Ghostrunner 2: The First Hands-On Preview

ign.com:

For my money, no single-player game makes you earn every acrobatic kill quite like 2020’s Ghostrunner. Its fast-paced action platforming was intense and brutally challenging, but wall-running, air dodging, and sliding your way around a room to chop up enemies while dodging their pinpoint counter-offensives felt satisfying when you got it right. Based on my very limited hands-on time with the sequel, its brand of high-speed kill-or-be-killed violence remains one of the most unique and rewarding action game experiences out there, and Ghostrunner 2 wastes no time upping the ante with new tricks to get the edge on enemies, and new ways to challenge your reflexes.

The “punk” part of cyberpunk is still firmly front and center in Ghostrunner 2. After killing The Keymaster, Jack and his team are left to try to bring some semblance of order back to Dharma Tower, which is being consumed by the chaos of several gangs attempting to fill the power vacuum. The city itself looks brighter and bolder, expanding on that patchwork mix of dingy residential blocks and blocky industrial accents, drowned in billboards and neon. The techno-apocalypse vibes are spot-on.

Sliding into combat immediately reveals some returning abilities, like the sensory boost that allows Jack to slow time down and strafe through the air to avoid incoming fire. But now, he can dash through the air more than once, meaning he can close further gaps between him and his foes before they ever get a chance to fire a second shot. The energy meter that regulates how many dashes you get also doubles as a block gauge, a new feature that gives you another way to keep yourself safe from average melee and ranged attacks. In scenarios where many enemies were coming at me from all