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Have You Played... Ghostrunner?

Cutthroats over cutscenes

I heartily appreciate it whenever a game manages to be cinematic and tell a story without ever getting in the player's way. I think of it as "the Doom approach". The beauty of this accomplishment is that the story doesn't even have to be very good or interesting. I don't remember much at all about the story of Ghostrunner, but it doesn't matter. I can still recommend it because it doesn't force you to wait around for the story bits to end before you can get back to wall-running your way from one assassination to the next.

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If you've never played Ghostrunner, just imagine Mirror's Edge crossed with Hotline Miami and you're incredibly close already. It's set in a dark, glitchy cyberpunk setting that never does more than it needs to: offer you a path from point A to point B, with many enemies to slice into kibble along the way.

There's really not much more that you need to know about Ghostrunner, and you probably already know whether or not you'd enjoy it. For those few still on the fence: the movement is fluid and responsive, the combat is simple and punchy, the levels are just interesting enough to keep you going. Most important of all though: the delay between dying and starting over is as short as tapping "R". There's nothing worse than being punished for dying with a loading screen.

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