Ghostbusters: The Video Game

Overview

Ghostbusters: The Video Game is an all-new adventure featuring the characters from the popular movie series. It was developed by Terminal Reality for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC; and Red Fly Studio for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS versions. The PS2/Wii version of the game has a graphical style notably distinct from other versions, featuring character designs stylistically similar to a Pixar motion picture or Team Fortress 2.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game was released June 16th, 2009, alongside the release of the original Ghostbusters on Blu-ray, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the movie. In Europe and other PAL regions, the game is to be a timed PlayStation exclusive, published by SCEE. However, Atari confirmed that the North American Xbox 360 version is to be region free, meaning Europeans with Xbox 360s can import the game.

If you pre-ordered the game at Gamestop you received a Ghostbusters T-shirt and a downloadable in game 'flight suit'.

A demo was released for the game on the PlayStation Network on July 9, 2009.

Story

The game's story was written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, who played Ray Stanz and Egon Spengler respectively and co-created the Ghostbusters series. Aykroyd has gone on-record as saying that the game is, effectively, Ghostbusters III. Many of the key cast members from the films reprised their roles in likeness and in voice. One notable exception to this is Rick Moranis who refused to come out of retirement to reprise his role as accountant Louis Tully. As a result, Louis is said to be on vacation during the events of the story. Sigourney Weaver also refused to be a part of the game because she did not feel that the script lived up to the two movies. She later changed her mind and said that it was a worthy follow up, but by then it was impossible to write her into the game.

The game puts players in the role of a new recruit to the Ghostbusters team, just as Manhattan is overrun with supernatural monsters. Players are given several weapons, including one that allows the player to manipulate objects by shooting them with sticky slime tethers and anchoring them to the level geometry. Some key villains that return from the movies are the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, the librarian and Gozer.

Gameplay

Ghostbusters: The Video Game is played from a third person perspective with movement and aiming behaving similar to a third person shooter , the basic equipment players start with consists of the Proton Pack, Ecto Goggles (called Paragoggles in the game), Ghost Trap and P.K.E Meter.

Ghostbusting basically revolves around first weakning Ghosts with the Proton Pack stream (this will turn into a capture beam after the player has taken enough "health" out of ghosts) and then using the Ghost Traps to capture them for good.

The Proton pack has four different modes, each featuring alternate firing modes themselves; with the default mode turning into an explosive blast called a boson dart, a shock blast mode with stasis, a rapid firing mode with homing properties and the fourth shooting a stream of green goo with tethering capabilities (the latter being used mostly to solve puzzles). There is also an overheating mechanic where your pack will overheat after firing for a long time, and it will not work for a few seconds (players can press a button to vent off the pack releasing the heat manually); there is a temperature meter on the back of the pack so players can keep track of things.

The P.K.E Meter is used in combination with the googles (this changes the game to a first person perspective) to track ectoplasmic activity and P.K. energy. It also serves as a ghost scanner, keeping track of Ghost types and their weaknesses.

Players will receive money for capturing ghosts and completing missions, although the more damage they cause (destroying places and objects for exemple) the more money is deducted from the final payment. The money can be spent on various upgrades such as a slam-dunk ability to trap ghosts faster, better scanning etc.

When players run out of health they will go down, but can be revived by the other members of the Team (AI can also go down and be revived as well). Health regenerates automatically by not taking damage for a while. If all squad members go down, the game will restart from the last checkpoint.

Multiplayer (Co-Op)

In the HD version's online-only co-op multiplayer, players work together to bust ghosts within a time limit. Unfortunately you cannot play the story online or any form of co-op. The co-op here takes place in areas seen in the single-player game.

The game offers several modes:

• Instant Action: Players can test their mettle in a variety of Job Types across a selection of 12 different maps to see if they've got what it takes to be a true Ghostbuster.
• Survival: Survive a paranormal onslaught
• Containment: Capture all the ghosts
• Destruction: Eliminate mysterious artifacts to prevent spawning ghosts
• Protection: Protect Egon's devices
• Thief: Save the artifacts from being stolen by ghosts
• Slime Dunk: Dunk the most Slimers

SD Version

The Standard Definition versions of Ghostbusters the Video Game (Wii, PS2, and PSP) share the same overall story as the HD version, but with a radically changed art style and level designs. The player still plays the role of the Rookie, but can now select the Rookie's sex at the start of the game. The game has the same level progression, but each level has been completely redesigned. The New York Streets portion of level 2 was removed, and the architectural office was replaced with a game design studio, complete with electronic sprite ghosts. The fight against a possessed Alyssa in the Museum was replaced with a fight against a skeletal T-Rex. The Collector was changed from a knight in armor to a massive toothy worm, and the Black Widow changed from a thin white woman to a heavyset black woman.

Gameplay-wise the slamming mechanics of the HD version were removed, and instead trapping a ghost requires the player to follow a set of directional prompts displayed onscreen. The game has no currency or upgrade system, but completing 50% and 100% of the Spirit Guide will both reward health boosts. As a bonus, and on the Wii version only, it is possible to play the game's entire story mode in co-op.

System Requirements

Minimum System Requirements

• OS: Windows XP/Vista
• Processor: Any Intel or AMD Dual Core
• Memory: 2 GB
• Hard Drive: 9 GB Free
• Video Memory: 512 MB (nVidia GeForce 8400/ATI Radeon X1300)
• Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
• DirectX: 9.0c
• Keyboard & Mouse
• DVD Rom Drive

Recommended System Requirements

• OS: Windows XP/Vista
• Processor: Any Intel or AMD Dual Core
• Memory: 2 GB
• Hard Drive: 9 GB Free
• Video Memory: 512 MB (nVidia GeForce 8800/ATI Radeon HD2900)
• Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
• DirectX: 9.0c or 10
• Keyboard & Mouse
• DVD Rom Drive
• Xbox 360 controller