For the purpose of this review we're going to assume everyone is a Ghostbusters fan. Because if you're not then you must have died before they made it. In which case you're not reading this because you're dead.
The fanboy in all of you will want to love the Ghostbusters game. You've been dribbling over the bad-ass screenshots for months. You'll sing along to the classic theme tune. You'll have your Ghostbusters pyjamas on and hot chocolate in your Ghostbusters mug ready for the first level. And then you'll be a bit disappointed.
Ghostbusters: The Videogame just isn't as good as it should be. You'll even try to ignore its discrepancies, turn a blind eye to its invisible walls and occasionally crud level design, and pretend you're enjoying shooting the tame Proton beam at unresponsive ghosts. It's not a turkey though, it just falls short of our expectations.
The game takes a leaf from Gears of War's book, telling the story in a mix of cutscenes and in-game dialogue. It's supposed to be a separate story from the films, but you'll have more than a few déjŕ vu moments.
Take the posh hotel that Slimer haunts. You'll find him in a corridor munching on food from a wheelie tray, before he slimes Venkman and runs to an open dining room for a final, cutlery-destroying showdown.
The hotel environment is packed with physics-based objects (hundreds of plates and glasses, chairs, candle holders). Slimer busts in, the Proton Beams let rip and there are objects crashing around the room.
All that geometry on screen hits the frame rate like a Stay Puft kick to the nuts. The Proton beams look pretty, but are way too quiet and the ghosts don't respond to getting shot. It's not nearly as satisfying as it should be. It's like you're shooting them with a hose pipe.
Ghostbusters
Official trailer
0:43A multiplayer-focused dev diary
Ghostbusters
Official trailer
0:43A multiplayer-focused dev diary
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You blast ghouls until they're weak, at which point you hook them with a grapple beam, deploy your trap and drag them towards it. The ghosts themselves don't appear to have any reactive AI - they follow set patterns, charging at you or throwing projectiles your way.
Battles with multiple ghosts can get pretty manic, with no clear strategy for survival other than to take it in the face (because there's no cover system or even many places to hide) and shoot back until they're all in traps. The only key to survival is making sure to revive your AI helpers when they're downed - so that they revive you when you're inevitably battered to the ground.
It heats up a little later when you get different blasters - one's like a shotgun, shooting a blue spread of plasma along with a secondary ghost-freezing blue laser. You get a blast shot that sends a concentrated ball of death at your enemy. And there's a slime gun in there too, which you use to neutralise poisonous black slime or relieve your fellow 'Busters from the control of a 'possession' ghost in one mental level.
Powers are upgraded with points earned during missions. So boosting the power and accuracy of your Proton pack, increasing your manoeuvrability or making your trap more efficient is easily done.
The game swaps up the tempo with slower, quieter search-and-find sections where you whip out your PKE meter and, in a first-person view, hunt down the spooks. It's more of a novelty function than an innovative feature though.
Oddly the whole package suffers from a mix of high and low production values. The beams look great, the physics are impressive and the 'Busters themselves highly detailed, but the animations are stiff and don't live up to the voice acting.
Talking sections are sometimes too long and too frequent - an excessive effort to squeeze in all the new story. At times, you'll just want to get on with it.
New Ghostbusters trailer
Official trailer
1:49I'm afraid of ALL ghosts...
New Ghostbusters trailer
Official trailer
1:49I'm afraid of ALL ghosts...
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Every time you die the game kicks back to a lengthy load screen to restart the previous checkpoint. And it plays the theme tune every time. Argh! It'll ruin the tune for you like Burnout Paradise ruined Paradise City.
Invisible walls and occasionally hazy player directions mean you won't always know where to go next. Some doors are openable, others aren't - for no apparent reason.
Multiplayer is a co-op affair with versus elements - you and fellow players blast ghosts in maps set in different parts of town, competing to get the high score as you take on different job types.
All that said though, there's still a reasonable amount of fun to be had, mainly because of the love we have for the films.
It's a classic case of being sucked in by a license; an average shooter resting heavily on the shoulders of an acclaimed movie license. It's not all bad, just don't expect it to be as good as you're probably expecting it to be.
Theres been quite a big fanfair for this game cos its actually a half decent movie license for once, but the things this guy points out do make sense and might ruin it a bit.
Plus, money must be saved for the September - November rush.
After hearing the shortcomings of the PS3 version in various reviews, I'll import the 360 one, I really can't wait till the autumn, for the Pal version.
the ps3 version is just fine....ive been playing all night! i dont know what the 360 version looks like but on my tv its not as bright as the head to head videos ive seen. should buy if love ghostbusters
I just watched comparison videos. There's really nothing in it.
If anything PS3 version looks a little brighter, so you can see a little more detail. Also, in one section, there's a special effect on the PS3, which isn't on the same bit on 360. Something about petrol exploding...
Although GB doesn't look the worst of it's kind, videogaming history is littered with too many corpses of film-licensed games to suggest anything other than disappointment will be the overriding emotion whenever the words 'movie' and 'game' are mentioned together in the same press release.
For every Goldeneye, they'll always be fifty Charlie's Angels.
don't believe the hype this game is great. It all depends how you look at it. If you wanted to know what ghostbusters 3 could of been like buy this game.
Its the closest thing we'll ever see to it, and although its not the greatest game ever made. I'd say it definately rates as the Greatest ever licensed game ever made.
don't believe the hype this game is great. It all depends how you look at it. If you wanted to know what ghostbusters 3 could of been like buy this game.
I don't completely agree with this review. For instance if ghost reacted when you fired a proton stream at them then... they wouldn't be able to fight back at all. They would have to stop reacting and start doing something at some point, otherwise it would get boring.
I don't understand the comparisons to Gears of War. All they share in common is that they are both third person shooters. But Ghostbusters has a much more arcade feel to it. There is no cover system but you can dodge some attacks using the jump buttons. I thought the story was fantastic, and any moments were "deja vu" occurred were pretty well explained and fit in with the rest of the story. I really felt as if I were a part of a new Ghostbusters film while I played.
The only real issue I had with the cut scenes is that the lip sync didn't match some of the time. But I quickly forgave the game and soon forgot all about it because the voice acting is so great. Though some will say that Murray's portrayal of Venkman in this game was maybe a little too mellow.
There were some really great set pieces in this game and everything fit in with the Ghostbusters lore perfectly. And there are so many references to all things ghostbuster related. There is a reference to the old C64 game some where in the Firehouse, references to the movies, to the cartoons, etc.
Also, the checkpoint system works pretty nicely. They seem to anticipate when and where a player might have trouble with the game. And if you die you don't have to go through much to get back to the point you left off at. And the AI isn't as bad as they say really. I found that they saved my ass about as much as I saved theirs. Sometimes the team will get split up and you may only have one other guy at your side. And at that point the game is usually more difficult. But I really enjoyed how challenging the game was even on normal and I am about to start a play through on professional.
In the end, I'd say that if you are a Ghostbuster's fan then this game is a must have. If not then this is still a pretty damned good game and you should play it.
LOL THE GHOST BEHIND THE RED THING ALWAYS LOOKED LIKE A BLOB OF CUM TO ME I DONT KNOW IF IT WAS JUST MY PAST CHILDHOOD THATS DONE THIS TO BE BUT I JUST CANT GET ENOUGH CUM.
I was all geared up for buying this but I've just been well and truly put-off by this average review. - It's the classic case of everyone getting overly excited over a bunch of screenshots and not knowing whether the actual game is up to scratch. - Think I'll wait for the Wii version and see if that's any better.
To be honest, this is the lowest score for the game I have seen. The other reviews (like IGN) were much more fair on the game.
I have the game now and I'm loving it! Sure, they are a few bugs but it is far better than the 7.0 that the reveiwer gave. I'll give it a solid 8-8.5 if your a Ghostbusters fan. If not then this won't win you over.
This review is bulls**t just like most of CVGs reviews of late. I got the game yesterday on preorder and it is huge fun, haven't tried the multiplayer yet but the single player is great. CVG don't know what they are talking about and I have migrated to IGN in protest, incidentally IGN gave the game 8.5 and said add .5 if your a Ghostbusters fan and subtract .5 if your not....a fair review from people who know how to review videogames instead of CVG who spend more time thinking of ways they can bait fanboys.
Yes there is going to be a third film but it won't be written by Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis so the game really should be counted as the true sequel. The original GB (Ackroyd anyway) will only be making cameos in the film. Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen are up to star in the film.
As for the game, I'm loving it so far. The graphics are really good so I don't know what the beef is. Was definitely worth my Ł37.00
I can't help but be a bit dissapointed that the PS3 is supposed to be the 'superior' machine technically wise yet it frequently (Well always) gets shown up graphically to the xbox 360.
Back to the review though, I am in two minds as whether to buy it or not after the low score, but after watching the HD Youtube head to head I really want it now! It looks ace! I also like the fact there doesn't seem to have a HUD onscreen but all the info is on your characters back pack!!! Love it!
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Ghostbusters!
