Ghostbusters: The videogame

Well it's been 24 hours exactly since I completed Ghostbusters: the Videogame and I must say it didn't disappoint. This is one of the greatest interactive movies in videogame history, and Ghostbusters is one of the best movies in Hollywood History so when a sequel to Ghostbusters II was announced to be a videogame there was a lot to live up to.

For those living under rocks Ghostbusters the Videogame is the sequel we all wanted but never got. It follows the Ghostbusters two years after their encounter with Vigo in 1991. So we get to see Venkman, Stanz, Zedermore and Spenglar all in their prime again, with full heads of non-grey hair. Let me set the story up for you without giving any story away. Since 1989 the Ghostbusters have been renouned as Heros, and have ridden in alongside a new Mayor who has made the Ghostbusters a public service. So you get payed by the council to trap Ghosts rather than being able to con people out of $5 000 + per ghost, you get paid a fair wage, however the up side is you don't get sued because the council have paid an insurance policy so any damage caused directly by the Ghostbuster's equipment is paid directly by anyone claiming damages. A new member of the Ghostbusters has joined the team of four making them 5. The thing is that the new member is never called by his name (they don't want to get too attached after what happened to the last guy), he never utters a word either. This 5th member of the Ghostbusters is someone who tests out Egon's new additions to the proton pack that are far too dangerous to test on the important members of the team. Ok so that's where our plot starts, but I'm not telling you anything about the game's plot, but I'll review it later. So...

Graphics:

This game isn't the best graphically, the cut scenes have problems with lip synch, there was a moment where the frame rate dropped to a frame a second, but that was completely my fault. The depictions of the team a great artistic renditions and the style isn't 100% framed for real life, but everyone’s a slight caricature which is why I can give a higher grade for the graphics. The ghosts look nice, and the atmosphere is spot on with the previous films. Sometimes it does feel like you are watching the 3rd film, where other times you can be pulled slightly out of the illusion of watching a 3rd film. The game also gave me a headache and eyestrain when I played it for long periods of time. Something I've never encountered before in a game, so epileptics may want to consult their doctor before playing.

Graphics get a solid 8.5/10

Story:

I can say that the charm, heart, and comedy of the first movie has been translated here and the game focuses more on the comedy aspect like the first film that the action in the second. The story makes you have a warm fuzzy feeling inside, however it's ruined by the ending which I feel could have had an extra scene at the end of the credits, and It just didn't feel as triumphant as the ending of the previous two. If there were other nit-picks I felt that there should have been similar credits like in Ghostbusters II.

So I'm giving the story another 8.5/10

Gameplay:


Well I have most reservations wit the gameplay. I found that the environment wasn't as destructible as I liked, and I felt that the environments were very inconsistent. For example some wooden objects can be smashed to smithereens, but the bookshelves in the NY public library can withstand a proton beam. It just made you wince at the fact that this was a game rather than the third story, and it took you out of it a bit. The largest complaint was the firehouse. Despite at first being awesome, you realise you can't interact with any of the Ghostbusters I just wan them to at least tell me to go away ,a and the fact i couldn't play Qbert as a mini-game was annoying. It was the general lack of interactivity with made me really sad. Another complaint is the huge difficulty spike toward then end of the game (if you've played it you know hat I mean). You're bombarded with a shit storm of unlimited enemies, and then you’re expected to solve the puzzle at the same time. It took me so many attempts it was unreal. I mean I like a challenge but not one that makes me want to throw the game out of the window. Thank god my love for Ghostbusters is so great that I couldn't throw something so awesome out just for throwing in one part that was a huge pain in the ass. Another complaint I had was there was no pause button for cut scenes apart from the PS button, which means I sometime skipped cut scenes which would have rather watched, especially that the in game cut scenes are not available on the movie viewer, also after a game over the same loading screen popped up, and sometimes hearing the Ghostbuster's theme over and over makes you kind hate it, and I don't want to hate the them tune.

The multiplayer game seems ok, there's a nice variety, and the fact you can play as the original Ghostbutsers on missions to bust ghosts is awesome. Not sure what other multiplayer modes there could have been really, but it made me wanting more that's all I know!

Overall the gameplay would feel better with more interactivity, and possibly some more multiplayer, other than that the gameplay is spot on!

Gameplay gets an 8/10

Sound

Well pretty much the voice acting gets 10/10 from everyone, but maybe not William Atherton (his Peck didn't sound as angry as Peck in the first film) and Alyssa Milano. Although William Atherton did quite well for his first videogame.

The main nitpick about the sound design was the lack of an original score. I mean it was very welcome having the score from the first two films, but it just seemed that some more original music would make it stand out and be a true sequel.

Sound gets a 9/10

Overall Ghostbusters: The Videogame does bring some much wanted Ghostbusters love to the franchise and it’s a welcome sequel. Though there are complaints it holds up pretty well against a lot of games. It brings the right balance of creepiness, fun, humour and action that was so perfect in the first. A few gaming nitpick rather than a plot /script/story nitpicks and it makes a brilliant third addition to the franchise unlike many sequels that have taken their sweet time to arrive.

Overall Score: 8.5/10