Ghostrunner

Ghostrunner's lightning-fast gameplay makes for a short-lived but memorable action game with some incredible moments.

Ghostrunner is a hard-charging parkour climb, but summiting its platforming challenges is a thrill worth fighting for.

Ghostrunner never loses sight of being about speed and agility, making it a constant joy to play.

Incredibly tough but perfectly fair, Ghostrunner cuts the cybernetically enhanced mustard.

There’s something extra special about hurtling through space from one wall or platform to the next in first person. Compared to a 2D platformer, the motion seems faster, the timing is tighter, and the penalty of missing a jump — that feeling of the ground rushing toward you as you fall — is way more intense. Ghostrunner is a perfect example of what happens when a developer works within the limitations of an underappreciated genre and pulls the absolute best from it.

Frenetic action and precise manoeuvring add to this cyberpunk game in which success wobbles on a blade edge

But take that initial pass as a warm up lap, inuring yourself to some frustrations to come, and what follows finally delivers on the fun of the cyber ninja fantasy. Death number 1424 beckons.

As I played through the roughly eight-hour campaign this week I couldn't shake the feeling that I was playing the unholy union of Hotline Miami and Mirror's Edge that I didn't know I was missing in my life. Through all of the frustration and cursing at myself for screwing up something that I knew I should have gotten right, I was still having a blast and loving every minute of the game. Though the story is complete for me, I'll most assuredly be returning to this to see how well I can hone my cyberpunk ninja skills.

So, should you buy Ghostrunner? Maybe. This is a punishingly difficult game by most metrics, but those of you who like a worthy challenge will find plenty to love here. Blink-and-you-miss-it gameplay and some light replayability elements make for a title that at least proves itself to be worth the price of admission. That being said, rough performance and some occasionally unbalanced difficulty can make for an experience that's often more frustrating than it is fun. If you have another console which can run Ghostrunner, we'd recommend you pick it up there unless you really want to play this one on the go. Otherwise, this game is worth your time – but perhaps wait for a sale before you rush out to pick it up.

Ghostrunner will set your adrenaline racing and won’t let up until you’ve mastered its systems. And when you do reach that zen-like moment of precision and elegance, dancing on the edge of a blade between life and death, you’ll ask yourself, “Can I do better?” And that’s when Ghostrunner will have you, truly and deeply.