Gaming

Ghostrunner 2 review

Be a cybernetic parkour ninja

Published

November 7, 2023

Luigi Leonardo

In the late 2000s, parkour got an odd nod from the gaming community because of the early Assassin Creed titles and cult classic Mirror’s Edge. However, today’s games are now more focused on easier traversal than puzzle platforming. Albeit a smaller series, the Ghostrunner franchise aims to recapture that magic with the new Ghostrunner 2.

Cyberpunk but for robot ninjas

Much like the first game, Ghostrunner 2 turns the player into a cybernetic, free-running ninja in a cyberpunk world. And like any cyberpunk ninja, there’s only one thing to do: find the quickest way to cross a gap, slash some bad guys, and make it home in time for the next motherboard upgrade.

If you’ve played Cyberpunk 2077 (especially after this year’s huge update), you’ll find plenty to love in Ghostrunner 2. It’s not the deepest story for a cyberpunk world, but it has a lot of atmosphere. Further, the sequel is still approachable even if you haven’t played the first one.

In terms of gameplay, it’s simple. Parkour your way through a level. Every enemy is killable in one hit. However, on the flipside, you also die in one hit. Everything is also managed by a meter. Stamina and tools are limited by a short but slowly recovering bar. While they offer huge benefits for playing, players have to manage their usage well.

Try, try, and try again

Naturally, the direct comparison for Ghostrunner 2 is the old Mirror’s Edge series. However, the title is much more than that. It relies a lot on skill mastery. The title’s learning curve is incredibly steep from the get-go.

The first level is already tough enough to net players dozens of deaths. Mistimed a jump? You die. Missed a parry? You die. Didn’t see that faraway enemy in the background? Believe it or not, you still die.

Thankfully, Ghostrunner 2’s difficulty isn’t as unforgiving as other difficulty-oriented games. Levels and segments are relatively bite-sized. Plus, the game sprinkles a generous helping of checkpoints throughout a level. Once you die, you respawn around the same place, rather than at the beginning of the level.

Further, the game telegraphs obstacles well. Once you’re introduced to the game’s mechanics, it’s not terribly difficult to spot a runnable wall or a grapple point in the background. That said, it’s still a matter of skill. The game requires you to think about where to go even before you hit the ground.

Smooth movement lends to replayability

Despite the seemingly cruel difficulty, the joy of successfully stringing together a smooth series of moves is unparalleled. Once you get past the early hours of flailing, falling, and dying, Ghostrunner 2 is immensely satisfying.

Plus, the game comes with a straightforward system of upgrades to help with combat and traversal. These upgrades, coupled with the natural progression of player skill, make it satisfying to return to past levels and just steamroll past everything.

It also helps that the game is relatively short. Obviously, the total playtime depends on your ability, but it shouldn’t take you too long to finish the campaign.

Short but lacking in sweetness

Though the game is remarkably smooth, there are some levels that lack the same polish of the first few levels. In these levels, Ghostrunner 2 just rehashes old ideas, instead of presenting something new.

In a few other levels, the terrain inadvertently turns into an unexpected enemy. For example, if you fall off a ledge, there’s a chance that a hanging beam catches you. While that might sound like a forgiving reprieve, there is no way to get back up, and you’re left with no choice but to restart.

Speaking of gripes, the game is also punishing for those who play with low joystick sensitivity. Because the game is available on PC, low sensitivity shouldn’t be an issue. However, if you’re on console, you might want to turn your sensitivity higher than you’re used to. There are some puzzles that require you to snap behind you.

Should you take the plunge?

If you’ve played and finished Cyberpunk 2077 this year, Ghostrunner 2 is the perfect way to keep feeding that cyberpunk hunger. It’s by no means the most polished game of 2023, but the fluid movement makes this an exciting time.

Gaming

Valve is embroiled in a lawsuit with New York over loot boxes

Published

March 12, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Valve has been embroiled in an odd war as of late. A few weeks ago, the New York Attorney General filed a lawsuit against the gaming company for allegedly encouraging children to gamble through loot boxes primarily found in Counter-Strike 2. Today, Valve is fighting back by declaring how little its loot boxes have to do with gambling.

For years, governments have had a problem with loot boxes. To them, the mechanic makes it too easy for gamers to fall into a gambling addiction. In essence, loot boxes are earnable packs that contain a single or a number of random items that the player can use for their game. Most of the time, these items are purely cosmetic and don’t give a gameplay advantage.

Like Blizzard before it, Valve is also defending its loot boxes as non-essential to how players engage with their games. “There is no disadvantage to a player not spending money,” their statement reads.

Additionally, Valve says that their loot boxes are no different from Pokémon cards and Labubu blind boxes. As such, the company is also defending their users’ right to transfer obtained items to other users, as with two players trading cards or Pop Mart figurines.

Now, these items have monetary value in the market. In the same way, a rare Counter-Strike 2 skin can fetch thousands of dollars. However, Valve says that they are already proactive in shutting down accounts made only to gamble and avoiding pro-gambling businesses.

Valve is capping off its statement by saying that the NYAG is forcing the company to collect more information from its users, especially those using VPNs to prevent being located in New York. The company says that it will continue to protect user data, despite the demand.

Gaming

Microsoft is launching Xbox Mode to Windows 11 PCs

It collects all your games in one place.

Published

March 12, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

What is an Xbox? For the past year and a half, Microsoft will tell you that anything can be an Xbox. Now, with Project Helix on the horizon, Xbox wants to bring the idea of playing anywhere to the next level. Microsoft will start rolling out its new Xbox Mode to PCs in April.

Since the very first device out in the market, handheld consoles have changed how people play games. Naturally, a lot can already be said about the portability and the convenience of its hardware. But the software needs a special shoutout, too.

Though they are essentially PCs at heart, these consoles are built explicitly for gaming. Fiddling around with Windows isn’t ideal. Instead, they have special software that can collate all of a user’s games into one hub.

The new Xbox Mode, adapted from the ROG Xbox Ally X’s Xbox Full Screen Experience, will do just that but on an actual PC. As announced via an official blog post, Xbox will release the new mode to Windows 11 devices in April, starting with select markets. Like the software used in handheld consoles, Xbox Mode should include all the available games from the Game Pass, Steam, and the Epic Games Store.

Right now, the feature will likely go up against Steam’s Big Picture Mode, which does the same thing but only for Steam titles. However, it should also transition neatly to Project Helix. Xbox is now ramping up the development of its next-generation console codenamed Project Helix. The upcoming machine will be a high-end PC and a gaming console rolled into one, making it perfect for Xbox Mode.

Gaming

Resident Evil Requiem will get a story expansion

There’s no word yet on when the story expansion will drop.

Published

March 11, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Resident Evil Requiem, Pokémon Pokopia, and Slay the Spire 2. Between these three, gamers today are eating well and good. Or rather, they’re not, because of how addicting of a time sink these titles are. The latter two especially are built to be played over and over for weeks and months. Now, Resident Evil Requiem is working on something, so you also won’t forget about it in a few months’ time.

Via an official post on Resident Evil’s social media platforms, Capcom has confirmed that a story expansion is coming to the horror game. Currently, the base game doesn’t take long to beat, especially when compared to other RPGs today. The expansion should add more content to explore the story’s world.

Right now, Capcom can’t share a timeline for the update’s launch. However, in the meantime, the developers are cooking up a few minor updates to keep the game alive. For one, the game will receive performance updates to improve the smoothness of gameplay and fix bugs. It will also get a photo mode for all you Leon-holics out there.

Finally, in May, the base game will get a “minigame” added to the main game. There’s no word as to what this minigame is, so we’ll have to wait for when it drops.

Resident Evil Requiem is out now on all major platforms. The game features the survival horror style of the modern Resident Evil games, while serving up the classic action gameplay with the return of Leon S. Kennedy as a co-protagonist with Grace Ashcroft.

SEE ALSO: Resident Evil Requiem is out now