Ghost 1.0 is a 2D metroidvania style game made by a single independent developer, Francisco Tellez De Meneses.  You play as a holographic AI who can take control of any robot body.

Exploring the game world there are many different paths to take but some will require the right colour of key card, certain abilities for you to unlock or restore power to an area before you can progress.  This means backtracking across the map metroidvania style when you have obtained the items or abilities needed to progress.

Gameplay sees you running, shooting enemies and some platforming jumping to reach higher areas.  You go into a number of areas and there will be a console which upon interacting with sets of an alarm and you’ll have to defend against several waves of different enemies before the terminal will unlock and you’re able to access the next area.

Scattered around the map are 3D printers which act as both save points and fast travel points that let you move to different areas of the map instantly meaning you don’t have to traverse large sections of the map again once you’ve unlocked fast travel a couple of hours in.

Shooting is a sort of twin stick style with you moving with the left stick, aiming in any direction with the right and firing with the right trigger which works very well and the shooting feels very fluid and tactile.

You can also employ a bit of stealth to take out enemies unaware by crouching and sneaking up on them or even better simply pressing X will allow you to leave your robot body and allow you to take control of an enemy robot and use that to take out the rest or just to open a door at the other end of the room.

In terms of length you’re looking at around 12 hours of gameplay here which for the low asking price of £7.99 is excellent value and although it’s clear this is an indie title made on a much smaller budget it’s one of the best metroidvania games not made by Nintendo.

The story is also very good, with full voice acting that is very well done and has some really good humour in the dialogue some of which referencing popular films which I didn’t expect to see in a low price indie title so the developer and whomever lended their voices to the characters should be commended here.

If you are a fan of Metroid and these types of games you will find a lot to like with Ghost 1.0 and for the measly price of £7.99 it is very easy to recommend and shows an awful lot of promise and potential from this developer I shall be keeping an eye on in future.

8/10

Great

Publisher: Francisco Tellez De Meneses
Developer: Francisco Tellez De Meneses
Platforms: Xbox One, Nintendo Switch & Steam PC
Release Dates: Xbox One 11 July 2018, Switch 12 July 2018 and available now on Steam

To get Ghost 1.0 on Xbox One pick up £10 Xbox Credit for just £9.69 from cdkeys.

Martin McCurdie

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