This is an ongoing list where I attempt to do the following: Play, Complete, and Rank every video game in the known universe in order to finally answer the age old question "What is the greatest game of all time?" For previous entries find the links on the attached spreadsheet.

How did I do?

Let’s just say it has been a slow start of the year for me in terms of finishing Video Games. We are at the midpoint of March and I have finished a grand total of 3 games, I don’t even have some small indies on the back burner that I can write about during these slow times. Sure, some of that could be me taking the month of January off for work, or how I’m now working through a JRPG, or numerous other reasons.. but regardless of how I got here, the train don’t stop rolling.

Today we are going to discuss Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Can I just say, right off the bat, what a breath of fresh air compared to coming off MDK2 and Operation Darkness. But, lets start where we always try to and let’s lay out some basics. Ghostbusters is a third person action game where you play as a new recruit in the Ghostbusters office surrounded by all the original stalwarts. Most of the original movie cast is here (no Rick Moranis, or Sigourney Weaver) and that allows your character to be that of a silent partner to the characters, allowing those characters time to shine and less time focused on trying to force you into the plot. In fact, it would be easy for you to forget that for large portions of this game you are playing as an unnamed ghostbuster. Since you are mainly watching your character from over the shoulder anyway, you might as well pretend you are playing as Ray or Peter.

So let’s talk more about that gameplay. As stated you are playing a 3^rd person action game, that has a emphasis on shooting and capturing ghosts, but the game does a surprisingly good job of not making that part an overwhelming part of the gameplay. Sure, you will shoot and weaken ghosts with a variety of different weapons (all different modes of your proton pack), and once the ghosts are weakened you will have to capture them in the standard trap that you slide on the floor and then direct ghosts to. However, there is also a good deal of time exploring your environment, not just in looking for collectables (there is that too), but just as a way to add some more story to the game. You will use your PKE meter to locate ghosts, or areas that are haunted, or to catalogue things that you are seeing that isn’t just having you run from one room to the next shooting ghosts ad nauseum. It even has some light (very light) puzzles where you have to manipulate objects in the environment, or determine where to go next, but nothing too taxing. Sure, the later levels where things get more intense, has you doing a lot more shooting then exploring, but that’s because the Ghosts are looking to take over the world, there isn’t time to find the one spooky thing in a hotel, the whole damn world is spooky.

What I did really enjoy, is that the proton packs are as unwieldy in the game as they appear to be in the movies. Now you might think that design is a bad thing, but it’s actually kind of funny and it works, because this really isn’t a game that requires pinpoint accuracy and fast reflexes. As ghosts are zooming back and forth in a room, your shots are bound to miss, and the game takes that into consideration by making most objects destructible, and even things like walls or doors get large burn marks in them for when you hit them. While you certainly don’t need to do it after every combat encounter, its interesting to look at the room when you are done with it, and see what is still standing based on your awful shooting. Now, I could see how this could be frustrating for new (younger) players, or even people who just want to enjoy the ghostbusters story without being good at shooting, and the game does kind of offer a solution. For one, there are a lot of different attachments for your weapon that can allow you to contribute even if the proton beam is not your favorite weapon. For instance there is a slime gun that can just douse enemies and doesn’t require too much accuracy, or a stasis gun that has an alternate fire that just kinda works like a shotgun allowing you to spray it in an area and hope for the best. For two, in nearly every stage you are accompanied by an AI companion or multiple that are playing as the other Ghostbusters. While I won’t try and pretend that any AI companion is as good as a player controlled one, these do a capable job and can at least handle or weaken some ghosts without your help. Now, I wouldn’t test to see if they can take care of a whole room without your assistance but they can certainly buy you some time to figure out how to aim.

I won’t pretend to be the biggest Ghostbusters head out there. I watched the original movies and liked them both, grew up around the song and action figures as much as the next almost 40 year old, but I didn’t base my whole personality around the movie, and I certainly didn’t freak out when they added women, or continued the story years later. With that being said, though, this is a game that is very much set around the time of the movies, with the same themes, same humor and same vibe. It’s lighthearted and despite dealing with the supernatural and beings that certainly want to kill you, it never feels like you are in danger. Which is an astonishing feat! When you get “downed” by a ghost, it’s the equivalent of your proton pack shorting out, you can be picked up by any of your allies, and as long as one ghostbuster is still fighting then there is a chance that you will be revived. Now your AI companions will also get downed on occasion, and you can pick them back up just like you, but this safety net allows you not put much worry into each combat encounter. You are a team, and while I still encountered a few game-overs nothing felt insurmountable. Can the game be creepy, sure.. but never to the point of unease. Its goofy and silly, its light and it doesn’t take itself too seriously… But it all works.

I need to stress that a lot of what makes this game work as well as it does comes down to two key points. The first and most obvious is the voice acting. It’s great to hear the actors voice their roles, and play off each other in the way that they do. Could this same game work with a different voice cast, if everything else is the same? It’s possible, but the games whole existence seems to be trying to capture the vibe of the original movies and I don’t think you can have a plot revolving around Gozer, a battle with the Stay Puff Marshmallow man, and worrying about if your practice is going to be shut down by Peck, without losing something by bringing in other voice casts. I’m sure Troy Baker would be a great ghostbuster, but having a generic “Danny” or whatever they would call the new group, would make it harder to care about them. That’s the thing, this game builds on characters that we already know. We don’t need to spend time building up the lore or their backstories in order to already be immersed in the world, that was done for us (40 years ago now… Good Golly!)

It’s also the game’s biggest weakness (I know I have another key point I have to get to, but this comes first). This game relies on your love and nostalgia for the Ghostbusters and everything about the series. You have to come in with that knowledge and want exactly more of what it was dishing out because this game is a celebration and extension of those movies. The incidental music (the 2^nd of my key points) is all stuff you have heard between scenes in the movies, and while I never thought about how iconic any of that music was (Outside of the Ray Parker song), every song took me back to those movies. Here is the wacky hijinks music, and here is the something creepy is about to happen music, and then over here is the back at basecamp music. It all bleeds together to make you feel like you are snuggled up on the couch watching one of your favorite films, something you have seen hundreds of time before. However, if you don’t come in with that knowledge, or you frankly don’t care or didn’t like the ghostbusters then this game won’t work in the same way. You won’t “Pop” the first time Peter yells “A little help here” or when Ray gives you praise as the rookie, if you have no attachment to these characters or story.

Now you might be thinking, who the hell is playing a ghostbusters game or buying one if you don’t have some love for the series or franchise a little bit.. and you are probably right, but I have certainly bought games with no prior engagement to the source because of word of mouth or the game looked interesting. I mean I bought the One Piece game that plays like an old JRPG, having not watched a minute of One Piece. I fully expect when I get around to that game, for a lot of it to go over my head, but I digress.

The other biggest gripe is that this game has no customization options for your white toast avatar. I know this game came out on like 30 systems, including PS2, but I remember making wrestlers on an N64 that at least allowed me to pick between some shaders, but there are no options to change your gender, color, hairstyle, or look in anyway. I can understand making you a silent protagonist, but you can't give me like the worlds most basic character customizer so I can feel like that extra Ghosbuster is me or my wife? I'm not even being one of the "iconic" characters, I'm a nobody who at the end of the game they want to ship out to franchise in another state.

There is a multiplayer mode, that I played a long time ago, back when I cared about achievements. From what I remember, the multiplayer was actually pretty enjoyable. I don’t think the Remasters brought back the multiplayer, and I doubt you are going to find many players on the 360 looking to get into a room to play, but I certainly didn’t hate it… but perhaps the adage of just playing the game with people you like talking to, might have covered up any cracks that existed in the multiplayer, because I don’t remember much from 10 years ago.

Here is where I do want to pose a question, because I don’t really remember the review world when this game came out. Maybe it is because I am comparing it to two rather bad games that I recently played, but I think this game is a solid 8 out of 10 kind of game. It’s not the greatest game of all time (spoilers), but its something that I certainly enjoyed playing for the whole run-time and a game I would gladly go back to sometime in the future when I need that nostalgia hit. However, I feel like the sentiment at the time was either very middling or forgettable and I just don’t see that. Yes 2009 was a pretty good year (Assassins Creed 2, Uncharted 2, Batman Asylum, Dragon Age Origins, Rogue Warrior, etc..) But I think I hear more about the good and bad games of 2009 way more than I hear anyone talk about this game. It’s certainly possible I’m off base with this one, wouldn’t be the first time that me and the general public didn’t agree. Anyway… Ghostbusters is good.

Is this the greatest game of all time?: I had a real good time with it, but it's not the Greatest Game

Where does it rank: I really enjoyed my time with the game. It's like one of those quick read books, you know that other art form, where you can sit down and finish a 200 or 300 page book in two sittings. I fully realize that I can't rank this game as if I was someone who isn't familiar or didn't like the original movies. For those people, this game won't register or will fall so much farther down the list, but as much as I can try to stifle some nostalgia in playing old games, I can't also pretend I'm unfamiliar with the source material. So keep that in mind.. If you are like " I don't think I like / or / I don't know about Ghostbusters... then maybe don't take my word on this game. When I was looking at the list trying to decide where this goes, I actually have it fairly higher than some people might think it should go. But, the best part is, without intending, it ended up right next to the game that it is the most similar to. I do have Ghostbusters: The Video Game as the 29th Greatest Video Game of All Time.

What's it Between: Ghostbusters: The Video Game sits between: Return to Monkey Island (30th) and Luigi's Mansion 3 (28th).

Anyone looking for it: here is the link to the list and more if you are interested in following along with me (this is not a self promotion).Here. I added links on the spreadsheet for quick navigation. Now if you missed a blog of a game you want to read about, you can get to it quickly, rather than having to scroll through my previous blogs wondering when it came up.

Thanks for listening

Future games coming up 1) Golden Sun (at some point) 2) Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! 3) TBD

Hell yeah, I loved this game. I grew up with the Ghostbusters movie as well as the cartoon show and merch and this game felt like Ghostbusters 3 to me. I recall this game was a solid 7-8 out of 10 game among reviews at the time but for me, it was an 8 to 9.

I didn't play any of the multiplayer since I just don't do any multiplayer for the most part. It's a shame that new Ghostbusters game is so multiplayer focused cuz it had charm(from what little I played) and at least had Dan Ackroyd portraying Ray in it.

Good write-up as always!

@chamurai: thanks for the comment.. yeah I really like this game, way more than I was anticipating because I feel like the buzz wasn't there for it at the time.. I have the new one but haven't tried it yet, I have a feeling ill regret that purchase, because multiplayer focused games are real hit or miss with me.