JETRUNNER PC Review
Summary: A fun speed-running game with tons of replayability. Jetrunner doesn't really do anything new for the genre, but everything it does, it does well.
4
Speedy!
Ever since Mirror’s Edge was released in 2008, I’ve had a bit of a soft spot for games with a free-running theme. This was further compounded with games like Titanfall, Neon White, and Ghostrunner, and by the time DOOM Eternal hit shelves in 2020, I had just accepted that I really enjoy shooters that have a heavy emphasis on movement.
Jetrunner is the latest entry into what I’m loosely considering to be its own genre, with movement being core to the gameplay.
Jetrunner takes this movement focus and aims it directly at the story. Set in the not-too-distant future, the sport of Jetrunning has evolved into a speedrunning event that has participants stylishly navigating elaborate obstacle courses while taking out targets before making it to the goal. Players inhabit the boots of Nina White, a rookie Jetrunner, and follow her on her journey, from training in a stormy New York to being a legendary Jetrunner at the top of the competition.
There’s a lot more story here than I initially expected there to be. The first time through each of the many short stages has a fully voiced narrative playing out over the top. It’s mostly conversations between Nina, her support over the radio, and then responding to the dialogue of the commentator coming over the loudspeaker.
It’s mostly kept pretty light in tone and is largely unimportant in terms of what’s happening on screen, which is probably by necessity. Despite trying to listen and absorb as much of the story as possible, a lot of it went over my head, purely because the gameplay is quite intense and demanding, and stages require concentration to beat, at least on the first run through.
When it comes to the gameplay itself, Neon White is probably the closest comparison. Courses are short, usually taking 30 seconds or less to complete, and are typically an arrangement of platforms, floating walls and containers, and other assorted scenery. Getting around these is accomplished in a typical fashion for the most part. Jump over gaps, slide down slopes, wall run on… walls, etc. Where things differ from the norm is how Jetrunner introduces new concepts and abilities. New moves aren’t learned by the protagonist as such. There are orbs introduced in key places that give whatever ability they hold to the player in a limited quantity.
This starts with a vertical boost ability that is introduced very early on in place of a double jump. Hitting the right mouse button activates the boost once and sends Nina soaring vertically. Multiple of these powerups can be held at once and are used in sequence, with obstacles often requiring them to be chained together in a particular way to navigate them.
I got through most levels on the first or second attempt. Once you become familiar with the concepts that Jetrunner introduces and begin to spot patterns in the level makeup, it becomes relatively simple to intuit what is required to progress. This isn’t the same as it being easy, however. Generally, I found the difficulty of stages to be reasonable, but now and then, one would come out of nowhere with a huge spike, usually requiring very specific jump timing or ability use, when other stages are typically very forgiving in this respect.
Stages are also designed with sequence breaking in mind. Completing a given level will give you between one and three stars based on how quickly it was beaten. It becomes obvious very early on that following the ‘intended’ path is not going to get you three stars on many of the courses, and finding interesting ways to break them is where a lot of the replayability and fun comes from. This is absolutely a game with speed running in mind, and I think it’s one the community could really get on well with.
Jetrunner has an aesthetic very similar to the Borderlands games. The whole cell shaded, but not quite art style. Lots of bold, flat colours with exaggerated shading and highlights with texture being used relatively sparingly. It looks glorious on a screen with good colour and contrast, and even better with decent HDR support. It ran perfectly for me, easily matching the refresh rate of my monitor, and has support for even higher framerates.
Steam Deck
Jetrunner currently has an unknown rating by Steam when it comes to Steam Deck compatibility. I had no issues with getting it running, but I was unable to get anywhere near 60fps, however. Playing the game in DX11 mode (which it asks if you want to do on startup) had the game hovering around 45-50fps in early stages, so locking the screen to 40fps should give a relatively stable experience.
That aside, playing the game was perfectly fine. Controls map to a controller out of the box, and it plays perfectly fine, if somewhat less precisely than with a keyboard and mouse.
Final Thoughts?
I enjoyed Jetrunner. It’s a great-looking, fun take on the movement shooter with heaps of replayability at a low price. If you’re not sold on this type of game, then it probably isn’t going to change your mind on the genre, but if you’re even slightly interested, then this is a great place to start.
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