Ghostrunner is a new project that can easily be called the most famous release of October. This is not for nothing, the game uses the graphics of the Unreal Engine to the fullest, the protagonist is a “samurai” in the world of cyberpunk, which should obviously appeal to fans of the best AAA projects of this year. What is Ghostrunner, is it that good, do you like it?? Let’s find out!
Game design The game is very simple and is stated in the title – Ghostrunner is first and foremost a runner game, only unlike mobile running errands along three lanes, here you make your own way through an arena that resembles a polygon with several internal connections of vertices, each of which contains an enemy. You need to understand who is better to kill first, from what angle is it better to approach that shooter, how to use local walls and where exactly to use your abilities. Got it – well done, now all you have to do is follow the laid out route only forward, periodically moving a little to the right/left so as not to get hit by a stray bullet.
Enemy design here it is very diverse, at the second level I accidentally deflected a bullet with a sword and got such pleasure from it that I immediately ran to the next enemy, but not to kill, but to learn how to do it much better. After 5-10 minutes I reached my limit – 4 bullets in place and up to 2 while moving forward. Do you know what the game answered me about?? You are great for being able to repel single shots, but here is a machine gunner standing here firing bursts, you physically cannot repel them, use dash to the side. You use dodge perfectly? Well, now meet robots that hit with waves of energy – learn to run for cover at the right moment (namely run, you have no right to stand here) and approach it from another height / from behind a nearby wall, which you still need to get to.
Each new opponent is a new battle condition, a new test, but this test is not aimed at improving your fighting skills, it is created so that the player looks differently at the arena set out in front of him, so that he learns how to use dash differently, how to use a hook differently. So that the player would otherwise run forward.
The basis of the game is largely parkour and the game is really good at it, it teaches our minds, liberated by the Assasin’s Creed series, how to properly parkour. Instead of lazily pressing one button, here you need to take into account the distance to the wall, the angle, jump to it correctly in order to get to the desired height, jump away from it in time so as not to get hit by a bullet, evaluate the location of the hooks, carefully choose the order of their use, take into account the timing (so as not to get hit by a bullet)
Parkour works great in this game and it does this thanks to the following well-designed element of the game – arena design. Most of the arena spaces here are multi-level and multi-faceted; less attention would have been paid to them – a good half of the players got confused in every second room, but here everything is done with such care that hardly 1% of players can get lost. Each plate in the game is set up so that the player who does everything correctly jumps, each wall here is placed in the right place, each hook, from a place where you notice it and can get it, will lead you not into the abyss, and not onto the enemy’s crown – you can be sure that you will land in the right place and you will have the opportunity to maneuver. Each element of the location is placed in its place manually and hand-painted, the most convenient places for climbing/running/grasping are highlighted in yellow, the entrance and especially the exit from the arena clearly stand out against the background of everything else, and if you notice a nondescript nook that is clearly not the exit and there are definitely no enemies there – run there, there is a collectible item there.
Now let’s move on to the flaws and start with this one graphics. It’s beautiful, if you take a real piece of iron/piece of asphalt and place it under neon light and then compare it with a screenshot from the game, the screenshot from the game will look more realistic. However, there is a subtle problem in the game – you see the walls, you see the floor, you see places highlighted in color so that you know how to use the walls and floor, all this is done authentically – it does not stand out from the style one iota, pure cyberpunk, but the enemies are over, you stood up, inhaled and exhaled, looked around – and there is nothing outside the functional part of the arena. Yes, you see a gray building with a neon sign, but it won’t make you look closely at it, won’t make you take screenshots and boast about the local beauties. You can easily say that these beauties are not needed here, and cyberpunk itself should be gray and only sometimes dappled with neon colors, but looking at photos from the distant year 2077, you involuntarily begin to compare environments, and this comparison is not in favor of the current game.
The second weak point of the Nongamstopcasinosites.co.uk game is plot, Of course, I won’t reveal it; I’d rather describe the plot of Portal 2, The Outer Worlds or Furi:
You are a very strong protagonist, you are brought out of stasis by a very smart character who is dissatisfied with the current political situation, you join forces to do something.
Oh… I accidentally told the plot of Ghostrunner. The game uses a fairly stereotypical story and there are no innovations in it, let’s leave it at that.
I’m not sure that the previous two points are considered full-fledged disadvantages, because people don’t come here for aesthetics, ACTION rules here. Pure adrenaline, bloody (customizable) kills, parkour like you’ve never seen before, frantic pace of battles.
Now let’s move on to the third disadvantage – the game lasts 7 hours and practically not replayable. When the game comes to an end, you will be at the peak of pleasure from this action, but it is over, what a pity. You can replay the game, but with each run the colors will become dimmer, hence. Advice: complete the game without vacuuming the locations, leave it for the second playthrough, this will give you a full-fledged incentive to go through the game again and your brain will not make the argument every time “Come on, it happened, we’ve already seen it all”, at the same time, with a practiced hand, you will feel like a true samurai/ninja (underline as appropriate)
I want to make the conclusion of this blog not about Ghostrunner, but about third-party projects. If you liked a specific aspect of a particular game from the list below, be sure that buying a runner will not result in a refund.
Take Doomguy, reduce HP to 1 and give him an infinite plasma sword, love the idea? If you are a fan DOOM 2016, which suits it – buy it with confidence.
You liked endlessly running around locations, but Mirror’s Edge still won’t get a sequel – take a new product from the shelf.
Memories of Portal 2, and nostalgia gnaws from within – replay Portal 2 and pay attention to the highly rated community rooms, the game is still relevant. If you want a faster, but less abstruse puzzle, Ghostrunner has something to surprise you with.
Do you like hotline miami, but want to look at your favorite game from a different angle – take a look at the excellent 3D alternative.
It still works in the opposite direction – if you liked the game, but you want more – feel free to look at the projects listed above, moreover, if you liked Ghostrunner so much that you are ready to delve deeper into Steam than usual – keep the selection:
FURI — learn the path of the sword without parkour, but with no less dynamic and skill-dependent battles
Katana Zero – adventures of a runner in a 2D world (side view)
Post Void – a roguelike shooter, the basis of which is fast running through the brightest location, slowed down – died, hesitated on the enemy – died
OverGrowth – much less dynamic, the appearance is worse, but you are a rabbit, you fight quickly and strongly and a very interesting approach to the mechanics of jumping
P.S. I want to say thank you to all those who opened the page of this blog and many thanks to those who overcame this entire wall of subjective text. I will be happy to discuss the game, unlit or not so covered features of the game in the comments.