Review: Ghostbusters

If you’re a child of the 80′s there is no doubt you’ll remember the movie Ghostbusters. The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, Ectoplasm, Slimer. Good times. Now 25 years later, Atari is hoping you, along with all your nostalgia junky friends will want to revisit the original cast in a brand new video game being released on all major consoles and PC. Some childhood memories are better left alone. Does Ghostbusters: The Video Game fall into this category?

The Story

Ghostbusters: The Video Game is thought of by some as the unofficial third movie in the series. The story takes place in 1991, 2 years after the events of Ghostbusters II. The ghostbusting foursome decide to hire on a new recruit to help test out some new ghostbustin’ equipment. That recruit is you.

Throughout the course of the game you will fight alongside the original cast of Ghostbusters as they try and figure out what is causing a new paranormal spike in New York City. The crew is all here. Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson lent not only their likeness, but voices to the characters. Other supporting characters seen throughout the two films, like Annie Potts and Brian Doyle-Murray are also present, making this feel like a true Ghostbusters game.

The Gameplay

Ghostbusters: The Video Game can be thought of as a 3rd person shooter. All you have to do is swap out your gun for a proton pack. The premise is simple. Seek out ghosts throughout Manhattan, wear them down with your proton beam, then capture them with well placed “ghost trap”.

Although the game looks like it is an open world sandbox title, it’s far from. New York looks big when you step outside the fire hall the Ghostbusters call home, yet in reality your path is chosen for you from the beginning. You are not allowed to stray off course at any time. Sure it appears you can explore some buildings you enter, but in reality the story leads you exactly where you need to be. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, just know what you’re getting into from the get go.

The one place you can explore is the fire hall in which your office is based out of. Here you will find plenty of interactive goodies. The answering machine is constantly being filled with messages from people complaining about paranormal experiences, and haunted artifacts you find on your travels will ultimately make their way back here. Searching through the fire hall to find all the little extras is actually kind of fun.

All your old friends are back, although some aren't happy about it.

There is a constant rhythm to the game. Get a call about a disturbance, go out and investigate, scour the location, find the ghosts, trap them and move on. Repeat this enough times and you beat the game. Yes the game is repetitive in nature, but really what do you expect from a title focusing on a movie franchise that is 25 years old.

You will recognize many of the characters from the previous movies. The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man makes a comeback, Slimer is here along with the Ecto-1. Shhhhhhhhhhhh! Yup, the ghost librarian also makes a triumphant return. The game is chalk full of nostalgia and brings with it a warm feel for those who have seen the movies.

The developer did add a few new twists to the game, largely centred around your weapons. Instead of using the same old proton pack throughout the game, you get to try out new variations. The Stasis Stream for example allows you to “slow down” ghosts, and the Slime Tether can pull in objects (think of it as a giant sticky hand). These are welcome additions. Since the game is so repetitive you almost need these extra weapons just to add some flavor to the mix. Without them, players would get quite bored repeating the same old search and capture routine throughout the game.

The Controls

One things that can be said about Ghostbusters is the controls are solid. Firing a proton pack is as simple as hitting the Right Trigger on your controller. Aiming is done with the left analog stick. It’s simple, and it works. Rarely did I have any trouble with the control scheme. You do have the ability to tweak controls like inverting your axis so everyone should get a control scheme that works for them.

Camera angles also stayed fairly consistant. The nice thing about this game is you don’t find yourself fighting with the camera to get a decent view when the action heats up.

One minor note to pass along. There were a few times where my character did become trapped when one of my fellow Ghostbusters stood in a doorway This made it so I couldn’t leave a room. it never lasted longer than 10 – 15 seconds, and thank goodness it didn’t happen that often. It’s not a major problem but it is something I encountered.

The Graphics

For the most part it’s hard to be disappointed with the graphics in Ghostbusters. From the intro cutscenes, to the gameplay itself, a lot attention to detail has been paid. The proton beams look fantastic as do the ghosts. Some of the in game cut scenes could have used a bit more work as there is some tearing but it can be overlooked.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

All the characters look just as they did in the movies, which helps give Ghostbusters that nostalgic feeling. If Atari had failed to get the rights for the characters this would feel like a very different game. Fans of the movies, and even the cartoon should like what they see here.

The Bottom Line

There’s no denying Ghostbusters has the look and feel of the movies and is a lot of fun to play. The character banter is great (although a bit cheesy) and there is a serious feeling of nostalgia. Fans of the movies should get a kick out of the game.

That being said it does have its drawbacks. The game is repetitive. As mentioned earlier in this review, you get a call, investigate the scene, find the ghost and trap it. Although new weapons are thrown in and there is a good variety of ghosts, it’s hard not to feel like you’re repeating the same actions over and over again.

The other issue is game length. It’s short, as in 8 hours short. You can breeze through this game in a weekend. Although multiplayer gives it a bit of replay value, most gamers will finish this title a bit sooner than they would like.

All in all Ghostbusters isn’t a bad game, it just feels like it needs a bit more variety, and a few more levels. Die hards will love it, but for those who have never seen the movie or cartoon before, they probably won’t get that same warm fuzzy feeling the rest of us do.

The Good

Feels like the Ghostbusters franchise
Good graphics
Solid controls
Nice mix of ghosts

The Bad

Feels a bit repetitive
Short in length