While some of the level design makes little sense from a practical point of view, with levels comprised entirely of walls to sprint across, hazards to slide under, switches to hurl digital shurikens at, and enemies seemingly plonked on platforms on the off-chance that you happen by, you won’t care when you’re playing. From wall-running and sliding to slowing time and swinging from hook points, Ghostrunner squeezes an incredible array of mechanics and enemy types into its missions. There’s nothing rogue-lite here, though instead, each mission is a collection of short checkpoint-to-checkpoint segments that exist solely to test your reflexes, perception, and patience.Ĭuriously, besides the double-jump, there are very few platform game conceits unaccounted for here. It’s a breakneck game comprised of levels designed to be played over and over, each one a miniature speedrun course. Simply calling Ghostrunner “hard” is missing the point a bit, though. But, frankly, the story takes something of a backseat to the action from the get-go. The interplay between GR-74, the Climbers, the Architect, and Mara is always entertaining to listen to, and some of the dialogue is exceptionally well-delivered. To say much more would be to give away the plot, and it would be unfair because Ghostrunner does quite a lot with what little story there is. Skipping further spoilers, you have been awoken by the Architect, an almost omnipotent AI who exists inside the Cybervoid, a network that connects all of Dharma City’s sub-systems, and drafted into the Climbers, a dwindling rebel group who oppose Mara’s rule. After the two rulers of Dharma City had something of a tiff over how to run the city that resulted in a civil war and military coup, the Ghostrunners were all but wiped out and the victor, Mara, assumed an iron control over the denizens of Dharma – denizens she has been experimenting on ever since in an attempt to perfect the human condition. Set in a dystopian future where the last vestiges of humanity have been corralled in a single, colossal tower, Dharma City, you play GR-74, an otherwise unexceptional cyborg-like law enforcer who also happens to be the last of his kind. A brutal hybrid of SUPERHOT and Mirror’s Edge, it’s a game based on momentum, timing, and, above all, perseverance. It’s more due to the nature of Ghostrunner which, if you played the demo, you’ll know is a game that relies almost entirely on trial & error. I mean, it is hard – and I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that some people will play a few levels and give up. Was that because Ghostrunner is particularly hard, you ask? Well, yes and no. Probably more if you consider that there’s a few minutes worth of cutscenes in the game where I was relatively safe from harm. For those of you who can’t be arsed to do the math, that’s an average of 2 deaths per minute. It took me 14.6 hours to complete the game, and in that time I died 1,635 times – and yes, I added them up when I was done. I know some of you might find it dull to begin a review with a blast of stats, but I feel I need to give you a little information here that will put the rest of my Ghostrunner review into perspective.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |