When I first heard about Ghostbusters: The Video Game almost a year and a half ago, I was excited and concerned. I really enjoy both Ghostbusters movies, but know that many video game adaptations of pop culture icons don’t translate well (can you tell me the last time there was a great Batman video game?). After playing the game, my worries were vanquished like many a phantom encountered by Egon Spangler (Harold Ramis), Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Shantz (Dan Akroyd) and Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson).
The game features a completely new script written by Akroyd and Ramis and has the same wit from the movies. All of the main cast members returned to provide their voices for the game, with the exception of the retired Rick Moranis as Louis Tully and Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett, her character replaced by Alyssa Milano as Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn. The original soundtrack is included as well.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game holds true to everything fans of the movies know and love. For instance, in the firehouse, you can eavesdrop on Janine the secretary (voiced by Annie Potts) dealing with customers, play with the flying toaster and slide down the fire pole (doing this gives you the “You Gotta Try this Pole!” achievement on Xbox 360). You’ll also encounter familiar enemies, such as Slimer, the Librarian and, my favorite, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. There are the recognizable settings as well, like the Public Library, the Sedgewick Hotel and the History Museum.
The game takes place in 1991, two years after the events of Ghostbusters 2. You play as the rookie, an unnamed intern hired to be Egon’s “Experimental Equipment Technician” (you don’t have a name so that the team doesn’t get too attached to you in case of an equipment malfunction). Within moments of showing up on the job, a strange wave of ghostly energy emerges from a museum showing a Gozer exhibit. It spreads across New York City, and from there your quest is to determine the cause of the spiritual shockwave.
Your main weapon and HUD in the game, of course, is the beloved proton pack. It details your health and how your weapon is performing on the side of the pack. As you move along in the game, you acquire upgrades such as the Stasis Stream and Slime Blower to help you against more difficult enemies and for use against certain environments. Attached to the pack is the PKE Meter, which you use to scan artifacts and ghosts to log in your Tobin’s Spirit Guide.
For the most part, the gameplay is solid. Blasting and trapping ghosts is a lot of fun (just remember not to cross the streams!), and it doesn’t get overly repetitive thanks to different types and difficulties of ghosts. It’s also neat afterwards to see all the damage you’ve caused with the proton stream, like burn marks on the ballroom walls.
At times, you’ll have to wait for one of the other characters to advance before you can continue the mission, which can be annoying. There’s also one mission later in the game with dive-bombing stone cherubs that nearly drove me insane because I kept getting killed within five seconds.
Graphically, the game has its strengths and weaknesses. The CG-cut scenes, like the aforementioned museum opening, look spectacular. Blasting and trapping with the proton pack also looks really great, and the ghosts themselves are nicely detailed. However, the in-game cut scenes aren’t as sharp, some of the character animations are stiff, and there are times when there is screen-tearing.
Although I haven’t gotten a chance to try it, there is a multiplayer mode for up to four people. There are four campaigns for you and your fellow Ghostbusters to go through that are pulled from the six job types that you can tackle. Containment asks you to trap as many ghosts as you can in a given time limit. Survival will go for as long as you can stay alive and keep time on the clock by trapping spirits, Destruction means your whole team has to destroy a set number of evil relics, and Slime Dunk is a competition to see who can dunk Slimer into the trap the most times. Protection has you guarding some of Egon's equipment and you'll have to keep some pesky spirits from making off with artifacts in Thief.
If you’re a fan of Ghostbusters, this game is a must have, and is well worth a look by casual gamers. Akroyd said that the game “essentially acts as the third movie,” and it certainly feels that way. While there are some gameplay and graphics issues, they shouldn’t be enough to turn you away from this game, one of the most enjoyable to come out this summer.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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