For the first review I thought it would be a good idea to review a new game i have recently played, so I have chosen Ghostbusters: The Video Game.
Ghostbusters, in the 80's they came, they saw and they kicked ass. It was one of the biggest comedies of the 80's and one of the largest franchises with a mountain of merchandise, a cartoon show that ran for several seasons and a line of some pathetic video games on the major consoles of the time, such as the NES, with one exception of the Genesis Ghostbusters game which was more than half decent(better than the other piles of crap released anyway). So now with talk of a third film, another Ghostbusters video game has been released, reviving some of the love for Ghostbusters we all had as kids. Surely with the return of all of the major actors, and written by the same writers, this video game can't let us down... can it?
The game is set in 1991, two years after the ridiculous and overly cheesy events in Ghostbusters II(I hated the ending), where the crew hire you, the rookie, as the latest member to their team. "The Experimental Equipment Technician" is the title of your job, which eventually made little sense to me as it seemed all the other Ghostbusters acquired the dangerous new equipment at the same time so what the hell am I testing then??... Anyway Something has happened at the local museum where it seems that Gozer has managed to return, it is never really explained why or how, but it's shoved in our mouths and we are forced to accept it. The classic opening to the game had nostalgia running right through me and in all honestly I loved it, despite its short length,the opening had the tone just right. The story goes that Gozer attempts to regain his power to force another attack back on the Ghostbusters, taking back its destructor form, The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, which really just seemed like they all sat in a room thinking of any reason they could come up with to allow them to put Mr. Stay Puft in our adventure. Disappointingly, Stay Puft is defeated early on, in a not so difficult battle...After failing, the architect Shandor decides out of nowhere that he'll somehow acquire the ability to become a god and you end up fighting what can only be described as a devil in a place that resembles hell...yes it is that ridiculous. Throughout the game you revisit some familiar places, an obvious attempt to to trigger the players memory of their favourite parts from the films, and some new places, some of which I felt were not strongly related to the Ghostbusters films, such as when they enter another dimension through a portal to fight ghosts...
Completed in under 10 hours the campaign is rather short, short like an Irish leprechaun, with further growing problems. Well At the end of the game you are left desperate for more levels and I can only hope that DLC will be made available to extend the experience, which is a good thing if I want more.
Story: 7/10
The gameplay is in a similar style to the gears of war third person over the shoulder camera. The entire goal of the game is to catch ghosts using the proton pack, which I might add is one of the most impressive looking weapons I have ever seen in a game. The proton beam seems to act just as it did in the films, crazy and wild and I love it, it feels like a true representation. You would probably be worried that the gameplay mechanic of wrangling and trapping ghosts would quickly become monotonous but I can assure you it really doesn't. Wrangling that ghost and getting it into the trap rarely gets old and there are various new equipment types to mix up the action and keep it spicy. The difficulty curve on the other hand varies from completely basic to "what the hell am I suppose to do to survive here?!". There are certain points in the game where you are playing along nicely and then all of a sudden, you realise you have immersed yourself in a game as you run face first into a brick will, a brick wall of agony. For example, there is one infamous part in the game where you must wrangle and throw possessed stone angels into a gate, which is next to impossible when there are hundreds of the flying babies firing unavoidable projectiles at you at one god dam time, and your fellow Ghostbuster, Ray, is on the floor because he can't handle himself. This brings me nicely on to my next point; The AI Ghostbusters are weak, stupid, and aren't aware of the dodge button. When a fellow Ghostbuster goes down you must revive him if you wish to survive yourself. So every few minutes in a mission you have to help up you pathetically stupid ghostbuster friends. This becomes aggravating very quickly, and at times is almost enough to make you explode, kick the nearest furry animal through your TV and gnaw at your 360... The AI is one big let down in this game.
Gameplay: 8/10
The music track from the first Ghostbusters film is reused in the video game to set a similar tone and it of course features the ever catchy Ghostbusters theme. The theme is played through ever loading screen and after a while it does burn your ears. The original tracks of the first film are added to and it makes up for an overall impressive range of music which suits the mood finely.
All of the original Ghostbusters have returned to reprise their roles and each does so very well. Dan Akroyd is dead on with Ray, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson are also perfect. Now over many Ghostbuster fan sites and places, there seems to be a lot of dispute of Bill Murray's Performance, some say he sounds like he's phoning it in or his character has changed. In my opinion I actually thought he reprised his role very well, he's witty and sarcastic as he always was, however, his lines are noticeable quieter than the others, but overall i was impressed with his performance, but I have to admit, he didn't perform as well as the others but still very well.
Sound: 9/10
The game also features online multiplayer for up to four people with various different modes and a ranking system unlocking different uniforms. This is fun online, but is better with friends, however could use a few more maps and modes. No local coop is available either which is also rather disappointing, like I am in bed apparently...yeah
Lasting Value: 7/10
Overall: 8.5/10
Ghostbusters is a great game, in fact it is one of my favourite game experiences and if it wasn't for the dwarf like story length and retarded AI then it would be perfect, however I can safely say that this game wipes the memories of the diarrhoea that was Ghostbusers on the NES.
