Ghostbusters The Video Game

"When There’s Something Strange, In the Neighborhood…"

Contrary to what one might think, Ghostbusters isn't just some late to the party movie license cash-in. With Harold Ramis and Dan Akroyd helming the script, this game is actually intended to serve as a full blown sequel to Ghostbusters 2. As such it tends to play off and reference the events depicted in the movie to a degree that those not familiar with them will be a little confused.

It's 1991 and despite becoming a government sanctioned ghost-hunting squad, the Ghostbusters still have a lot of problems. Some sort of psychic shockwave is detonated in the city and ends up waking every ghost in Manhattan. That's not to mention the Ghostbusters now have a governmental oversight committee breathing down their necks due to the massive insurance claims filed any time the team is called in. With all that on their plates it's no surprise that more help is called in. Players are put into the shoes of the newest Ghostbuster, a nameless recruit who serves as guinea pig and mule for the ghost busting equipment. Fans may be disappointed that they won't play as Venkman, Stantz, Spengler or Zeddemore but it ends up working just fine.

Overall, the script is very good and has its fair share of laughs. For Ghostbusters fans this alone is likely enough to justify the price of admission. Surprisingly enough, the rest of the game also measures up to the point that even non-fans will have a fun time wrangling ghosts and chasing apparitions in this fun little third-person action game.

In the shoes of the new recruit, players will strap on the old proton pack and quickly become familiar with its functions. The base proton beam damages enemies and can wrangle them into traps, while a secondary fire mode shoots Boson Darts at enemies (think explosive energy balls). It can even be used to grab things and move them around. Since the recruit is also the guinea pig for the team, he'll also get a few other tools to test out, all of which are handily built right into the pack. There's the shock blast/stasis tool which has functions that work like a shotgun or freeze ray. The third weapon is the Meson Collider, which shoots out a big glob of energy as well as small energy pulses at a machine gun rate that track the target. One of the more important tools is the Slime gun. Slime can be used to get rid of damaging black slime that can become an interdimensional portal that spews enemies. The other function of the Slime gun is the slime tether. Fired on two objects, the tether will quickly contract and pull the two objects together. This mode is used in several small environmental puzzles later in the game.

All those tools will come in handy because Ghostbusters isn't shy about throwing ghosts and ghoulies at players in full force. Many of these enemies are classified as “dispersible” which means blasting their health down will get rid of them permanently. Dispersible enemies actually make up the majority of the enemies and they comprise things like possessed flying books and golems made out of coal. When facing a true ghost it becomes necessary to actually trap it. To trap an enemy, its health must first be whittled down to nothing, at which point the proton beam will latch onto it. After throwing down a trap, you then try to wrangle the ghost back and forth by dragging it back and forth and slamming it against objects. Once it is near the trap, it will swing open and start sucking the ghost down. Ghost wrangling is actually quite fun and is remarkably similar to fishing but can be challenging at times, especially if you're up against a resilient enemy. It becomes significantly easier if other team members are focused on the same enemy, and as you get weapon upgrades. These upgrades do a variety of things that usually include making a weapon more efficient. One of the more useful ones is the ability to slam dunk ghosts, which allows you to slam a ghost near a trap and immediately suck it up. Regardless of how many team members are helping, there is one small consistent issue. Lining up the ghost and the trap can be a hassle, which means wasting time flinging the ghost around a room trying to get it close enough for the trap to do its work.

The pack also serves several other functions in that it completely takes the place of a HUD. All weapons create heat when fired, and if the pack overheats it will automatically shut down and cool. This can be avoided by manually venting the heat. The pack also shows the health level for the recruit. While the weapon heat meter is easy enough to read, the health meter is a bit hard to make out which means death can sometimes come as a surprise.

Thankfully Ghostbusters does circumvent what would normally be a cheap death and quick trip to a game over screen by allowing other members of the team to revive the recruit should he go down. Most of the time they'll run right over and you'll be back on your feet in no time, but in some areas and boss fights they have a hard time getting to the recruit. This ability also comes into play when the other Ghostbusters go down, as the recruit can revive them as well. Strangely enough, the rest of the team goes down fairly often and in some fights it's possible to spend just as much time running around reviving people as it is actually fighting. Though this would normally be an irritating issue, they are helpful enough that you'll always want them up and fighting. In the rare instance that the entire team goes down, it does signal a game over and checkpoint reload. More annoying though is the long load time you'll have to endure. Thankfully these cases are few and far between.

While it would be a stretch to call Ghostbusters scary, it certainly has its moments of good old fashioned creepiness. A level that takes place in the New York Public Library pulls out all the stops with floating tables and chairs, the voices of ethereal children, books mysteriously falling off shelves, card catalogs bursting open and showering through the air and shelves that suddenly move and rearrange themselves. Some of the levels forgo creepy for goofy, namely the Times Square segment that entails the return of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man who traipses around destroying buildings like Godzilla. While most of the levels are pretty cool a few of them get a little repetitive. Walking through hallways and rooms that are nearly identical or simply unimaginative becomes a drag when these areas pop up.

One real problem I had on a few occasions was with event triggers. There were a couple of times when characters disappeared or locked up, meaning that something that was supposed to happen simply wouldn't, forcing a checkpoint reload. Another problem had my entire team just freezing, while their voices continued.

The game isn't very impressive from a technical standpoint but that certainly doesn't make it ugly. The visual style is a bit simple and lacking in some of the fine details, but the models of the Ghostbusters team are instantly recognizable for who they are and most environments have their own feel. The game has a very wide color palette, which it uses to good effect.

Most of the environments are capable of being extensively damaged, which is important considering the Ghostbuster's habit of destroying everything they see. The Proton beam will leave a trail of charred black across whatever it touches, and most of the objects seen lying around the environment can be destroyed. Chances are that once a fight breaks out in any given area, by the time the smoke has cleared the area will be in shambles.

The most detailed thing in the game is actually the Proton pack each member carries on their back. The pack has all sorts of little blinking lights and meters that move, and selecting one of the four weapons causes it to transform in some small way. For instance, when using the Slime gun, a vial of green goo pops up from the back. When a gun overheats, several little rods will poke out like a venting nuclear reactor core. In short, the game looks nice but it certainly isn't pushing any of the 360's limits.

The sound design in Ghostbusters is about as perfect as anyone could ask for. All the important original actors return to reprise their roles so players will be hearing the voice talents of Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson. What's especially surprising is that they all turn in exceptional performances, given that Hollywood actors don't always do as well when working for a digital medium. Bill Murray does sound a little bored or possibly tired, but it isn't too far off base from his typical delivery so it isn't much of an issue. As for the music, the theme song still pisses me off like nothing else on this planet simply because I can't stop grinning while I'm listening to it. The rest of the music is just as good and appropriate (it's a ghost game so there's plenty of Theremin music). In addition it sounds just like a movie score in that music is used at all the right moments.

THE VERDICT
I don't even consider myself to be a fan of the Ghostbusters movies, but that didn't keep me from enjoying this game. On the other hand, the fans will be in absolute nirvana. Great story, finely tuned mechanics and lots of fun make this a game to check out even if you don't know a thing about the movies. The short length keeps it from being something you'll want to buy at full price but it's definitely a perfect weekend rental.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/04/09

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