Ghostbusters: The Video GameBy Robin Segitz - July 06, 2009 Print  EmailHaving been a movie nut for several decades now, I always have high doubts when movie tie-in games are released. The track record for movie games is not a good one and it clearly shows but this is different thanks to Terminal Reality. They took the source material and forged it into a new shape that isn't too different from the movie, yet still something new and fresh. Although the writing isn't the best (which was even done by the same guys as who did the movies, Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd) it is still very enjoyable. You start off as a new recruit in the Ghostbusters firehouse where the story first unfolds. You are the new weapons tester within the Ghostbusters, so your job is to make sure the weapons are safe to use. After some tutorials, the game goes into overdrive and carries on with a God of War 2 moment, where you fight your favorite huge enemy, the Marshmallow Man. Game length is okay, as I clocked in at about 10 hours on my first play on easy. There's much stuff to collect and unlock, like all the cut scenes and design prototypes. The collectibles are done via the PKE Meter known from the movies. Terminal Reality captured the use of this device very nicely, staying true to the source material. Controls are like your favorite third person shooter, maybe a bit sluggish, but not in an overly negative way. You shoot your proton packs, catch the ghosts, throw down your trap and capture the ghost, just like in the movies. Some parts of the game use the physics engine like in Half Life 2, requiring you to solve very simple puzzles. After each mission, you return to the firehouse where you can review some of the hidden items you found in the missions, or some other easter eggs like listening to calls on the answering machine or having conversations with the picture of Vigo the Carpathian from the second flick. The graphics are good, in fact, they are very good. The attention to detail in this game is surprisingly immense. Even the littlest things like the proton packs are so packed with detail, it is hard to keep your eyes off of them just as the firehouse; there's stuff everywhere. Added to the environment are many easter eggs for fans of the Ghostbusters movies. Unfortunately, there are limits to this amazing detail as not everything in this game is as detailed as some of the impressive stuff and you’ll notice details will vary. In one of the first missions, you visit the Sedgewick Hotel, also known from the movie. The corridors look blank with little interesting details. But some later levels get much more impressing in this regard. The PS3 version runs at a much lower resolution, but it is said to keep up quite a good frame rate. The physics in this game is where the game starts to really shine. In one part of the game, you fight a ghost which consists purely out of books in a rotunda filled with water. When you finish off the ghost, the books all fall down into the water, each book physically interacting with each other, even when floating in the water. That’s just one of many “this is how physics should be done” moments in the game and the experience is a great one for them all. So, all in all, it is not just another movie tie-in. It is a true to the bones video game based on the Ghostbusters franchise. If you like the Ghostbusters, I'd say go out and buy it. In Europe, the game, exclusively for PS3, comes bundled with the first movie on Blu Ray, which has really good quality for a twenty year old movie. Ratings |
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