Ghostbusters is a staple of any young boy or girl’s childhood who grew up in the 80’s, early 90’s. I can still remember dressing up in a jumpsuit and attaching a vacuum hose to the side of my backpack, Peter Venkman style. Hard to imagine that I was only 4 when the first Ghostbusters movie came out, but the mood and style of the movie is still current with movies today. A testament to the writing of Dan Akroyd. So when I heard the Ghostbusters game was coming out, I had pretty high hopes that it would satisfy the nostalgia of the old-school style that most of us grew up watching. Well, after playing through Ghostbusters, I can tell you that it definitely lives up to hype! Its got a ton of positives, but some small downfalls that can’t be overlooked. Hopefully this review will help you to decide whether or not you should delve in and find the Ghostbuster in yourself once again.
The style of this game is crafted masterfully. It has the same quirky style of the movies, and even the voice work of the original actors as well. It’s definitely the best retro-style game that I have ever played, that just took me back to good times and fond memories. The game just oozes with attention to detail, from the look of the proton streams and backpacks, to the traps and even Ecto-1. It will really take you back, and if it doesn’t? Just remember that denile ain’t just a river in Egypt! You play as a rookie Ghostbuster, spanning through some well crafted and eerie levels including my personal favorite of the bunch, a museum complete with Civil War ghosts. This journey starts you off as a cowardly noob, but eventually you become one of the crew as the veterans show you the ropes on how to kick some paranormal ass.
The game plays like your typical over-the-shoulder third person shooter. The arsenal of weapons and their versatility is part of what makes this adventure so damn fun! You start out with just the Proton Stream, and slowly gather 3 more weapons as the game progresses, with each being mapped to a direction on the D-Pad. Not only is each weapon upgradeable, but they also gain secondary fire. Each weapon is unique for different situations, for taking out differentghouls and ghosts. Often times you will need to use a combination of 2 or 3 weapons for some of the battles and puzzle elements of the game. See a bridge that needs to be lowered in order to cross? Use the secondary fire mode on the Slime gun called the Slime tether to lower it. Fire one shot which sends a slime-string onto the bottom of the bridge, and fire again to attach it in the direction you want it lowered. You will also get a machine gun type of gun, as well as a shotgun style blast. Even more cool is how the Proton pack changes to identify the weapon you have equipped. Another big mechanic that was well executed and original was the PKE meter. This will bring you to a night-vision style first person view, with the famous PKE meter raised in front of you. This meter will lead you to find hidden or invisible ghosts, artifacts for achievements, money and even let you take picture-like examinations of ghosts and creatures that tells you the best way to take them down. It’s done well, and really adds some variety to the style of the gameplay.
One thing that I found incredibly surprising was that this game was a little bit scary at times! It had that Dead Space, or Resident Evil style unpredictability. Whats even more cool, is how the veterans seem to stay so calm during the mayhem, another testament to the attention to detail.If you have played Dead Space, you will find a ton of similarities in the gameplay of Ghostbusters. Most noticeable is the absence of a HUD. Just as in Dead Space, everything from your life to ammo is displayed or identified on your back. All of your weapons can overheat, in which case reloading is actually manually overheating the weapon by a press of the right bumper. Most of the ghosts that have to be captured, must first be weakened. Once they are weak enough, the proton stream will then wrangle them in a lasso-like fashion. This was the coolest most unique part of the gameplay for me. Once you have them wrangled, it becomes almost like fishing. Throw out your trap which provides a beacon showing you where it is, and start wresting them toward the light. Hold them there long enough and it will eventually suck them down into the trap. There is also an upgrade that will let you slam them to the ground, or into the trap once you have wrangled them enough. They won’t go down easy though. But it never gets old trying to pull and wrestle them bastards down to their doom.
The graphics are pretty darn good, although dragged down by pretty bad framerate issues most of the time. Sometimes the proton stream is so pretty, it’s hard to see where you are even aiming. The shooting aspect of the game definitely takes a little getting used to, as the beam is jagged and awkward from the usual straight shooting ammunition. The game is paced quite well, levels are long and keep the action fresh and exciting. Enviornments and levels are pretty nicely done. One particular level had a hotel that had been overtaken by ocean-like paranormal activity. Coral would open and then quickly close as my character got closer, another clean example of attention to detail.
Cutscenes are funny and entertaining and the story is pretty captivating with some awesome cameo’s from Slimer and Stay Puft. I did have a few small gripes. The AI of your compadres in this game is downright terrible. You are given the option of reviving downed teammates, and the same can be done when you die as well. The issue is, when your teammates try to make their way over to revive you, (if they try and attept to at all) they often end up dying. Other times they will stand like a lost child in some of the over-sized levels. I also had quite a few loading glitches throughout the course of the game. Sometimes a door that should have been able to be opened, would not give me the option to open it. It only happened a few times, but it was slightly annoying given the length of the missions and difficult battles. Another thing that can’t go over looked is the animations of getting knocked down. It is a cheesy animation, and really takes away from the attention to detail mentioned above.
There is a multiplayer component to Ghostbusters as well. Gametypes range from taking down increasingly difficult waves of ghosts, to protecting a number of artifacts from incoming, “thiefs.” It’s pretty fun, and spans out over campaigns of 3 different gametypes with 4 players. While it’s not incredibly deep, it’s a nice touch to keep the fun flowing like slime. I can see the downloadable content keeping this one going for sure! All in all I found Ghostbusters to be one of the most enjoyable games of the year if not ever. The small mishaps and gripes can’t stop this one as being a really unique, and extremely fun experience. So when you’re looking for a enjoyable game that’s sure to appeal to a vast audience of gamers, who you gonna call?
What? You thought I wasn’t going to throw in the most famous Ghostbusters line ever? Had to be done.
–DIGGITY OUT
The Gamer Report 
Leave a comment