The game’s personality stops
the city from being too bleak.Pray for world peace? Nah,
we’re here for extra ammo.Much time is spent
charging spells then
letting them rip.Ghostwire Tokyo
MOSTLY Great visuals,
crackling combat;
imaginative enemies.
GHOSTLY Repetitive; prioritizes
atmosphere over character.
RECOMMENDED SPECS CPU, i7 6700 /
Ryzen 5 2600. RAM, 16GB. GPU, GTX 1080 /
RX 5600 XT.
$60, bethesda.net/en/game/ghostwire-tokyo7
VERDICTThere are no combos or dodges, only
a smattering of skill enhancements,
repetitive encounters, shallow side
missions, and an open world that might as
well be from a light-gun game. But what
it does have is charm. And collectibles.
There are almost a quarter of a million
lost souls roaming this empty version of
Tokyo and they need to be captured and
shut into telephone boxes (obviously) so
they can be transferred to the afterlife.
Remember when Assassin’s Creed had
you chasing feathers, or Crackdown put
power orbs just out of reach?
Yet Ghostwire Tokyo isn’t a bad game.
If all you want is to fling fireballs at
spooks on a moonlit night in Tokyo, it has
a lot to offer. The combat may be shallow
but it’s fun, the enemies are spooky but
interesting rather than scary, and the look
of the thing, as you crackle out magical
missiles under a wall of neon advertising,
is often rewarding enough on its own.
It’s also full of personality—the floating
cats that act as shops, a talking raccoon,
and a ghost who just wants some toilet
paper see to that—but a lot of this seems
shoehorned in to prevent the overall
atmosphere from being too bleak.
After all, with the entire population of
a megacity reduced to piles of clothes—
few of them left behind a wallet or ID to
even tell us their names—things could
have got a little depressing. As you
gradually cleanse the city of a damaging
fog, opening up new areas as you do
so and discovering shrines at which you
can pray for extra ammo capacity (but
never any new moves) the weather stays
determinedly overcast and the air is filled
with the laughter of the ghouls that now
stalk its streets.
Most of the plot is crammed into
the final third of a not particularly longgame, you find yourself rushing through
it after you already think the repetitive
combat is all the game has to offer. In
a way, Ghostwire Tokyo feels like a lost
member of the Capcom 5, the quintet of
GameCube-exclusive supernatural action
games that counted Resi 4 among its
number. Only four ever came out, leaving
a gap to which the minds of Mikami and
his studio appear to have gravitated.
Not particularly scary, a bit repetitive,
but a whole lot of dumb fun, Ghostwire
Tokyo brings these games up to date
with modern graphics, but keeps a lot
about them the same. It’s an enjoyable
experiment, but not one we’d expect to
be repeated any time soon. –IAN EVENDENJUN 2022 MAXIMU MPC 91