The best Ghostbusters game yet!
We have been waiting over 10 years for another ghostbusters game on home consoles, and not since Ghostbusters on Sega Genisis were we given anything worth plaing. Well finally, Atari delivered us a Ghostbusters game not just worth playing, but worth owning.
When the game was first announced I didn't even consider buying it, due to Ghostbusters' video game past. But just days before it came out I gave in and preordered it, so take this review as it's coming from someone who wasn't even going to PLAY this game as of last week.
First off, The multiplayer. It's the first thing i played, so it's the first thing i'm going to review. In a word, awesome. I really feel like they did the multiplayer right. Even though there is no co-op story. there are plenty of missions and game modes, as well as ranked and unranked games, with a very well constructed lobby/party system. (think gears of war 2).
Of all the modes, 'slime dunk' has to be my favorite followed up by 'destruction'. in slime dunk, you and up to 3 other friends fight it out and try to get as many slimers in the traps as possible within the time limit. different colored slimers are worth different amounts of points. It's a race against the clock and against your friends, and throwing the slimers into the traps never gets old. In destruction, you have to run around the map WITH your team this time, and destroy as many artifacts as possible before the timer runs out. But the more you destory, the more that appear, and the more ghosts try to stop you. It's very fast paced and is a fun co-op mode if you want a break from all the competitive stuff. There is also a gears of war style horde mode, which is a blast to play but i never got past wave 10. So i have no idea how many waves there actually are.
Next up, the campaign mode. From the moment it starts you are treated to the ghostbusters theme song and all the familiar faces and voices from the 80's. The character modelling is done right and overall the graphics throughout the whole game range from passable to excellent. The script made me laugh a few times which is a few more then most games do, and the story has the same structure as the movies and doesn't make you feel like they just threw a particuler part in to make the game longer. (with the exception of one boss).
The sound is...well... not there. Aside from the menu and loading screens, there is absolutely NO music, even in multiplayer. I don't know what happened in developement when they cut the sound from the game, but in SOME parts, it does make the game scarier. Which brings me to my next topic.
The game is actually scary. There are 'make you jump' scary moments and 'creep you out' scary moments. And everytime you enter a room and things start floating you will have a smile on your face when you see how cool it looks. Without going into too much detail and ruin it for you, this game will make you jump as much as it will make you laugh.
The gameplay is very smooth and responsive and I have nothing to complain about with the controls. Capturing ghosts takes some getting used to, but If you complain about it being to hard for you, like some people (i'm calling you out Joystiq) then go play Wii sports!! Games, well, at least, GOOD games are supposed to be a little bit of a challenge, that's what makes them fun. And that's what this game is, FUN.
Throughout the entire time i played it, I never wanted to stop. Every moment just made me want to play more, and it never got old. The worst part about it was when i beat it and it was over, but it didn't stop me for long, I already started a new game on the hardest difficulty for even more of a challenge.
I highly recommend this game to anyone, Especially ghostbusters fans. It is definitely a BUY and not a rent. If you are having a hard time to find something to play during the gaming drought, then pick up ghostbusters. I would give it a 5 out of 5 but as i said before, i don't do that. But take this into consideration, I took the time to write out this review and tell you what i thought of the game because it surprised me so much, with it actually being good. Please go out and get this game. You will thank me later.
