This was a hard decision for me, while on one hand the story, atmosphere, graphics and even sound design is just amazing, the gameplay is can be pretty stale at times and repetitive unfortunetly. I also wished we would play as Motoko, as in just herself and not in the Fuchikoma, maybe something reminiscent of Max Payne but what we got is still fine.

The gameplay of Ghost in the Shell is a mix of third-person shooting, platforming and puzzle-solving. You technically play as Major, or Motoko Kusanagi for those who don't know, but you're actually just controlling a Fuchikoma the entire game which is less interesting in my opinion. Gripe aside, in this game you'll navigate through various missions in a world filled with political intrigue and technological marvels. The game featured varying mission types, such as rescue missions, stealth infiltration and somewhat annoying but intense combat encounters. One of the most innovative and fun aspects of the game was the ability to hack into enemy cyberspace networks. This mechanic not only allows you to control security cameras and disable traps, but it even allows you to manipulate enemy robots to turn against themselves. It added a small layer of strategy to the game, as you'd have to balance between difficult combat and stealthy hacking.

For the time Ghost in the Shell boasted graphics that really captured the gritty, futuristic aesthetic from the source material. The enviroments are detailed and atmospheric, from neon-lit cityscapes to dark, industrial complexes. The character models are obviously blocky compared to your Last of Us and Hellblade, but the designs were faithful to the anime's distinctive style at least. The game also featured a fitting soundtrack that complemented the cyberpunk setting, which is again fitting of the anime since that music was absolutely perfect in my opinion. Like the anime the music ranged from moody, ambient tracks to adrenaline-pumping techno beats, enhancing the immersive experience of navigating through this dystopian world.

I think this game successfully captured the dark, philosophical themes of the anime. Just like the anime the game's story delved into complex issues surrounding identity, consciousness, and the nature of humanity in a world where techonolgy blurs the line between man and machine. The story, setting and atmosphere is what I love Ghost in the Shell for, unfortunetly the story here took a backseat sometimes to instead focus on action. But I imagine this was just done to not bore the average player, especially nowadays.

As said the atmosphere is something that I adore Ghost in the Shell for, so luckily the atmosphere was undoubtedly one of the game's strongest aspects. The game recreated the oppressive, cyberpunk ambiance of the anime, which fully immersed me in a world of high-tech espionage and political intrigue. From the rain-soaked streets of New Port City to the towering skyscrapers of the city's corporate districts, every location felt like a believable part of the anime's dystopian universe.

Despite it's flaws, Ghost in the Shell is in my opinion a great fucking game, but mostly only for fans of the franchise. I don't think this game is a fitting introduction for anyone wanting to get into the series, but that does not mean the game is bad, I just think it's not for everyone. For people like me on the other hand, this is a great entry in the series and a must-play for fans.

8/10

Fun little game. Not exactly deep or difficult, though I can see myself doing a no death high score run in the future. Would be nice to have an end rank for mission mode considering there is one for training level that also gives you unique cutscenes depending on how well you do. Story isn't anything special, but the cutscenes are well made and cute. Overall the game is much closer to manga in terms of mood and style, making it stand out from all the other GITS adaptations. English voice acting is very corny but also charming I suppose. Music is banging also

Seems like a twisted joke that one of the action games from this era that ends up controlling the most fluidly is the one where you’re piloting a spider-tank- it’s the humans of this generation that you’ll need to get a license to operate. Finds a very particular balance between rigidity of tank controls and the ease of circle strafing, and combined with the ability to transition between (almost) every surface, it’s ended up being some of the most fun I’ve had just controlling a character in 3D space. Came away really liking the conspiratorial feeling of dodging enemy fire by totally inverting my angle-of-approach and entering fights by walking in on the ceiling (would love to see another game pick up where this left off).

Think the highlights are some of the densely-packed later stages, which hold up remarkably well thanks to the fact that the game will seamlessly transition from 3rd to 1st person if the area you’re in gets too cramped, and an early-game level where you’ll race against the clock to destroy explosive barrels in an open-ended environment. The timer here is tight enough that there’s some genuine decision-making in finding the best ways to cut through the level and in deciding what shot type to use: spend a few seconds and charge your lock-on or use a limited-use grenade to clear the objective? It’s a great pressure that’s surprisingly absent in the rest of the levels, free to move through them as cautiously as you want. Doubly weird given how the narrative keeps presenting these ticking clocks, with escaping suspects to catch and reactor meltdowns to avert, that have no bearing on the scenarios themselves.

Speaks to a general sense that this great movement was slotted into a game that didn’t quite know how to test it: Hard to believe that the fight against a rival Fuchikoma, which can scale walls as nimbly as you can and cycles through a number of projectile attacks that can track the player, is in the same title where so many of the bosses only entail that you circle-strafe around them and hold the lock-on button to win- not even leading their shots to throw off the player’s movement: just complete non-entities.

It’s further illustrated by its last level, a straightforward gauntlet through a bunch of enemies and a final boss that could function in almost any other action game, none of the hazards capitalizing on the unique qualities here. Probably a lot to expect from a licensed game, but the action is so far removed from any facet of the Ghost in the Shell series that I sort of wished that the devs had been able to ditch the IP entirely, free to construct whatever abstract and outlandish obstacles they wanted.

As with a lot of the middle-of-the-road arcade games I’ve talked about, the fact that its best ideas are still lying dormant isn’t some cardinal sin; start this in the evening, and let its novel movement system and pulsing DnB soundtrack hold you over till sunrise- maybe daydream about what it could be in the aftermath.

This was a PS1 game I've often played and completed many times back when I was in school as I loved anime and the Ghost in the Shell movie!

In this game you play as a rookie in one of the Fujikomas, investigating the different cases and being on the frontline of this mystery that's going on, but really your part involved blowing people up and fighting all kinds of rogue AI.

Despite being only one disk, the gane is filled with fully-voiced and animated scenes with the many familiar faces of all from Section 9. Though gameplay can be repetitive, the fun had with sticking to walls and watching Makoto and co being entertaining makes this a great game for any fan of Ghost in the Shell.

Stream + gameplay

Fortieth GOTW finished for 2023. This game has no right to be as good as it is for a licensed game, and yet still falls a little flat. The controls are actually buttery-smooth for a game where you're controlling a spider-tank, especially considering you can scale practically any surface in the game. There's also a surprising amount of variety in the level types and boss battles. However, this game's biggest downfall is that the short playing time has it feeling...empty. Like a lot of ambitious ideas that weren't quite realized fully, and one of the best-handling PSX games I've ever played that didn't really get a chance to fully stretch its legs. That and the terrible timed mission.

The game's genuinely fun, with the robot controlling like an Armored Core that can climb walls like Spider-Man, allowing for a lot of goofy strategies, and the game's biggest strength is how each level is super short and has its own gimmick.
But just when you're enjoying yourself the most the game just ends. I am glad the game doesn't overstate its welcome, after all it is very clearly modelled after arcade games, but if it were a fully fleshed game like say, Armored Core or Ace Combat, it would be such a fucking banger.

Ghost in the Shell is a third person shooter that manages to retain the charm and aesthetic of the movie and eventually anime but with some minor gripes that can make the game quite frustrating.

I think the best part about this game is the vibe and how it feels like you're playing out scenes from the movie/anime here. The cutscenes portraying the story are wonderful here and the soundtrack here is really good as well. Gameplay here takes a bit to get used but then it feels really good, the game is short so there's no meaningless content here.

Only real gripe is having a few slow downs especially during the final boss that made it a bit harder than it had to be and the special effects made seeing some attacks a bit hard to dodge which got me killed a few times.

I've only seen the movie and a bit of the S.A.C anime and this game really nails it here. Fun and pretty faithful to the source material here and a must play if you're a Ghost in the Shell fan.