Highlights
- Ghostrunner 2 retains its addictive skill-based combat and adds an expanded skill tree system that enemy AI reacts to in combat.
- The sequel features larger and more interactive boss fights and offers destructible environments for more strategic gameplay.
- Ghostrunner 2 introduces a more open-ended level design and a dialogue system to provide players with a deeper lore experience.
Released back in October 2020, the first Ghostrunner received some fairly mixed reviews when it first dropped. Though the PC version of Ghostrunner ran excellently, just about every other port of the game suffered from severe technical issues, ranging from framerate drops to screen-tearing to hard crashes and just about everything in between. But those technical issues aside, Ghostrunner was an excellent first-person platformer, and now its sequel Ghostrunner 2 is primed to be even bigger and better.
Releasing on October 26, Ghostrunner 2 doesn't have the smoothest release window, coming just under a week after Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and just a day before Alan Wake 2. But Ghostrunner 2 has more than enough unique qualities to let it stand apart from its competition, and with a whole host of new and improved features, Ghostrunner 2 has the very real possibility of being one of the best Indie games of the year. All the major features currently confirmed for Ghostrunner 2 are as follows.
- The fast and frantic skill-based combat of Ghostrunner returns in the sequel.
- A new skill tree that enemy AI reacts to.
- More interactive and larger-scale boss fights.
- Destructible environments give players more opportunities to start a fight
- More open-ended level design, giving players a motorbike to traverse across the larger environments.
- A new dialogue system designed to give players more lore.
- A new soundtrack featuring Daniel Deluxe, We Are Magonia, Gost, Dan Terminus, and Arek Reikowski.
Ghostrunner's Trademark Skill-Based Combat Returns in Full-Force
The first Ghostrunner's greatest strength was its incredibly addictive core gameplay loop, tasking players with clearing a room full of enemies by using slow-motion powers, melee attacks, and parkour. With just one hit resulting in instant death, Ghostrunner's skill requirement was high. Ghostrunner 2 seems to be carrying over pretty much the exact same gameplay formula as the first game, albeit with some great improvements and refinements. Ghostrunner 2 is set to include an even more expansive skill tree system, giving players access to more unique powers and abilities, which apparently the game's enemy AI will react to in combat in dynamic ways.
While much of Ghostrunner 2's runtime will likely revolve around the same type of gameplay loop found in the first game, with players having to traverse their way into an arena, clear it, and solve a few environmental puzzles along the way, there is a brand-new type of mission that wasn't seen in the original game. Ghostrunner 2 will feature a handful of missions that see players zip through the cyberpunk city streets on a motorcycle, pulling off tricky jumps, riding up vertical walls, and deflecting oncoming fire.
Ghostrunner 2 Is Going Bigger Than Ever Before
While a lot of Ghostrunner 2 looks fairly similar to its predecessor, it seems as though developer One More Level is going out of its way to make everything bigger and better than it was before. Almost every aspect of the original Ghostrunner appears to be expanded upon and made bigger in the sequel, and the game's more open-ended level design is a great example of that. As well the arenas being larger than they were in the first game, Ghostrunner 2's combat encounters will also feature multiple ways to start a fight, ranging from an aerial grappling hook attack, to a direct frontal assault, to a stealthy ambush from the side using one of the game's new destructible objects like breakable walls.
The sequel's increased scope can also be seen in its boss fights, which are reportedly much bigger in scale and feature much more interactivity than those in the original. Ghostrunner 2 will also place a greater emphasis on world-building and lore than the first game did, with players being able to freely explore each environment for details on the game's world, and learn more from NPCs through the new dialogue system.
Ghostrunner 2 releases on October 26, 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.