Ghostrunner from All In! Games, 505 Games, One More Level, Slipgate6, and 3D Realms is a hardcore, fast-paced first-person cyberpunk action game on PS4. Check our Ghosrunner review!
In Ghostrunner from All In! Games, 505 Games, One More Level, Slipgate6, and 3D Realms, you will be taking on a hardcore, fast-paced first-person cyberpunk action game on Sony’s current-gen console. You’ll control a cyberninja that can slice and dice enemies in a single hit. Oh, and enemies can also kill you with a single hit, so you’ll need to plan every move within a split second to stay alive long enough! Death is part of the gameplay cycle, and you’ll be learning from every mistake you make as you trace the best route to take through each area to be able to destroy your opponents.
The story goes a little something like this: You are the Ghostrunner, tasked with fighting against Mara, the Keymaster, who rules with an iron fist over Dharma Tower, destroying anyone who dares to get in her path. You are broken and weak, a shadow of your former self. You must free the Architect, he who helped to create everything that Mara is trying to protect, to be able to have a chance of saving the last remnant of humanity before it’s too late. With your monomolecular katana in your hand, superhuman reflexes, and the special techniques you’ll unlock, you’ll have to do whatever it takes to stop the Keymaster.
You’ll control your cyberninja with the left analog stick, quickly swinging the camera around with the right one as you pick your next target. You’ll jump with the R1 button, dashing with the L1 button, and attacking with the R2 button. You’ll have different skills to assign to your character, which can be quick selected by pressing up, down, left, or right on the D-Pad before activating them by pressing down on the left analog stick – a.k.a. the L3 button. You can also crouch with the Circle button, interact with the X button and, if you’re feeling gutsy, taunt enemies with the Triangle button. You’ll also use an energy grapple hook with the L2 button when you find the appropriate grapple spots, so you can imagine how crazy hectic things can get when you have to jump, wall run, jump and dash, to then use your grapple hook, dash again to the right of an enemy to avoid its shots so that you can THEN slice it in half.
Without spoiling things too much, I’ll discuss the first ability you’ll gain access to: Blink. With Blink, once you press in on the left analog stick, time will stand still for an instant, and you’ll be able to target any enemies within your vicinity to mark them. Press the R2 button after this, and your ninja will quickly dash through, slicing and dicing all the enemies marked for death in an instant. You will, of course, have to line enemies up so that you can slice through all of them in one go, so be sure to pay attention to their location and the surrounding area. You can even use Blink to slice through projectiles!
Your Ghostrunnner is damaged and incomplete, so you’ll need to journey into the Cybervoid to help it recalibrate as needed. This will allow you to gain access to booster modules you can apply to maximize your ninja’s potential, also boosting the overall number of slots you’ll have for equipping said modules. You could, for example, add an extra dash charge, which will allow you to dash again after you’ve already done so. There might be an option to mark collectibles on your map or to add the option for your sword to deflect back enemy attacks, killing them when timed right. Be sure to rotate all booster modules you have so that you can make the most of the available space for equipping them!
If you want to 100% Ghostrunner, you’re going to have to search everywhere for the dozens of hidden items you can collect. There are going to be 35 artifacts to find, and they’ll usually be hidden near the main path you’re taking, with small hints as to where you should be going – something like, say, a blinking light on a corner of an area you’re currently madly dashing and wall-running through. There are also seven audiologs to find, which you can check in the Codex section of your inventory. You can even find swords for your collection!
The trophies for Ghostrunner offer a nice variety of objectives to complete. Along with the trophies that will unlock as you progress through the game’s story, there are other trophies for running 42 kilometers in total, killing 1,000 enemies, blocking five projectiles in a row with your sword, for fully slotting all available spots with booster modules, for killing five enemies within ten seconds with your sword, or for killing 74 enemies right after jumping off a wall, to name some examples.
Ghostrunner is a challenging, hardcore first-person action-packed experience with a cyberpunk theme that is highly addictive on PlayStation 4. The difficulty only increases and never lets go, with the game introducing new enemies, new gameplay mechanics, new powers to use, and new obstacles to overcome – such as when enemies start to be protected by energy fields powered by large spheres that you must slice in half before you can destroy your opponents. Ghostrunner is out now on PlayStation 4 with a $29.99 asking price.
Disclaimer
This Ghostrunner review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by All In! Games.
