Ghostbusters The Video Game

"When Someone Asks You If This Game Is Awesome, You Say YES!"

In recent years, nostalgia has seemed to play a prominent role in entertainment, especially in the video game market. It's also perfectly clear that the 80's is one of the main influences of this. With this in mind, it was no surprise that the beloved Ghostbusters franchise was due for a much-needed comeback, and with today's technology the timing couldn't have been better. That's why the good folks at Atari and Terminal Reality have given us Ghostbusters The Video Game. For the many of us who grew up dreaming of the day we'd be able to strap on a proton pack and wail on some ghosts using a concentrated beam of pure awesome, this is about as close as we're ever going to get without singeing our eyebrows off. And let's face it, if you've ever seen the movies, you're one of those people. Ask any child of the 80's, "who ya gonna call?" If their answer isn't "Ghostbusters" (or at least "He-Man") then they're probably lying about their age.

The game takes place 2 years after the events of Ghostbusters II and the crew is in the process of training a new recruit to be the "Experimental Equipment Technician". In other words, the guy who's responsibility is to test all the new, and potentially dangerous equipment. Luckily, since you play as this fifth member, it means you get to play around with all these cool new toys! With somewhat coincidental timing, the new cadet is quickly put to work when a sudden surge of paranormal activity starts running rampant throughout New York. Armed with their trusty proton packs and PKE meters to track ghosts, Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler, Peter Venkman, and Winston Zeddemore take the newbie out into the field for some hands-on time with his new unlicensed nuclear accelerator.

Each of the Ghostbusters is voiced by his original actor from the film, a rarity for many games, but astonishing in this case due to the age of the franchise. Despite your character being a mute, the rest of the cast does enough talking for him. Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, (the writers of both films and actors for Ray and Egon respectively) reprise their roles with the same gusto as in the films. Bill Murray (Venkman) and Ernie Hudson (Zeddemore) also return, as well as the original actors for some of the minor characters. Because of this, the game has the same overall tone and amusing dialogue as the two films. All of the character's personalities are intact, from Ray's easily-impressed nature, to Peter's lightning-fast wit. They took great care to make sure the game stayed as true to the movies as possible.

As upsetting as it is, film-based games have a long history of lackluster gameplay due to developer's time restraints to release the game with the movie. Although I was excited for this game, I was also a bit scared that it might follow on that downward spiral, even though the movies had been out for over 20 years. Thankfully my fears were immediately put to rest. The game controls almost exactly like Gears of War, and if you're not familiar with this, it's a good thing. From the controls, to the way your character runs and fires his weapons, the developers made a smart move when deciding to use this tried-and-true gameplay.

Ghostbusters is essentially a third-person shooter, although the main focus is on catching ghosts rather than simply destroying them. Your main goal is to wear ghosts down using your proton beam, then wrangle them into the ghost traps you set out on the floor using another beam made specifically for capturing. You are also given a PKE meter which tells you when there is a hidden ghost or collectable items nearby. Later in the game you are also given new equipment to help solve puzzles, such as the Slime Tether, which can be used to stick objects together and move them out of your way or even help you create a path for yourself. Every weapon in the game can be upgraded as well, giving you higher rates of damage, longer periods before your pack overheats, etc. Equipment is upgraded through the cash you get from catching ghosts, and another cash meter was included to show the amount of collateral damage you've unleashed, (purely for achievement purposes) which goes directly to Walter Peck at the EPA. The multiple functions you have to play with may seem overwhelming at first, but the more time you spend with them it eventual ly becomes second nature. The controls are intuitive and catching ghosts never seems to get dull. There is also a variety of cursed artifacts to find using your PKE meter as well as a log of each ghost you scan with it, giving the game some replayability for perfectionists.

The button layout works surprisingly well here. Shooting your proton stream is as easy as a pull of the right trigger, and each weapon also has a secondary fire on the left trigger. A meter on your pack will build up and buzz to let you know when it's about to overheat. Pressing the right bumper will vent the pack, which is extremely useful since overheating takes twice as long for your pack to recover. Tapping the X button throws out your ghost trap, and luckily you are not required to retrieve it before be able to throw another trap. Your capture stream is used by pressing the left bumper when you're using the default proton stream, but it will also deploy itself when a ghost has been sufficiently weakened. While using the capture stream, if you pull the ghost in the opposite direction it's trying to escape you'll build up a "slam" meter. Slamming ghosts is a great way to stun them, but with an upgrade, it can also be used as a method of immediately catching a ghost without needing to hold it over a trap. Hitting the B button while moving will dodge in the direction you are holding, and keeping the button pressed down will allow the rookie to sprint for a short period of time. Finally, switching to different equipment is done by pressing in one of the four directions on the d-pad.


Graphically, the game looks great. It's not the most beautiful game on the 360, but it's certainly recreates that old Ghostbusters look perfectly. The character models look exactly like their film counterparts right down to the facial expressions. Some of the landmarks from the movies even make an appearance such as the Ghostbuster's firehouse headquarters (which acts as your central hub between missions) and the library where the team encountered their first ghost. The level design was also done very well, with each new area giving the right atmosphere and ambiance that fits the situation. Of course the ghosts look and move just like in the film and kept that puppet-like quality to them. But one of the most note-worthy things about the game is the use of the new physics engine, the Infernal Engine. The game makes full use of this with it's destructible environments, lifelike characters movements and particle effects. And I rarely encountered slowdown other than a few areas that were overly populated with ghosts. What really impressed me was the detail that went into the game, especial in the firehouse. After going back and watching the films again I can really see the effort that was put forth.

Fans will be happy to know that the Ghostbusters theme, as well as many other notable tunes were included in the game. I just hope you l ove the theme because you're going to be hearing it during the loading screen every time you die. The music builds up and softens out perfectly in the situations you are thrown into and they put a lot of detail into the sound effects. Your proton pack charges with the same high frequency buzzing, ghosts have that eerie echo, and everything sounds very crisp and clear. One sound-related issue I had, however, was the fact that when characters are speaking (mostly Venkman) there are times when the voices are so low you either need to turn the volume way up or keep the subtitles on. The actors did a great job recording their lines, though, and they sound like they were pulled directly from a movie. They all had very believable performances given the fact that they hadn't reprised these roles in years.

The game features a multiplayer mode that's surprisingly fun and can get addictive very quickly. You can team up with friends over Xbox Live (unfortunately no offline multiplayer is available) and play as any of the five Ghostbusters in a multitude of game variants. Games like "Survival" (Ghostbuster's answer to Gears' Horde Mode) have you and your team working together to capture ghosts, all while helping to keep each other alive for 10 waves of increasingly difficult enemies. Whereas games like "Protection" (another Gears-type mode like Annex) have you guard a charging PKE disruptor while ghosts are constantly damaging it. Just like in campaign, you get cash and experience which helps you attain achievements and rank up, unlocking new uniforms that show your rank instead of a numbered system. This is a great new way to show just how badly you own at a game. All of the different modes are fun, but you'll most likely spend a lot of time fighting over ghosts, since you only get paid if you capture them (or at least put your capture stream on them). I was glad to see that the developers thought ahead for those of us who would undoubtedly want more after the campaign ended. It's a nice little diversion but the real meat of the game is still the brand new story and getting that feeling of really joining the crew. If you purchase the game solely for the multiplayer (not sure who would do that) you may end up being disappointed. That isn't to say the multiplayer isn't a blast. There's something very satisfying about teaming up with a few friends and bagging some ghosts together.

While I loved nearly everything about this game, it isn't without it's flaws. The campaign is fairly short, somewhere between 8-10 hours. I didn't have too much of a problem with this, but it would have been nice if it were longer considering the game is retailing at $60. The game's A.I. sometimes gave me some issues that drove me from frustrated to downright pissed-off. The difficulty tends to be erratic and spikes at certain areas of later levels, making the experience lead to a controller-throwing festival. Also, minor graphical details such as lip-syncing being slightly off at some points are an issue that shouldn't be present in games today. You may also find it incredibly easy to max out your proton pack's equipment about half-way through the game depending on how you use the money you obtain.

Ghostbusters boils down to this: It's a game created for the purpose of furthering the story and giving the fans what they want. I believe it's done all that and more. You can tell that a lot of time and effort went into making the game as true to the original films as possible but showing a fresh perspective as well. It really gives the player a reason to want to continue until the end. All negatives aside, if you're a fan like me, you're going to play it over and over until you've completed everything and unlocked every last achievement. Like many games that have been released recently, this is a great service to fans. I believe it has the ability to make a whole new generation into Ghostbusters fanatics who will grow to learn exactly why you never cross the streams.

Ghostbusters The Video Game gets a well-deserved 9/10!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/23/09

Game Release: Ghostbusters The Video Game (US, 06/16/09)