Bustin' makes ME feel good...
Now, being only a year old at the time of the Ghostbusters 2 and being just a wee lad while The Real Ghostbusters was at its apex in popularity, I can't say for certain how exactly I managed to become such a Ghostbusters fan. In fact, for years, the only one of the two movies I could recall was the second one (partially because of my fascination with slime) and the whole of what I recalled from the show were hand-me-down toys from my older brother and the Hi-C drink that Slimer endorsed. Somehow, among all this vague recollection of our proton-packed heroes, I called myself a Ghostbusters fan who, like any other fan, decided they should play the new Ghostbusters: The Video Game if only for nostalgia's sake. Luckily, what Ghostbusters has to offer is a fun as hell campaign, solid writing and presentation, and a surprisingly fun multiplayer.
In Ghostbusters: The Video Game, you play as a silent and unnamed protagonist in what is, for all intents and purposes, the "third" Ghostbusters movie. Ray, Peter, Egon, and Winston are more established than ever with full support from the New York legislature just in time for a massive ghost outbreak that threatens to, once again, plunge the world of the living into terror. If you've seen both Ghostbusters films, everything is all too familiar, but that's really the point. You'll follow the busters through some of their most famous locations using some of their most famous weaponry, but what really makes it all is the snappy writing employed here. You'll be thoroughly entertained throughout the stories runtime, even if you're not particularly surprised by the turns it takes.
The gameply in Ghostbusters: The Video Game isn't too far from a standard third person shooter, but the wrangling and catching mechanics and unique strategies you have to employ on ghosts makes it more than a little different. From the Proton Stream to the Slime Blower, each of the Ghostbusters weapons are a joy to use in their respective situations. However, certain aspects hamper what is otherwise an action-packed and wholly fun experience. For one thing, ghosts will often blind-side you with little indication as to when or where the attack is coming. On top of this, your ghostbuster will often be knocked to the ground, leaving you immobile for a few seconds, which can really hurt the rhythm of gameplay.
Speaking of gameplay rhythm, parts of the campaign can slow to a crawl, often for no good reason other than to add additional time onto the experience. These often constitute using the PKE meter and paragoggles to locate hiding ghosts, and are often punctuated with fights between small swarming type enemies. As these have none of the fun or thrill of TRAPPING the ghosts, these sections feel more like straight up shooters and although the Ghostbuster arsenal is fun to use, it isn't necessarily the best for the precision hallway run-and-guns these sections are. Thankfully, these sections are bookended by thrilling ghost capture sequences or boss fights, and are often filled with trademark Ghostbuster banter and exposition.
After the campaign is done, you may wish to play on a higher difficulty. However, a surprising and super enjoyable alternative would be to jump into the online suite of Ghostbusters: The Video Game. From here, you can play a few archetypal cooperative game modes with up to three other busters in hopes of gaining rank and fancy new duds. What really makes this mode is the fun of wrangling ghosts with other humans. Getting multiple capture streams on ghosts and throwing out traps left and right to take down swarms of ghosts with three other buddies is a joy that is as simple as it is unique. There are also mini "campaigns" that you can play that string multiple objectives together for extended game sessions, and this will likely be where you'll spend most of your online Ghostbusting career.
The presentation front of Ghostbusters: The Video Game is rock solid. Good character models mingle with varied and almost fully destructible environments, and the detail and effects on buster weapons and ectoplasmic fiends alike is just flat out cool. All the voice-acting, done primarily by the original cast of the movies, just puts the icing on the authentic ghostbusters cake. Only the occasional framerate chug and poor lip syncing during in-game cutscenes can put a damper on what is a pretty great looking game.
If you've had any like for the Ghostbusters franchise at any point in your life, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more enjoyable game. The campaign is a fantastic piece of interactive Busters fiction, and the multiplayer may keep you coming back for weeks on end. Non-fans can find things to love as well, granted if they can accept the perhaps foreign mechanics for engaging baddies, but fans can be sure they can't go wrong with New York's finest.
