Gameplay lets Ghostwire down badly
PS5
Ghostwire: Tokyo was meant to be another must-buy killer exclusive for the PS5, but the developers have fallen short.
Instead, what we get is a competent action-adventure with great visuals, but one that doesn’t reach the lofty heights of PS5 hits like Horizon: Forbidden West.
It’s set in a beautifully realised version of the Japanese city of Tokyo. A massive paranormal event causes the sudden disappearance of 99 per cent of the population while spirits from Japanese folklore storm the area.
Players are tasked with harnessing paranormal abilities to solve the mystery of the disappearances and save the city.
You play as Akito, a young man caught in a road accident who isn’t quite ready to die. He’s in a constant tangle with strong-willed spirit KK, who wants control of his body to take on and defeat the mysterious masked baddie controlling the city.
This sets up a neat buddy-cop style back and forth between your two protagonists in the same body.
So far, so good, but where Ghostwire falls down is the gameplay itself.
Because once you strip away the beautiful visuals and clever use of the Dualsense, what you ultimately have is a fairly bog-standard shooting game.
There’s plenty of open world to discover and cool little side missions but it all feels like many games before and, under the sheen, offers very little that is new or unique.