Gravity Rush 2 is developed by Japan Studio and the sequel to Gravity Rush. While the original Gravity Rush was released on the PlayStation Vita in 2012, Sony released an excellent remastered version last February for the PlayStation 4. As a fan of the original Gravity Rush, when Sony confirmed a sequel was in the works, I was ecstatic that Kat was coming back to the PlayStation 4.
If you have yet to experience the gravity-shifting fun and vast open world from the original, you will be blown away by this exclusive PlayStation 4 sequel that will have you defying the laws of gravity.
Game Details
Platform: PlayStation 4
Release Date: January 20, 2017
Developer: JAPAN Studio
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Genre: Action Adventure
Modes: Single-player
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Story overview
Gravity Rush 2 takes place a few months after Gravity Rush, and explores the overarching questions of where does our heroine with no memories come from, and why? The game starts out with Kat and her friend, Cyd, find themselves in a remote and unknown location. As the game progresses you discover that Kat and Cyd are now part of the Banga Settlement whose inhabitants, to survive, mine minerals that often times put themselves in dangerous predicaments. Unfortunately, Kat can not use her gravity- defying powers since she has lost her cat, the main reason for her powers, during a gravitational storm.
While it is not necessary to have played Gravity Rush to fully enjoy and understand Gravity Rush 2’s storyline, Sony has created a stunning animated short entitled Gravity Rush: The Animation – Overture (watch below). This bridges the gap between the original Gravity Rush and Gravity Rush 2 to get you up to speed on who Kat is and her mysterious powers.
Facing the harsh reality of this new region, Kat can not stand seeing the rich take advantage of the poorest and wants to change things. After finding her cat, Kat travels to new areas where Navis, regular enemies of the first game, make their appearance and hinder the mining of the minerals. Despite all this, Kat seeks to return to Hekseville, and when she gets there, she does not know how she got there and notices that many things have changed during her absence, including the appearance of two new characters.
Overall I think Sony did a great job with Gravity Rush 2’s story, it was easy to follow, and it provided many explanations on the different social facts of the inhabitants that Kat encounters.
Gravity-defying action
Just like in Gravity Rush, Kat can control gravity and change the direction of gravity to pretty much whatever she wants. Gravity Rush 2 begins with a tutorial that helps you master the games controls before facing enemies. What I liked about the original Gravity Rush were Kat’s powerful and impressive attacks, and Gravity Rush 2 brings all those attacks back and more. In order to unlock new and more powerful attacks you must collect germs that are scattered around the numerous cities in the game.
Gravity Rush 2 introduces two new gravity styles, known as attribute tunes, which change the way that Kat interacts with the world around her. These two new gravity styles, Lunar and Jupiter, give you new and interesting ways to play the game. By swiping up on the DualShock 4 touchpad, the first new gravity style Lunar, makes Kat’s gravity as light as a feather. This allows you to jump longer distances, and fall at slower speeds. It took me a few minutes master this new gravity style as a simple jump takes you several metres into the air.
By swiping down on the DualShock 4 touchpad, the second new gravity style Jupiter, is the exact opposite of Lunar. Jupiter makes Kat’s gravity heavier, which allows you to attack with slower and more precise punches. These attacks are more powerful than Kat’s standard attacks, and allows you to dish out more damage to your enemies. While you might think that the constant changing of gravity might seem a bit disorientating, it’s quite easy to get accustom to.
Signature art style
One of the first things that drew me to the original Gravity Rush was its distinct and beautiful art style—a mixture of comic book aesthetic and Japanese manga. Gravity Rush 2 continues the art style and creates a world this is not only more lively but also 2.5 times the size of the original game. The graphics are beautifully rendered, the colours are vibrant, and the city is full of life.
Gravity Rush 2 runs at a gorgeous 1080p resolution on the PlayStation 4 and looks absolutely stunning in 4K on the PlayStation 4 Pro. The magnificent soundtrack changes depending on where you visit, from sad and oppressive music to joyful and dancing.
Online features
While Gravity Rush 2 doesn’t feature any type of online multiplayer modes, it does offer many asynchronous modes that allow you to connect with your friends. Photo Review and Treasure Hunting modes allow you to take pictures and post them to share with your friends. Photo Review encourages you to react and rate pictures, which in turn gives you Dusty Tokens that can be used to get rewards. On the other hand, Treasure Hunting allows you to share pictures of locations where you have discovered some of the many treasures hidden through out the game.
By far my favourite online mode in Gravity Rush 2 was Ghost Challenge. You play with the ghost characters of other players in hope to get the best time or score. I found that even though I wasn’t racing against others in real-time, it felt as if I was. You can even send your own scores as challenges to friends or random players.
Final Thoughts
Gravity Rush 2 is everything I was expecting in a sequel and then some. With a map 2.5 times the size of the original, there is a lot to see and do. Gravity Rush 2 has over 50 side missions that are fun and will keep you playing this game long after you have completed the main missions.
Even if this is your first Gravity Rush game, its unique art style and distinctive gameplay will draw you in and make you a fan of the series. If there was one aspect of the game that I could nitpick on it would be the lack of simultaneous online gameplay.
+ Colourful and vibrant graphics
+ Huge world to play in
+ Unique gameplay
– Lack of online real-time gameplay
– Gravitational directions may confuse and disorient some initially
OVERALL
Gameplay: 4/5
Graphics: 4.5/5
Sound: 4/5
Lasting Appeal/Replayability: 4/5
