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June 20th, 2009, 17:50 Posted By: Shadowblind
Ghostbusters
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Terminal Reality
Genre: Action
ESRB: T
I'll be frank here--I've never cared much for the Ghostbuster's movies. Part of that fact is due primarily to how I've only seen one of the movies. So suffice to say I wasn't expecting a whole lot from the game, after being less then thrilled after watching trailers, videos, and generally learning about the game. Terminal Reality's Ghostbusters felt somehow even more authentic as Ghostbusters material then even the movies did. The game revolves around fast paced action and witty comments from Bill Murray(just like the movie) but this time around, your in the action. Pitty you can't talk back though during the game. Read on, pray you.
Getting back in the swing of things after my ahem, "extended" time off duty from reviewing, I'll start off with the section dedicated to the story and presentation of the game. As far as a Ghostbusters story goes, its pretty traditional fare. Hauntings are had, portals to the underworld, ghosts are loose, but unfortunately for them, so are you. The story feels so much like a new Ghostbuster's movie, I've often wondered if they decided, instead of a movie simply to make a game about it, like John Woo did with "Stranglehold". The point is that if your a Ghostbusters fan waiting for the next big story from them, you can't go without playing this game. If your not a Ghostbusters fan, you'll still find a charming, sometimes disturbing story that'll always keep you entertained.
Though the story is very serious in its nature, the characters offset the serious feel of the story with their constant jokes and wit. Its always funny to hear Bill Murray go on a random rant about picking up girls while fighting the Giant Stay Puft man, but it doesn't exactly mix well with the atmosphere of the game. Some parts of the game made me wonder if the ESRB missed that part while rating the game "Teen". Still, the characters are what always steal the show(steal the game?), and without them the game would simply lose all its charm. So while the characters and the story don't exactly go together then peanut butter and jelly, the whole presentation still works, and your treated to a good cinematic Ghostbusters experience along the way. Pity though, that the actual story is rather shallow. If your trying to find some depth in its meaning or execution, there really isn't any to be found.
Gameplay
Any of you ever want to use a Proton pack in real life? Of course you did. Don't even try to deny it. Blasting ghosts to kingdom come for 20 continuous minutes like in the movies probably would get boring after the first five. Terminal Reality knew that. The Proton pack does far more in the game then in the movies. there are four unique tools that it provides you, each with multiple ways to take out the ghost that ails ya.
The first and foremost weapon is the Proton stream.The most useful and well rounded of the weapons in the game, the proton stream is your standard issue Ghostbusters weaponry, keep a constant blast on the Ghost and then press the capture stream button to start trying to wrangle the weakened ghost into a trap. The Proton pack also features a sort of bombshell attack called the Boton dart. Without spoiling too much more, I'll say that the game features a diverse amount of Ghost hunting equipment for utilization against the nasty apparitions.
However, the problem with all these weapons is that when it all boils down, there really is only a single weapon you need to use, and that is the Proton pack. The other guns you gain throughout the certainly do look cool(which is of course the most important feature of the game. Looking cool. Your hanging with BILL MURRAY. C'MON...ah who am I kidding.) but they often do less damage then the proton stream and often only have their uses set in some rather easy platforming stages, many of which have questionable physics utilization as the answer to how to move forward in the game. So, while the other weapons look the part of ghostbusters peripherals, they really don't serve much of a purpose.
Now using the proton stream is just like using a gun with a constant ammo stream. You gradually keep the beam focused on the ghost as it dodges or tries to attack you, and when its hurt enough you can wrangle it into a ghost trap. The wrangling mechanics often feel strange and unwieldy, as controlling the ghost isn't too well mapped to the analog stick. That is to say, the controlling could be more tight. Also, when blasting a ghost at the same time as your teamates you risk "crossing the streams" of your guns, and blowing off half your health. It doesn't happen often, but its almost impossible to predict sometimes, as your streams often cross when fighting a ghost.
The game is light on puzzles, although there is a good bit of collectibles and goodies to be found throughout the game. It adds a bit of longevity, but for most gamers, they would probably just skip the collecting altogether, since it doesn't really change the gameplay in any significant manner.
Graphics:
Props to Terminal Reality for getting all the characters faces near photorealistically. The ghost character models, on the other hand, lack the detail that obviously went into the player characters, however. TR tried to remedy this situation by making the less detailed ghosts give off brighter glows or move quicker, so it wouldn't be as noticeable. Still, some of the runner ghosts could have used a bit more polygons, but the effects of the glowing ghosts themselves is pretty.
The best graphical aspect of the game is the effects from the photon stream from your weapon. Even better looking them in the show itself, the photon stream glows and looks like the stream from the show, albeit with more detail, and the twitchy animation of the stream feels more realistic to an experimental stream to catch plasma.
The level detail is less impressive. At no point in the game did I notice anything special of stunning about the look of the environments, and at some points thought they seemed rather bland and even pixelated. The environments are by no means bad or terrible, but compared to the other graphical aspects of Ghostbusters, they are simply underwhelming.
Final Comments:
Ghostbusters is a bit of a riot to play, especially with friends. It has issues, and is a little too easy for its own good, but the game is cohesive and a good use of licensing, which seems to be an extremely rare thing among licensed games these days. Still, the entire game consists of blast ghosts, capture ghosts, rinse, wash, repeat for a good 12 hours. The variations of the ghosts keep it interesting, as do the characters themselves, so it certainly isn't a chore to finish the game. If your on the edge about this game, ask yourself this; do I like Ghostbusters or Bill Murray, do I have friends who like co-op, and do I like blasting ghosts to kingdom come with fictional beams of plasma and energy? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, you may want to look this game up. Its not a deep game, more like an arcade style, but hey, its still fun. So who ya gonna call?
Ah crud gotta cut this of for a few.
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