Ghostbusters: The Video Game Review

Gozer The Gozarian and Evo Shandor have returned after several years on hiatus, and they are back with a vengeance. And the best part about an inter-dimensional god coming to crush your whole existence? You get to put him away with a proton pack. You play as a rookie in training, and Egon's lab rat. Every bit of money you get from busting ghosts goes to pay for new equipment, that you will test out before the rest of the team exposes themselves to its possible harmful side effects. Lucky you.

The story was very well written, as it was penned by the original authors, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. This will tell any fan that its going to be good. This third story ties directly to the two movies from years ago. And while you won't need to see these movies to get a real grip on who is who, and what is what, you really should view them because, well, they are awesome. Basically put, a Gozer exhibit goes up in the Museum of History and things go haywire. Haywire in a spiritual sense, of course. In this story arc the Ghostbusters are paid by the city per ghost they bust, and per artifact they find. Ghost mercenaries I guess they could be called.

The game is filled with the same type of humor found in the movies, and watching them directly before a straight 10 hour play through of the game would work perfectly. The guys constantly banter back and forth about whatever is going on, many times giving nods back to the old flicks. All voices were done by the original actors, making the experience all that much better. The single complaint I have about this work, is that Bill Murry's voice at times is rather low in pitch, and hard to hear, and I must say that his demeanor, and overall tone has changed quite a lot. If you were to watch the movies, then play the game, you will no doubt understand. The very tone in his voice tells you that he has aged quite a bit and is in a different place than he was years ago. The best voice work was done by Aykroyd by far, but all were very good.

Graphically the game falls short in many areas. This won't really ruin the experience for you, but you will notice it. For some reason the developers used not only computer generated graphics to make in game cut scenes, they also used the game engine itself for this purpose at times. There is a noticeable difference in quality between the two, and one of which doesn't look good at all. In game, the textures are hit and miss. Some of which don't look too bad, and others which look terrible. Take for instance the attention to detail of the proton packs, and some of the clothing. It looks decent enough, but then look at the black garbage bags laying around in the firehouse. They look awful. Like a giant blob of black goo just laying around. Ecto-1 has been faithfully recreated, for anyone worrying out there. The game will slow down occasionally when there is heavy action in the immediate area, but this doesn't happen too often, so I will let it slide. Most of the time, it will run very smoothly, though there is a bit of screen tearing.

The physics are a great point in the game. The books best reflect this aspect, as they are used quite a lot in nearly every area. Books are stacked (symmetrically, like no human would do) placed on shelves, and sometimes even taken possession of by spirits to form giant enemies. When you point your wand at these and fire, they fall apart just as they would in real life. You can blast individual books off shelves, and when you rip apart a ghost made of them, the books fly individually away. It may sound dumb now, but it is a beautiful sight when playing. Moving onward...

The environments look good enough to suit the purpose of the game, but will win no awards. They are above previous gen standards, but a tad below what is the norm now. Level design is also a bit lacking, as everything is pretty linear. Thankfully the environment types are varied enough to keep your attention, and keep the action from getting stale. Also, environmental play is used to great success, as many times things will shift around your character giving you a feeling that you really aren't alone. This can sometimes actually make you a little happier having the rest of the team around, and a little bit more on edge when they aren't.

The sound in the game is amazing to say the least. There are too many nostalgic nods to mention, but you will recognize nearly every sound you hear. From the hiss of the proton pack, to the whirring noises the goggles make, you will make the connections instantly. The sound track itself is also taken directly from the movies giving you a feeling of being right at home from the get-go.

Controlling the action here is familiar if you have played Gears of War. The basic controls remain the same (sans the cover system) with the left stick controlling your movement, and the right one shifting your aim. The buttons are decently laid out, though at times you will find your left hand doing a lot of work, as you will have to wrangle ghosts, and slam them at the same time. Its not hard, but it may get frustrating at times, because you are asked to do it when you really don't expect it. The largest gripe I have with the controls is that the 'run' action takes too long to start. You must press and hold the B button, but at times, you simply don't start running fast enough, and end up dying. All in all, it will take some time getting used to if you have played other action games. I constantly find myself pushing down on the left control stick to run, which simply won't work...

Gameplay is varied enough to keep you playing without boredom. The different types of weapons given to you will be cool at first, but in the end you will most likely just end up using the regular proton blaster, unless forced to use another. If you are a fan, you will never get tired of using that anyway. The ghosts themselves are varied enough to keep you entertained as well. There are multiple types per level, and are implemented pretty well. AI is done well for the most part. The ghosts behave as they should, flying or scurrying around, while your boys aim their wands at them and blast away. The only frustrating part of this Ive found, is that they get knocked out a lot. You will find yourself constantly running to save one or all members of your four party team. They however do come to your rescue rather quickly, which relieves a lot of stress here.

There are a few things missing though, and when you play it, you will know what I'm talking about. The firehouse is a great addition to the game. After each mission set you end up here, free to wander around as you please. You can see all the artifacts you have collected, and various other objects that you will no doubt recognize, such as the painting of Vigo from the second movie. But you can do nothing with these items. Not to mention that there are two arcade stand-ups and a pinball machine upstairs (true to the movies) that you can't play. It would have been a nice touch to include full versions of these games to play at will.

Multiplayer is something of a letdown for me. It consists of you and three other people working as a team to get a specific task done. Sometimes its to slam dunk Slimer as many times as you can. Other times its to see who can catch the most ghosts. I am personally more of a hardcore type of online gamer, so this type of play doesn't really interest me. Even to get the achievements, I'm really not that desperate. But, if you are looking to squeeze a few more hours out of the experience, its a way to keep the wand in your hand, and the pack on your back without burning through the game too quickly. Disappointingly, there is no co-op. This really should have been included for up to 4 players. Maybe something to hope for if there is a sequel. Also, please note that the PC version has no multiplayer, and the PS2 copy has no coop.

Overall, if you're a fan, this is a must have. You will find yourself popping in the movies after playing for a bit, then going back to the game afterwards for more. Its an endless cycle, but not really a bad one. The only things not included that I really would have liked, would be to drive Ecto-1 (and you very nearly get to in this one), and create my own rookie. Maybe throw in the ability to map your own face to the body using the camera perhaps. But right now, you can finally pick up a positron collider, and bust some ghosts with your favorite scientists.

8/10 (my score)