Deal | 75% off Steam deal: First-person precision platformer with sinister Cyberpunk setting gets steep discount

Ghostrunner very much leans on its fast-paced, hyper-violent combat, slick parkour, and challenging level design for most of the fun, while the story of the game somewhat falls into the background. Your best friend is your sword, and, as you work your way up the Dharma Tower, you will learn new skills, both in combat and parkour, and new ways to use those skills to confront your enemies. 

While Jack is formidable, Ghostrunner is by no means a power fantasy. Incorrectly timing a jump or misplacing a slash can land you in serious trouble, with failure kicking you back to the start of the room. The level design is easily a strong point for Ghostrunner, with parkour and combat lines being simultaneously easy to read and, at times, difficult to execute. Most of the enemies in Ghostrunner are meant to be handled in a single well-timed, well-placed attack, but this is a double-edged sword, since you are, for the most part, a glass cannon who can and will be taken out by one or two well-placed bullets. 

Those challenging combat and parkour mechanics make Ghostrunner quite a rewarding game to get stuck into, although you may sometimes find yourself banging your head against a wall in an attempt to perfectly line up a series of wall-runs, jumps, dodges, parries, and kicks before ultimately getting it done. 

Those combat and parkour mechanics are paired with occasionally challenging environmental puzzles, which both serve to spice things up and slow things down, giving you a breath between intense enemy encounters. 

The surrealist visuals and world of Ghostrunner are slick, but they paint a grim picture for the inhabitants of the Dharma Tower. The surroundings featuring a stark mix of technology and poverty in a clearly post-apocalyptic setting with hints of the brewing rebellion poking through here and there. 

Ghostrunner's Steam reviews currently sit at an impressive 89.9% or "Very Positive," with most reviews praising the game for its lightning-fast combat, challenging environmental puzzles, and slick parkour mechanics. The story and voice acting also make frequent appearances in Ghostrunner's reviews, and the atmosphere and graphics are given praise as well. 

Both Ghostrunner and Ghostrunner II run virtually flawlessly on Linux devices, like the Valve Steam Deck (curr. $469.99 on Amazon) and feature Platinum ratings on ProtonDB. 

Ghostrunner's sequel, Ghostrunner II, takes place after the events of Ghostrunner and once again follow Jack in his fight against a new faction vying for control over the Dharma Tower. Ghostrunner II builds on many of the mechanics that made the first game such a hit, and it adds a Cyberpunk-style motorcycle into the mix. 

It returns the same frenetic combat and fast-paced parkour, but Ghostrunner II tries to give the player more flexibility and room to breathe, both by adding more abilities to your arsenal and by taking things into wider spaces. No longer will every enemy encounter take place in a narrow corridor or a cramped storage room full of obstacles, although those level designs are still a feature. 

Ghostrunner II wasn't quite as well received as the first installment in the franchise, but it still boasts an 81% positive rating on Steam. 

Ghostrunner on Steam, Ghostrunner II on Steam