Ghostrunner is a first-person action platformer video game from 2020 developed by One More Level and Slipgate Studios, produced by 3D Realms, and co-published by 505 Games and All In! Games. In the game, you play as the Ghostrunner going around linear levels killing enemies to progress. 

The graphics in Ghostrunner are amazing. The bright neon and post-apocalyptic dystopian cyberpunk setting mesh perfectly together. The designs for characters and enemies are great. They are very detailed and fit perfectly into the setting. The music also fits perfectly into the setting and gameplay. The synthwave is great to listen to while going through levels. 

In Ghostrunner, you have to act quickly as you die in one hit. If an enemy is shooting at you, you can deflect by timing a hit perfectly. There is also a focus feature that acts as a dash. In the air, your focus slows down time for a bit; allowing you to dodge or hit a jump that's too far away. Sliding down slopes helps gain speed for some jumps. There is also a grapple that you can use on grapple spots to get to places out of reach or dodge enemy attacks. Later in the game, there are rails you can grab onto and slide on. There is also a wall run you can use. 

There are also powers that you get throughout the game that have a temporary cool-down. These powers can also be replenished by killing enemies. There are four powers you can get throughout the game: blink, tempest, surge, and overlord. Blink allows you to kill multiple enemies and also dashes forward. Tempest allows you to use a powerful blast that kills enemies and deflects bullets. Surge allows you to highlight an enemy and attack them. This can also kill multiple enemies. Overlord allows you to make an enemy kill other enemies until either the timer runs out or they die. There are upgrades for these in the third level of the game.

There are various enemies you’ll encounter throughout the game: key, trigger, slugger, enforcer, mech, drone, warden, sniper, turret, wreck, shifter, and splitter. Keys are the standard enemy, they attack with a pistol that is easy to deflect. Trigger has a machine gun, which can be dodged. Sluggers jump and land on you. These are easy to dodge. Enforcers have a giant shield that you have to get behind. Mechs charge a blast of lasers that you can slide under. Drones fly and shoot you. Land on them to kill them. Wardens charge at you with a sword attack which you have to parry. The sniper has a red laser pointer that you can see. To beat the sniper, you have to get behind cover and make your way over. Turrets are immobile and move side to side, surge is useful to get rid of these. Wrecks are creatures that explode when in range, just run from them. Shifters change their location, powers are useful to deal with these ones. The splitter acts as a key, but you have to find which one is real. 

Ghostrunner is a fantastic game with beautiful graphics and fun gameplay mechanics. The game is short enough to justify its $29.99 price and not understand its welcome. 17 levels, 3 boss fights included. The writing and voice acting are also great, but that gets into spoiler territory so I won’t elaborate. I beat the game a month ago yet I still find myself going back and getting better times on levels and playing the wave mode. There is also downloadable content for the game called Project_HEL and a recently released sequel. Overall Ghostrunner is a fantastic time through the whole thing. I’ll give Ghostrunner a 9/10.