No other game in recent memory has had the turbulent will-they-or-won’t-they existence that has plagued Terminal Reality’s Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Almost forcibly announced after a tech demo (from another company) was released to entice Sony into signing them, the game was to be published by Sierra (which was part of the VU Games group) and should have been out in time for Christmas 2008. Then comes the Activision/VU merger and the re-evaluation of VU’s entire catalog of games, eventually Ghostbusters is left without a publisher and is rescued by ATARI, finally given a release date close to the original film’s 25th anniversary, but could all the 90210-like drama unfold into a game people would actually want to play? The short answer is yes, after everything that’s happened, Ghostbusters is a good game, fans will be enthralled and critics may have to finally acknowledge a decent, licensed video game.
Picking up two years after the underrated Ghostbusters II, the game puts you into the shoes of a newly recruited fifth member of the team tasked with trying Egon’s (Harold Ramis) latest and greatest inventions. You’re never given a name, you barely speak, but the toys you’re allowed to play with are oh so fun. Throughout the game you earn money by busting ghosts and trashing public works, that money allows you to buy upgrades for one of the four packs you’ll use during the game. Other upgrades deal with your PKE meter which is used in a similar fashion to Metroid Prime’s scanning, you’ll need to identify ghosts and cursed artifacts in order to complete achievements and unlock everything the game has to offer.
The story focuses on a Gozer exhibit and is really just a MacGuffin to get the original crew together and have them visit some of the series’ most recognizable locations such as the Sedgewick Hotel, The Museum of Natural History, and the Library. Each level broadens the scope of those locations seen in the movies to the point of crossing over into alternate dimensions as is the case with the Library. The team at Terminal Reality really crafted plausible back stories as to why these places are haunted and how they tie into the central plot of the game.
A lot has been said about this game standing up as Ghostbusters III, and while we wait for the official movie to begin production sometime his decade, Ghostbusters: The Video Game will do for now. Almost all of the original cast is here with the exception of Rick Moranis as Louis Tully and Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett. Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson all return including Annie Potts as Janine and William Atherton as Walter Peck. The voices are generally well done, although there’s some “interesting” lines here or there, and during sequences where you’re trying to figure out the timing or weak point of certain enemies the “I’m being attacked” dialog bank is surprisingly short, count the number of times you hear Murray recite the word “Ow”.
Gameplay is in the mold of Gears of War with a third person, over the shoulder perspective. In place of a traditional HUD your proton pack acts as both a health and weapon meter. Obviously the designers had to limit the player from just laying on the proton pack and running wild so they instituted a heat bar that when it reaches the top you’re pack will disable itself and vent. You can manually vent the pack during downtime if you so choose. As you’d expect in a game called Ghostbusters, you’re busting ghosts, you’ll weaken them (a ghosts’ life shows up as a circular health bar on top of them as you shoot), ensnare them, and then trap them. Upgrades like the Slam Trap allow you to hit a button and immediately jam the ghost in the trap rather than letting it attempt to fight its way out of the containment stream.
No amount of fanboy service is going to make the perfect game, and while Ghostbusters is a delight from front to back, there are a few shortcomings. Most noteworthy is the game’s length, for such a long development cycle you’d expect something a little meatier, but a play through normally takes about 10 hours. There are three difficulty levels and achievements for each so you’ll want to play through again and again, however it’s recommended to play on the easiest setting the first time through to see the story.
The collision detection could be better with characters getting hung up on the smallest of objects in their path and the useless jump button serves no purpose, you couldn’t jump over a can of paint if you where an NBA All-Star.
As far as multiplayer modes go, Ghostbusters lets you play with up to three friends in online campaign modes with a variation of capturing bases (deploying PKE towers), deathmatch (capture as many ghosts as possible), and just plain surviving wave after wave of enemies. Each of the campaigns are entertaining and varied as far as the landscape goes, but the basic principles are the same. It would have been nice to play through the actual game in a co-op mode; however one can see how this wouldn’t necessarily work out so well as you play through the single player campaign.
No matter what, Ghostbusters: The Video Game was worth the wait, and while the adventure is short lived, its thoroughly enjoyed, sure there’s problems here and there with dodgy gameplay mechanics that do pull you out of the story, but ultimately this is a story driven piece and its easily enjoyed by anyone who loves the series, can quote both movies start to finish, and needs to do some serious bustin’.
