2020’s Ghostrunner makes you feel impossibly cool. You leap into the shoes of a deadly cybernetic ninja, wall-running and propelling yourself through a glittering neon dystopia to a pumping bass-heavy synth soundtrack. Combat was lightning-fast and deadly, with both enemies and yourself dying in a single hit. Success relied on reflexes, timing, improvisation, and smart use of your ever-growing suite of digital ninjutsu powers.
It’s a winning formula and, smartly, Ghostrunner 2 doesn’t so much reinvent the wheel as give it a good polish. I’ve played through a one-level demo showing off the new systems and walked away exceedingly hyped for the game’s impending release.
Anyone who’s played the original will be able to slide into the sequel without missing a beat. The game controls the same, moves to the same rhythm, and looks graphically identical to its predecessor. But it doesn’t take long before some new additions present themselves. You could block enemy fire in Ghostrunner, though it required pinpoint timing as you needed to attack just as you were about to be hit, resulting in you parrying away any incoming fire.
It was satisfying to nail that, but the risk of screwing up your timing and eating a bullet meant that prioritizing slo-mo dodges was a smarter way to fight. Ghostrunner 2 introduces Active Blocking, allowing you to hold a button to repel attacks until your stamina depletes. There’s also a somewhat tweaked parrying system with a surprisingly wide timing window for execution (and, naturally, some very cool finishing animations).
Even armed with my (slightly rusty) Ghostrunner skills, I still ate a whole bunch of deaths over the short demo, though by the final combat arenas that old muscle memory began to re-activate and I was soon julienne-ing bad guys, rappelling gracefully through the air, and tossing shuriken into exploding barrels like a pro.
The difficulty is high, though quick restarts mean death is just a temporary setback and your frustration never boils over. Also, while they weren’t included in this demo, I’m assuming the final release will include the optional assist modes from the original game that let you take more hits, slow the game down, or use your abilities more frequently.
If Ghostrunner 2 were just the above, it’d rightly face criticism for being more of a mission pack than a sequel. But there’s one big addition here: a kickin’ rad Akira-style cyber-motorcycle. The developers know precisely how cool their new toy is, introducing it in a faintly erotic cutscene in which you gently caress its glistening carbon fiber frame.
Then it’s off on a rollercoaster as you boost, wheelie, and spiral your way through a dizzying high-speed obstacle course. At least in this demo, the motorcycle sequences are entirely separate from the rest of the game. For example, as much as I’d like to see it, you can’t summon your bike midway through a combat arena and motor around decapitating enemies. Even so, moving at blistering speeds through improbable courses, riding on the walls and ceiling, and slashing open doors with your katana feels cool as hell (all aided by a new set of killer synth tunes).
The demo ends with you smashing out of Dharma Tower into the wider world. The developers have indicated we’ll be exploring beyond the neon towers and cityscapes of the first game, so here’s hoping we get some exhilarating bike sequences and races through this sci-fi world. The bike feels like a natural addition to the game, is a nice break from the combat, and has precise and clear controls — I just hope there’s more to do with it than zip through linear obstacle courses.
It’s all looking very good for Ghostrunner 2 right now, and if you loved the first game, this feels like a natural continuation of everything that made it so fun with some new bells and whistles on top.
The demo also ran like a dream on my NVIDIA RTX 3070, easily managing a locked 60FPS at 1080p with nary a frame dropped. In fact, on default settings, Ghostrunner 2 ended up somewhere in the 90-100FPS region, though I limited it to 60 for the sake of consistency.
On more powerful hardware, 4K60 should be easily achievable, and I anticipate console versions will include a version of the VRR 120FPS mode that made Ghostrunner run like butter. Steam Deck and ROG Ally support is also promised at launch, so expect 60FPS on low graphical settings on those platforms.
Ghostrunner 2 will land on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on Oct. 26.
This preview is based on time spent with a pre-release build of the game. The virtual preview event we attended was hosted by 505 Games.