You Can Try Cyberpunk Ninja Game Ghostrunner, But Only If You Act Fast

PC players have a chance to step into the wall-running, sword-swinging role of a cyborg ninja in Ghostrunner, but only this week. The first-person cyberpunk runner has a new demo available on PC starting today, but if you want to try it, you'll have to get on it soon--the demo is only available until May 13.

You can find the Ghostrunner demo on the game's Steam page. The slice of the game is one that developer One More Level Games has been showing off at trade shows, including Gamescom and PAX East. You play a katana-wielding cyborg ninja, tasked with making your way through a huge tower filled with enemies, where combat is another part of the environmental puzzle.

The game plays a lot like Mirror's Edge, in which your goal is to go as fast as possible through the environment, while wall-running, using a grappling hook to swing over gaps, and sliding under obstacles. As you do, you'll need to take out enemies waiting to drop you--but both you and the baddies die in one hit, so a single mistake is enough to knock you back to the beginning of the encounter. The game requires you to quickly chart your course through an area, clock any threats, avoid their incoming fire, and slice off their heads, all while moving as fast as possible.

Along with the demo, Ghostrunner also got a new CGI trailer that gives a bit of a sense of the speed of the game and the enemies you'll encounter along the way, including a Doctor Octopus-style enemy that pops up at the end that we haven't seen in our hands-on opportunities yet.

The press release announcing the demo and trailer also gives some details about the story behind the game and why you need to slice through so many gun-toting bad guys.

"After a cataclysmic event, the remnants of humanity dwell within Dharma Tower, a megastructure constructed as a temporary shelter. A century of conflict led to a brutal division of Dharma--the lower the floor, the lower the resident’s status. The enigmatic Keymaster maintains this imposed caste system, but the people have had enough. Ascend the tower as a Ghostrunner capable of blistering speed and deadly precision, and learn the truth behind the Keymaster’s reign.

"Join the resistance known as the Climbers on their mission to cut through the Keymaster's regime. Death awaits on each level of the tower, from the derelict industrial machinery of the Base to the sickening sheen of the Summit. Dodge oncoming bullets by dashing and wall-running, then slice through enemies with a single cut. Cybernetic implants push the limit even further with bullet-timelike mechanics to keep the cyber-warrior out of harm's way."

Ghostrunner is slated to release sometime later this year.