Ghostrunner is a fast paced first person hack and slash game set in cyberpunk setting. The gameplay also involves wall running, zip lines and other forms of platforming. Amazingly, most combat arenas require both platforming and combat skills which are facilitated by some solid level design and the fact that both enemies and the player die in a single hit. This aspect of the game deserves a lot of praise because it allows for some pretty spectacular fights in first person, which is very hard to do right. The game evidently does nudge your character towards enemies at times, but most tricks stay under the hood.
All of this is also accompanied by an excellent soundtrack, mostly consisting of synth music, which is probably the best genre for cyberpunk besides industrial in my opinion.
As for the story, I found it kind of cheesy to be honest, but the dialogue is elevated by the voice acting that I think is very nice. There are also collectible "artifacts" which contain some extra lore about the world of Ghostrunner and cosmetic sword skins with brightly colored stripes and LED lights.
On that note, the cyberspace sections made me feel a little sick. Lots of brightly colored, fast moving abstract geometric shapes. The rest of the game looks great though, especially for the system requirements.
To conclude, Ghostrunner is pretty sick. It's cheesy, fast, violent and the gameplay is fun. Go play it.

Reviewed on Jul 25, 2022


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