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PREVIEW
What do you get if you take the
parkour of Mirror’s Edge, throw
in just a smidge of Superhot, and
set it all somewhere not unlike
Blade Runner’s grimy cyberpunk
vision of LA? Something that’s
got a lot of literal running with blades and few
opportunities for pacifism.Half-man and half-machine, you find yourself
navigating the last refuge of humanity – a giant
tower that’s a city in itself – in a world devastated
by climate change. But while things are bad beyond
the tower, they may be worse on the inside. Poverty,
scarcity, and violence are all exacerbated by the
tower’s closed loop environment... and you’ve got to
rise to the top of it all.
Why? You wake up with a voice in your head.
As you admire your mechanical limbs, a whisper in
your ear says that there’s something wrong
with your software and, unless you want to
be thrown on the scrap heap, you should
find them so they can repair you. Naturally,
Whisper’s not going to do this out of the
kindness of whatever he calls a heart: in
exchange for saving you from the junkyard,
you’ll have to bust your mysterious
benefactor out of prison.SPARE PARTS
Of course, your task is nowhere near as
easy as simply scrambling up the side of
the metal monster. The planet may be
wrecked and humankind on its knees,
but the tower’s AI is still able to rustle
up enough security to make your ascent
anythingbut a pleasant stroll. The voice in your
ear suggests a route that has you scurrying through
air ducts, dashing between propeller blades, and
wallrunning into the sights of laser-blasting enemies.
Did we mention that you die if you take a single hit?
You’ve got to wonder whether Whisper really has
your best interests in mind...
After being walked through the basic capabilities
of your cybernetic bod by your dubious ally, you’re
put to the test. Before you are two paths, both lined
with enemies. Your options are either to slide down
a ramp or to wallrun, soaring high before closing in
with vengeance. The latter route drops you down alittle too close to the business end of
a laser blaster for our liking, and even
if you take out this first goon there’s
another camping out around the
corner right behind him, so it’s down
the slide for us.
We’re faster than a laser bullet
thanks to our sensory boost tech. This
is where the Superhot comparison
comes in, as time slows to a crawl
and we’re able to strafe in mid-air
out of harm’s way. The challenge is
in activating this time-dilation tech
before you meet an unfortunate end.
That said, in Ghostrunner death is an
unceremonious event and you’ll be
brought back from the grave quicker
than you can say ‘Painkiller.’ Let ’em
taste the chromium-plated boiling
metal of your blade!KNIFE TO MEET YOU
In our hands-on, our exit from the
‘Dome Zone’ is heralded by a rain of
blood, gushing from the last guard
left in the area. We’ve wormed our
way into the prison sector proper. All
that stands between us and the source
of the voice in our cyberbrain are
electrified walls, grapple points, and a
few more guards. This might as well
be a walk in the park.
A pleasant stroll behind us, we’ve
gained access to the prison sector’s
inner sanctum. The AI speaker
half-heartedly says, “Prisoner threat
level: Extremely high” in a last-ditch
attempt to get us to turn back, to give
up and go home. Scanning our metallic
palm, we loose Whisper’s chains... and
realise too late that this is something
we can’t take back. Our hand has
magnetically fused to the scanner,
and Whisper has us right where he
wants us. We’ll find out more about
who we are, the tower-city’s secrets,
and what exactly Whisper intends to
do with us later this year.
End transmission. Bzzzt!GHOSTRUNNER
Are you ready for some heavy metal?
FORMAT PS4 / ETA TBC / PUB ALL IN! GAMES / DEV ONE MORE LEVELFACTRICK
Polish developer One More
Level made God’s Trigger, a
gamethat’sHotlineMiamiby
wayofTV’sSupernatural.1.GOODGRACIOUSThis cyberpunk vision
has already won awards,
includingWriters’Choiceand
TeamChoiceatPAXEast.2.EXECUTIVESUITEThe final game will pit
you against Big Bad The
Keymaster, who resides at
the top of the tower.3.KEYBLADEWARS