Developer: One More Level
Steam Deck Compatibility?: Verified
Rrp: £34.99 (Gog.com, Humble, Steam and Epic)
I hate that the start of this review has to echo that of the original game so closely (found here). Once again, this game is one that I enjoyed a whole hell of a lot but also found quite a bit of frustration and annoyance. In this game you once again take on the role of Jack, a Ghostrunner who is working with an organisation called ‘The Climbers’.
Just like in the first game, all enemies (except bosses) die in a single hit and so do you. Sadly, also like the first game the parkour aspects can be a little janky. On the whole this game is more stable than its previous iteration… up until a specific point in the game where the world opens up a bit.
You see, one of the strengths of this game is the tight corridors etc allow for your Ghostrunner to jump from wall to wall and do all their various moves. But these corridors also do a decent job of hiding the technical limits of this game. But once they open the world up all these limitations become quite apparent, invisible walls, terrain that you can get stuck on and a whole host of other issues appear very quickly after you deviate from the intended path.
This game has made a number of changes from the first game, for a start the first game never had a hub location to return to between levels. In this location you can buy upgrades to enhance your already impressive Ghostrunner abilities. Actually, that’s another new aspect… money, you gain money by killing enemies, if you get a combo the amount goes up, you also can get money from doing challenges that are found on each level.
I can’t put my finger on why but this game feels slower than the previous game, well for the most part it does, the motorbike section (at least the first one) feels very fast. Sadly, the motorbike section outstays its welcome and starts to feel tedious after a while.
The boss fights are a huge improvement over the original game though, providing a lot of mechanics, interesting visuals and spectacle. By the end of each fight you get a real feeling of elation from having bested a tough opponent.
This is a game I recommend, but honestly I think the first game is actually a bit better than this one.
