I ain’t afraid of no game!

As a huge Ghostbusters fan I have wanted to play this game since it was first leaked that it was being made more than a year ago. Even before it was announced that the developer had signed on the original cast to voice their roles. I’ve loved Ghostbusters and really enjoyed Ghostbusters II, since I first saw them as a child. I was really worried whether I would be able to get the Ghostbusters experience from this game, and hoped it would be better than the old NES game, shooting ghosts from the Ecto 1.

Set up & Presentation

Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis have returned to write the third story in the Ghostbusters canon (No I don’t consider The Real Ghostbusters, the 80’s Saturday morning cartoon, as canon.) This also happens to be Aykroyd’s best script since Ghostbusters II and Ramis’ best since Analyze This. Unfortunately that’s not saying a lot. The script is enough to get you into the role as a Ghostbuster, standing side by side with our heroes from the films.

Yes, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson are back as Ghostbusters as well. Also Annie Potts, William Atherton and Brian Doyle-Murray also returned to lend their voices and 20 year old likenesses as Janine Melnitz, Walter Peck and Mayor Jock Mulligan.

The game begins with Dr. Raymond Stantz, Ray, and Dr. Egon Spengler hiring a new recruit to the Ghostbusters to test new and dangerous equipment in the field. Dr. Peter Venkman nicknames the new recruit “Rookie” and that sticks though-out the game. And before long you set off to catch some ghosts.

Game Play

The game is set up to make you feel like you landed inside a Ghostbuster movie. You will wander through halls and large open rooms/areas where you will encounter ghosts and possessed objects. Between these encounters there will be cheap scares, like books falling off shelves in the library, one-liners between the main cast and the “Rookie” acting like a… rookie.

Unlike the NES game from the 80s you do not get to drive in this game. Ray and Egon even joke about not letting you drive the Ecto 1. Which is probably better off for it, especially with the linear nature of the game.

Equipped with a PKE Meter, Para-Goggles, and the proton pack (which also includes a the new Boson Dart, an exploding ball of energy to weaken paranormals) as the “Rookie” you are set to start ghost-busting. Throughout the course of the game Egon attaches additional modes to your proton pack that help you take down ghosts and solve puzzles along the way. Each piece of ghost-busting equipment can be upgraded with money you get for catching ghosts and destroying possessed objects. The upgrades make your equipment use less energy, and become more powerful. Energy consumption is important; if your proton pack overheats it will reboot, which leaves you helpless for a few seconds.

The main course of taking down a ghost is to: weaken it by blasting away with your proton-stream or proton darts. Wrangle the ghost back and forth to stun it. Then slam the ghost into your trap before it gets away. This is surprisingly very fun and you cause so much damage trying to catch some of these ghosts that you almost wonder if it wasn’t just better to leave some of them be. When you leave a building the walls will be burnt up and the place trashed.

While you are wandering around your PKE meter will begin chirping. When you put on your goggles the view is switched to first person with a sort of night vision. Using the PKE Meter you can locate both ghosts and hidden artifacts, and log them. This proves useful since it will let you know enemies weaknesses and give you additional back-story. The Para-goggles also lets you see creepy things hidden to the naked eye like hand prints and disturbing symbols.

The Chemistry

Though the characters all sound and act the way you expect there is nothing notably new. Many of the jokes are inside jokes poking at the original films, which made me smile and will leave newcomers scratching their heads. Ray has his Ums and Ahs and Egon speaks Science mumbo jumbo. Though Winston, who was hired off the street, acts like he has gone back to college and surprises the others with some of his new found knowledge. And the “Rookie” puts in a little comic relief during cut scenes.

What made the dialog of the movies great was how Bill Murry, Rick Moranis (Who does not make an appearance) and Ernie Hudson improvised while bantering with the other high brow characters. Unfortunately it looks like these two were stuck to their scripts and a lot of the chemistry in the dialog was lost in the game. Also Peter’s brief love story is more like a paper-thin parody of how the character weasels his way into the pants hearts of women, than a well rounded story arc, but it works fine in the context of the game.

The great thing about the soundtrack is you get all of the original music from Ghostbusters. The downside is that this is the only music and sound effects you hear for the more than seven hour experience. They did not include the soundtrack from Ghostbusters II or anything new. But at least I got to hear Ray Parker, Jr.’s number 1 single that all the boys in my class would chant during recess after seeing the first film.

To Buy or Not to Buy:

If you will only be playing the single player experience once, clocking in at about seven hours long I have a hard time recommending picking this game up at full price. If you are going to jump into the multiplayer half of the game and you are a big Ghostbusters fan, go ahead and lay down the cash. If you are a Ghostbusters fan and you are short on cash, as I always seem to be, at the minimum rent the game. You will get a well polished game that lets you feel like a Ghostbuster wrangling ghosts, including Slimer, and a chance to take down the massive Stay Puffed Marshmallow Man.