Frantic gameplay, frantic story

Ghostrunner's plot goes straight to the point and without fooling around, due to the fact that key moments of the story are told during the gameplay, making an absence of dubbing quite noticeable. The game has subtitles in Portuguese, but between the unbridled action of the game certainly interesting details can be overlooked.

In the midst of a futuristic and post-apocalyptic society in which the inhabitants struggle to survive, we control a kind of super soldier known as Ghostrunner, who was created to be a fighting machine, but is murdered by the dictator ruler, na entity known as the Master of the Keys, later being saved by the rebel group called the Climbers, who sees the machine as their savior. After several failed attempts to revive her, an I.A. named "The Architect", manages to do it and it is responsible for assigning the great mission to the Ghostrunner: climb the Dharma Tower and defeat the tyrant.

Perhaps while reading, the story can be much more interesting than it actually is. The initial plot is intriguing, as the game does’nt explain what happened previously, requiring a break to breathe and absorb everything that is happening around the protagonist. This is exactly a creative script, but that is quickly lost due to the lack of explanation and lack of more charismatic characters, in addition to the absence of cutscenes, which could help a lot in this regard.



It is also worth mentioning that the subtitles are very small and the game has the possibility of increasing them, which makes the lack of dubbing in PT-BR even more frustrating.

Run Nonstop

Our character is a real fighting machine, equipped with a powerful and deadly katana, and cybernetic skills to win and defeat enemies. But all these attributes are tied to its incredible speed and accuracy. This, which is the perfect translation of how to appreciate a gameplay and make a unique game, as I don't remember seeing  in any other title.

The title mixes parkour elements and a lot of action in the 1 hit kill style, which works for both the opponents and our character. Ghostrunner is capable of running, jumping, jumping, dodging, sneaking, all at a speed that dictates the pace of the game, but it is also capable of bringing a series of frustrations if you get too carried away and that will certainly happen to you at some point .

Despite the game having a breakneck and frantic pace, all the calm in the world is necessary for you to do well and the reason is quite simple. Due to the fact that our character can kill and die with just a modest blow, a scan through the scenario can make all the difference so that it is observed if there are strategic points to reach the enemy without being noticed or in a fast enough way so that it is not noticed. possible to notice your presence in time to react and kill you first. The great advice is that you have to know the phases like the back of your hand to overcome all the challenges.



Dying is the solution

If you're worried about all the speed and dynamism proposed by Ghostrunner, don't worry, because the initial stages are really made for you to understand the gameplay system and it works very well. But if you're still having trouble scaling a wall or defeating an enemy before being noticed, know that being defeated is part of the game experience. And as an enabler, you quickly start the game right where you left off.

It is worth mentioning that with each obstacle and level overcome, the challenge becomes greater and greater, with enemies equipped with shields, other cybernetic opponents, in addition to jumps that increasingly seem impossible to perform. But believe me, they can be performed masterfully, as long as you are in the right place. Trust your jump.

It really is about trial x error, because the more you try, you will certainly be closer to achieving your goal, but of course this factor bothers (at least it bothered me), at the same time that when all the movements are executed perfectly, the feeling is very pleasant. Know exactly where to jump, find the opportunity to eliminate your target and dodge the shots fired by other enemies. That's the formula for success in Ghostrunner.

As the review was done on a PS5, I can't help but comment on the controls and how well they suit the frantic mechanics of the game. Of course, PC players have a certain advantage when playing on the keyboard, but despite the learning curve being greater for us console players, it won't be because of the lack of responsiveness that the game cannot be enjoyed.



Detrition of the unprecedented

Undoubtedly, the gameplay formula implemented in Ghostrunner is amazing, because it brings a real injection of adrenaline largely due to the first-person camera, even having to stop at times to calm the mood, but after a while what was extremely fun becomes very repetitive and the game does not bring any kind of relief for that moment, also driven by a considerably shallow and little explored plot. 

Along the way, four new combat abilities can be unlocked, but which essentially don't add a new factor to the gameplay, in addition to all having a cooldown of kills with the katana to be used. In other words, we are practically back to the problem reported here initially.

Even being a ruthless and deadly assassin, the gameplay doesn't get to pass that whole feeling of a fighting machine, because in several moments you'll feel quite vulnerable and fragile, knowing that you can't face the enemy head on. Even though this is the game's proposal, you can't even contemplate the scenarios full of neon.

Whim in the sound, but not so much in ambience

As a game with fast movements and a cyberpunk atmosphere, Ghostrunner's soundtrack gets it right, generating an atmosphere of futuristic tension as seen in films of the genre, such as The Matrix, for example. The beats mixed with the sound of synthesizers are the fuel for the excitement to start climbing walls and performing cinematic murders.



As well as the futuristic music, the game's scenarios feature a series of colored lights, which portrays the cyberpunk universe very well, but perhaps due to the lack of interaction with the environment, more details are missing, such as objects on the floor, lost documents, between others.

In summary, Ghostrunner draws attention for presenting a differentiated gameplay, fleeing the weapons already known in FPS games. With a very stylish and fast movement, you have a short time to perform your actions and this can annoy some people. The cyberpunk environment is something else, but just like the story could have been more refined to bring exploration.

Ghostrunner was reviewed on a PS5, via PS Plus Extra.