Holy crap, let's see if I can even remember how to do this?! Welcome to NLU Weekly #79, Not Really Relevant. It is named such because all the stuff in this entry isn't relevant at this current point in time. Three or four weeks ago, it was but because I love to procrastinate, I'm not sure you will care as much about the info posted here. With that said here is the agenda for NLUW79: Who Ya Gonna Call (Ghostbusters Games Impressions), Irrelevant Snippets and Closing Out. Here we go...

Who Ya Gonna Call (Ghostbusters Game Impressions)
I don't think I talked about it much on here because I like to keep this blog game centric, but I am a HUGE Ghostbusters fan, okay, I'm not one to dress up in the overalls, but I love the movies (yes, even Ghostbusters 2), so when Ghostbusters: The Video Game was released, I was there... day one. Just to prove how big a geek I am... well look.

So I bought two version of the game, now before you say that I am nuts (which I am) the Wii version is fairly different from the 360 version, though the stories and some of the areas are very similar. With that said though the experiences that they give are both different and quite frankly, I think the Wii version is the better game. It's simpler and just easier to enjoy, the 360 game has all kinds of annoying "features" that will make you pretty frustrated. The first thing is the overheating Proton Packs, when you sustain a proton beam or fire shots from the other firing modes your pack heats up... when it gets near overheating, you must press a button to vent the heat from the pack... all this is is a glorified excuse for a "reload" button because they had to give the proton pack a "rocket", a "shotgun" and a "machine gun" mode, when all you really care about is wrangling ghosts with proton beam. Now the Wii version has a temp gauge but as soon as you stop firing the heat automatically dissipates (in a few seconds). The biggest problem with the 360 version is that you will be pressing the "venting" button every 15 seconds...

The other problem with the 360 version is all the ****ing knockdowns... nearly every attack will knock you ragdolling to the ground. There are two states in GB(360), knocked down in which get back up after about 5 seconds and "down but not out" where you have to wait until a fellow Ghostbuster helps you up. Both are painfully difficult to suffer through when all you want to be doing is throwing proton beams, destroying everything in the room and blasting ghosts. The down but not out state wouldn't be so bad, but even on the normal setting it doesn't take more than a few solid hits to put you down (on the ground) waiting for help. In addition to that the AI Ghostbusters are also prone to the small health meter and will go down all the time... you will get bloody sick of Venkman, Stantz, Spengler and Zeddemore shouting for help. It makes the Ghostbusters, these heroic and iconic characters, seem like a bunch of weaklings... it is almost disgraceful and makes what should be a cool experience, fighting alongside them, disappointing.

On the other hand the Wii version has no such problems, you have plenty of health on the normal difficulty and the other Ghostbusters can take ****-load of punishment before going down. The unfortunately introduces a completely different problem with health... you can't tell when you are getting hit by things. While the 360 version shows you the typical red damage direction indicators and makes the screen go all red the ONLY way you can tell if you are getting hit in the Wii version is to watch your health bar out of the corner of your eye and watch for some of the green bars to change to red. It's funny, I mentioned the overheating earlier, but talking about how opposite the games are, in the 360 version you can never tell when your pack is about to overheat you just have a nearly inaudible beep and a meter on the side of your pack that you aren't going to looking at or hear during the chaotic fights. But in the Wii version when your pack is about to overheat the Wii remote rumbles really hard... though it doesn't rumble when you get hit, go figure.

As usual I start with the bad stuff but there is some great stuff in the Ghostbusters games. In both versions when you are throwing proton beams, setting ghost traps and slamming and wrangling ghosts into them, the game is a dream. Again the different versions have different ways of dealing with ghost fights. In the Wii version you have to first drain the ghost's green meter of health by blasting it with your weapons, then when that is gone you can contain the ghost with the proton beam, now a red meter appears and you have to jerk the Wii Remote in the direction the indicator on screen says to. Now the ghost is stunned, you hold the Z button and emulate a trap throwing motion with the nunchuk and drag the ghost to the trap, capturing it instantly. In the 360 version things are a bit different, first you have to blast the ghost to weaken it then you can manually attempt to fire the containment beam and wrangle the ghost. If you blast away all the ghosts health it will automatically be captured by the beam, the real reason for the manual containment beam button is so that you can move certain objects or slam stone gargoyles. Anyway, one you have the ghost it is a matter of pulling the right stick in the opposite direction to build up the slam gauge, you then press LT to slam the ghost around until it is dazed, the more dazed the ghost is the easier it is to trap. This is where the 360 version's ghost trapping is more interesting, the ghosts aren't automatically captured if you pull them through the trap beam, you have to keep them centered in the trap cone (emitted from the open trap) until they are sucked right in. It's more involved and rewarding, but the Wii version has a more tactile feel thanks to Wiimote.

As for the story to the games, it is kind of a bit of a bummer, while it makes for a nice closure to the Evo Shandor and Gozer storyline (from the first movie), because it is a game and as a player they know you want to fight the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man and Slimer the game recycles a bit from the first movie. But one the other hand fighting Slimer in the ballroom of the Hotel Sedgewick is awesome and fighting through the library and getting "shooshed" by and catching the Grey Lady ghost is also a nice touch. Unfortunately, that is the biggest problem, in their effort to provide epic fan-service they lost a lot originality that could have been part of the third Ghostbusters story. The game is also not quite as funny as you would hope, there are a couple of "lol" moments but there aren't any memorable lines that you will be reciting verbatim for 25 years (which I avoided doing in this review on purpose). The original cast is back and they reprise their roles well enough, though Bill Murray sounds really sleepy for some reason, but even so he is still great as Peter Venkman. As for your character, you play a nameless/voiceless rookie, which I think was a fine choice allowing the player to not only role-play a bit more, but keeping the stars in the spotlight... though it would have been sweet to be able to create your own character and customize his look.

In the end the both games could have been better, but they are enjoyable to play for the most part and if you are a fan you'll enjoy the characters and busting ghosts. I recommend them, they'd probably make a good rental, as the Wii version is about 5-6 hours and the 360 version is about 7-8 hours.

Irrelevant Snippets
I picked up the Wii version of Tiger Woods 10 with the WiiMotion Plus and it plays really well and WiiMotion Plus is what the Wii Remote should have been like in the first place.

As much as I love Call of Duty 4 (and to a much lesser extent World at War) I have got to stop playing it. It takes up time that I could be using to finish many of the other games that I have yet to finish.

Fallout 3's latest DLC pack arrived, Point Lookout and it was a pretty cool addition, it provides a pretty big land mass, but there isn't all that much to do and I wasn't that impressed.

I was messing around with Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection and decided that I wanted to play the Phantasy Star series, so I started with the first game and it is pretty good, except the sound effects when the monsters attack... they sound like modems or something.

Closing Out
I think that about covers the last little while for me in gaming. I'm not going to bother promising when I will write again, but hopefully sooner than the last time. Later. Loading Complete!