"Lets show this prehistoric Bitch how we do things downtown!"

The Charge:
Get slimed in this haunting new adventure!

Opening Statement:
A few years back, an indie developer named ZootFly rocked the web when it leaked early footage of a Ghostbusters video game onto Youtube. The game was promptly stepped on by Sony’s legal department, but one positive did come out of it, there was massive interest in a new Ghostbusters video game, and fortunately for us, the guys at Terminal Reality (makers of Bloodrayne) were already at work. Tossing aside the 21st century high tech approach of ZootFly (their concept art featured high tech gear and a re-tooled Dodge Magnum/Chrysler 300 Hemi as the new Ecto-1), Terminal Reality chose the more familiar path, and have crafted a game that follows hot on the heels of the films. Truth be told, I couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Facts of the Case:
It’s 1991. The events of the last Ghostbusters film are a distant memory, and business is booming. You take the role of a new hire at Ghostbusters HQ, taken on to ease the workload and test out all of Egon’s experimental toys. It’s not long before something big goes down at the Museum of Natural History’s new Gozer exhibit, and your training quickly switches to that of the on the job variety. Over the next 8 or 9 hours you’ll strap on a proton pack and go to war against the supernatural alongside the cast of the classic film. The windmill tour will take you to places both familiar and new, and you’ll meet a colorful cast of characters, or see them again in some cases, and bust more than a few ghosts.

"So, where you from? Originally?"

The Evidence:
We shouldn’t be playing this game. After being dumped unceremoniously by Activision following their merger with Vivendi, then legal woes and the search for publishers, it’s a miracle this game is on the market. We have Atari (after paying out a generous sum to Activision) to thank for ultimately getting the Guys in Grey to market. For the most part, Atari’s efforts were well worth it, as Ghostbusters is a game that succeeds at breaking the mold as far as typical movie licenses go.

The gameplay may, at first glance, look like pretty straightforward third person shooter fare. You get the now standard “over the right shoulder” third person perspective, you move through large cavernous areas and blast ghosts until they weaken sufficiently enough for you to drop a ghost tap and bust their asses. This is where everything changes. You aren’t just shooting machine guns or rockets, you’ve got the trademarked Ghostbusters Proton-pack here, and the game uses it to the fullest. There’s nothing conventional about the feel of the shooting mechanics at all, and fans of the films will be smiling with glee. If there’s one thing the developers did right, they certainly nailed the feeling of being a Ghostbuster.

Going one further, the game was partially written by Ghostbusters brainchild Dan Akroyd with Harold “Egon” Raimis in tow. The dialogue is every bit as sharp as the films, and the tone is pitch perfect. The main cast is back, from Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman to lowly secretary Janine Melnitz as portrayed by Annie Potts. Also along for the ride is everyone’s favorite scumbag, Walter Peck, and Bill Murray’s brother Brian even pops up as the Slick new “Ghostbusters-friendly” mayor of New York. The combination of familiar faces and excellent dialogue coupled with a Ghostbusters-style plot that fits the feel of the films perfectly, gives players a metric ton of fan service to latch onto. Most of the levels feature a familiar face or location from the classics, you get to bust Slimer in one of the ballrooms at the Sedgewick Hotel, after Venkman’s been slimed again of course, and you get to make s’mores out of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. You’ll see the Grey Lady from the opening of the first film in action again, and you’ll even get to hear from Vigo, the Scourge of Carpathia, the Sorrow of Moldavia, if you wander around the firehouse. Missing from the game are Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis, but the game doesn’t suffer for it.

The contributions of so many of the original talents add a huge amount of charm to the whole production, and this charm will burrow deep into any diehard fan of the original Ghostbusters film. This charm will probably be nigh impossible to resist. Little nods appear visually all over the place (I found myself laughing out loud the first time we see Slimer in a clear containment cell) and the audio treatment is perfect. Hearing Egon and Ray in the opening scene to the first time you hear Ecto-1’s sirens, and right on down to the proton pack’s signature blast of power, this game is top drawer for audio. The voice actors all know their characters well, and everyone knocks it out of the park. It’s comparable to the audio work that’s been done in the past on Lucasarts Star Wars titles. It endears itself, and every lover of the films will be hard pressed to put the controller down once the story picks up and takes them on a ride. This is how you do justice to a film license!

"We got the tools! We got the talent!"

Rebuttal Witness:
Graphically speaking, Ghostbusters is certainly not a pretty game. Many of the textures are low resolution, and the lighting is as sparse as it gets without being nonexistent. Of particular mention is the texture that paints the walls of your environments when you hose them with your proton pack’s particle beam. It looks more like someone sprayed the walls with sparkly oil than burned scorch marks into it. There’s been some issue taken with the PS3 version, but in truth, neither version looks particularly attractive, and while the issues present on the PS3 version are visible to be certain, they’re not particularly discernable, even after spending several hours with the 360 version (where I spent the lion’s share of my playthrough time). On the flipside, the framerate seems to stay more stable on the PS3, while the 360 version slowed to the single digits at times when it got particularly hairy. Cutscenes also suffer from blandness, and a significant lack of decent lip synching. You do get some pretty funny facial expressions though. Graphically, no matter which of the “big two” systems you snag it on, you’re really getting the same experience.

"Smells like burnt dog..."

Difficulty is also an issue. It remains pretty uneven throughout the game, spiking at times to levels sufficient enough to induce profanity laden ranting and roaring. Setting the difficulty to the lower setting makes the game much more of a cakewalk, and the lack of a happy medium may frustrate some.

The physics system is also less than stellar, with bits n bobs bouncing around haphazardly following the typical proton-accelerator fueled carnage. It never looks particularly convincing, and only shines further light on Ghostbusters overall lack of technological merit. If you’re looking for cutting-edge, this game ain’t it.

Closing Comments:
Ghostbusters: The Game definitely does a lot more right than it does wrong. It defies the “movie license” curse and brings some solid gameplay to the table that really does justice to the source material. No, it ain’t perfect, but the great story keeps you engaged, and you’ll definitely feel like you’re busting ghosts. There’s enough fan service included here to endear this one to pretty much any fan of the films, and the gameplay certainly doesn’t hinder the enjoyment in spite of some less than stellar technical merits.

BONUS IMAGE - The game that could have been... yeesh!

The Verdict:

Platform: Sony Playstation 3/Microsoft Xbox360/Nintendo Wii/Windows PC (PS3 and Xbox360 versions reviewed)
Developer: Terminal Reality
Publisher: Atari
Release Date: June 16th, 2009
Rated: T(13+) for Teen