Ghostrunner 2 Review

ign.com:

The best sequels are the ones that can recapture what made the original so great, while also expanding those elements to make them feel bigger, grander, and more exciting than what came before. That’s exactly what Ghostrunner 2 manages to pull off. This is still a first person, one-hit-kill slasher where – to quote my review of the first one – you must run fast, slide fast, kill fast, and if you can’t do those things fast enough, you die fast. But now you get to do all of that while also occasionally riding an absolutely sick motorcycle, and with a wider variety ninja tricks to customize your playstyle. Couple that with a much more fleshed out world, excellent level variety, fantastic bosses, and a thumping soundtrack that enhances the action, and you’ve got one of the most exciting action games all year.

Ghostrunner 2 picks up shortly after the events of the first game, which are recapped in a handy dandy video. Story is a much bigger focus this time around, with most levels being preceded by a visit to a hub where you can chat with your fellow rebels. You’ll learn about their mostly interesting backstories, as well as the post apocalyptic cyberpunk dystopia that is Dharma City, with conversations that were always interesting enough to make me want to check in with everyone before my next mission. There’s Zoe, your friend from the original that helped you find your humanity; Saul, the kind hearted doctor who fixes you up; Kira, a brilliant but morally questionable scientist that used to work for the other side; along with another surprise face or two. It’s not RPG levels of characterization and world building, but these interactions did a great job of grounding me in Ghostrunner 2’s world.

Fundamentally, Ghostrunner 2