mechanics such as wall running, crouch sliding, and a grapple to reach areas that wouldn't normally be accessible via climbing. Players also have a dash ability that slows down time when held in mid-air, allowing players to avoid incoming projectiles and dangerous obstacles.
While these mechanics are instrumental in players' ascent of Dharma Tower, they become even more important within the game's combat. In Ghostrunner, both players and enemies die in one hit, making every combat encounter a fast-paced and strategic challenge that typically can't be won by simply hacking and slashing. While this style of combat certainly lends itself to the Katana Zero comparison, it also calls to mind the recent Doom games, where combat feels almost like a fast-paced puzzle. Players will need to analyze the enemies and the arena itself in order to discover the optimal path forward through the combat.
Jack has more than his katana and wits to help him, though. Throughout the game, players will acquire new abilities that will make combat easier. Some of these abilities include Blink, allowing players to cleave through a group of enemies in a single strike, or Tempest which gives players the ability to send enemies flying with a shockwave. These abilities require Focus, which generates over time or by killing enemies.
Jack has a few more tricks up his sleeve to help him in his ascension. Along with new abilities, players gain access to skills that can be equipped at will through the game's pause menu. Rather than a standard skill tree, every skill has an associated shape (think advanced Tetris) that players must rotate and fit within a grid. These skills include upgrades like an additional dash, a larger range for abilities, and allowing players to deflect projectiles with their sword.
With such face-paced combat and movement, Ghostrunner benefits greatly from its audio design. While enemies repeat voice lines a little too frequently, players will find that their reaction time will improve as they learn the game's subtle audio cues like different guns firing. The auditory experience is even further enhanced by Ghostrunner's driving EDM soundtrack that kicks in during intense parkour or showdown situations.
While Dharma Tower isn't a particularly welcoming place to Jack, the visuals in Ghostrunner are eye-catching, to say the least. Upon reaching Dharma City around halfway through the game, players are greeted by a gorgeous neon palette that is closely associated with the cyberpunk genre. Ghostrunner encourages its players to never stop moving, and it's hard not to when One More Level has created captivating environments like Dharma City.
Ghostrunner feels like an extended challenge that manages to never get repetitive or frustrating. Whether it's traversing a narrow hallway full of laser traps or slicing through a bipedal robot sentry, this title will have players feeling satisfied as if they had accomplished these feats in real life.
Ghostrunner is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, will be released on Switch on November 10. Game Rant was provided a PC code for this review.