Featured Content

Ghostbusters: The Video Game (X360)

• Developer: Terminal Reality
• Publisher: Atari (Infogrames)
• Genre: Action
• Official Website: http://www.ghostbustersgame.com
• Score: 4 of 5: Niche

Ghostbusters: The Video Game is clearly made for Ghostbusters fans, by Ghostbusters fans. That’s not to say those unfamiliar with the Ghostbusters won’t enjoy it, but it’s definitely a more enjoyable game if you have seen the movies and can appreciate the story and humor a bit more. The original cast is here, and despite Bill Murray sounding kind of bored during a lot of the game, their voices make the experience that much better. The story is pretty much what you’d expect, as you follow the Ghostbusters team as a new recruit. I would have enjoyed a character creation instead of being stuck with a voiceless, generic character, but hey, it’s still nice to be a part of the team.

There is all of the Ghostbusters music you may or may not remember from the films, including the theme, which you will be hearing a lot of. I do have to say that the music works for the game, but clearly it was made just for a two hour long movie, not for an eight hour long game. The theme song itself might even get on your nerves after a while, as you hear it every time the game is loading (which happens a lot), and the loading may take over a minute at certain times. So, I guess if you’re a huge fan of the theme, you certainly won’t mind (but I guarantee you will begin to detest it soon enough), but the long loading times are a bit ridiculous. 

Fans will appreciate the game’s look and feel. While the Wii and PS2 versions of the game try to go for a cartoony look, the 360 and PS3 versions are trying their best to re-create as much of the look of the films as they can. And developer Terminal Reality does a fantastic job of doing so, with the game looking very nice overall, and every character really does look like his real life counterpart. 

The gameplay is pretty much solid. If I were to compare it to anything, it plays kind of similar to a standard third person shooter, except you are shooting streams from your newly developed Proton Pack. You also have several other attacks, including the very powerful Boson Dart, a stronger Proton attack to weaken ghosts, and other packs such as the Slime Blower, which is used to defeat ghosts that cannot be simply captured. The packs need to be monitored and recharged if you use too much of their power, but it’s only to prevent you from continually using the streams. Consider it like “reloading” in a shooter. 

You have two basic enemy types, creatures (or ghosts) you can capture, and creatures you can destroy. The ones you capture require you to attack with the stream, and then use the same stream to grab and pull them into a ghost trap once you weaken them enough. You also have your basic dodge or roll move to avoid incoming attacks. Your health does recover over time, but you need to be careful, because you can get down quicker than you thought (which requires you to be revived by one of the other Ghostbusters). If all of the Ghostbusters around you are also down, then it’s game over. Your teammates aren’t the brightest, but they are generally pretty helpful, just expect to revive them a lot. I unlocked the achievement for reviving teammates twenty times within the second mission of the game. 

You also have to be careful not to do too much damage to property when you are capturing ghosts, because it is taken out of your final reward for finishing the mission. But it’s generally not a problem at all, since you will get enough money to upgrade your different weapon packs and your different ghost traps. These power-ups are definitely useful in many different situations, especially the slam dunk trap, which lets you capture ghosts much faster than the normal method of trying to pull it towards the trap as it attempts to escape. Trapping ghosts can be a bit tough at first, but with the right upgrades, it all becomes pretty easy, which is good because you’ll be taking on a lot of ghosts at once during certain points of the game.

Sometimes the game is a bit dark, even with the flashlight (which turns on automatically), so expect to have to turn your brightness up at certain parts. Also, when there are multiple ghosts flying around, and all of your team mates are trying to capture them, things can get a bit crazy, and it may be hard to tell where the ghosts actually are. Also, being knocked down by ghosts tends to be annoying, mainly because sometimes it can take a while to actually get back up. And when you do, you could be nearly dead and surrounded by enemies, with nothing you can do about it.

One last disappointment is the lack of co-op. You can do a few co-op specific campaign missions over Xbox Live, but it’s no substitute for being able to play the entire game with a friend or two. You can in the Wii version, but not the 360/PS3 version. 

Aside from a few problems, Ghostbusters: The Video Game is a lot of fun, and it is consistently very funny (just like the movies). This is a great time to bring this classic series back, for fans new and old, and this game is the best way to do so. If you consider yourself a Ghostbusters fan, you have no reason not to get this game.

ESRB: T for teen. It's faithful to the movie, which is PG-13 kind of material. Scary monsters, etc.

Pros: The game retains all of the humor you expect from the Ghostbusters; the game is, graphically, very detailed; the controls are solid; the game is generally a blast to play

Cons: Long loading times take you out of the experience; lack of true co-op is a disappointment; your allies aren’t too smart; the game tends to be too dark in certain areas

Jul 29, 2009 | 0 comments
Andrew Passafiume