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Developer: Atari
ESRB: T (for Teen)
Systems: Windows, PS3, Xbox 360
Genre: Action Game
Release Date: June 16th, 2009

BUY

Yeah, you should give these guys a call.

Getting this game into my hands has been an emotional ordeal. When it was announced that the third installment of the Ghostbusters series would be in videogame form, I’m sure gamers everywhere were over the moon. Not only that, but nearly everyone from the movies would be on board as well (though as long as all four Ghostbusters were original, the ancillary characters didn’t matter). Anyone who ever had an Egon action figure, or drank only Slimer’s Ecoplasm Hi-C as a kid knew that excitement. Fortunately, Activision was publishing the game, and they had the brilliant idea to NOT publish it (as well as Brutal Legend), so they could focus more time and money on guaranteed money-makers, like Spyro. Geniuses. Getting the call that Ghostbusters had been cancelled was like a stake in my heart. Ironically, I received this call at PAX 08, where the standard lanyard was touting the upcoming Ghostbusters game from Activision.

Fast forward a few hard months, and Ghostbusters was back on track. After the initial excitement of the announcement of the game, to the displeasure of hearing it was cancelled, back up to the elation of hearing that it would indeed be released, copies were finally on the shelves.

The first thing you’ll notice about this Ghostbusters installment, was how well they captured each character (speaking for the realistic 360 version, not the cartoonish Wii version). Since all of the actors are distinguished gentlemen now (read: older), the developers had to go back to the movies and painstakingly map out the characters from stills. I wish my job involved watching Ghostbusters all day. Although you can initially tell that some characters, –specifically Egon– sound much, much older than they did in the 80’s movies, you really get used to it about 10 minutes in.

Without giving away the interesting story, the game really did its best to speak to the fans. Along with Slimer trapped in a glass case in the headquarters lobby, and the giant painting of Viggo (they even got the same actor to do his voice! Rad!), all of the Achievements are titled after quotes from the movies. Not to get sentimental here, but it’s always really nice to see people taking the subject matter seriously. They somehow managed to make a game that was amazing for gamers who grew up on these movies, while it also seemed accessible enough for someone who didn’t know anything about busting ghosts (fools!).

Something else surprising about the game, was that it was, in part, genuinely creepy. While I’m sure not all of you share my man-eating-spider-in-a-dark-twisty-hallway phobia, there is enough wandering around in the dark in ghost territory to ensure maximum creepiness. It was really neat how they utilized the PKE Meter as a sort of night-vision mode, but it also amps up the atmosphere, which is a bonus.

Of course not everything about the game was peaches, and it had some very real flaws. For example, there were often times that I absolutely had no idea what they wanted from me. I HATE that. I also feel like the game was a bit unbalanced when it came to combat, which led to a lot of unnecessary death. When you die, as it’s loading before the respawn, you get a cool little video of a 3D view of your Proton Pack, the different upgrades, a video on the side of ghost busting, and the theme song rocking in the background. That’s super sweet, but it’s the same video every time. It’s really surprising that they couldn’t find other things to emphasize for us. I would have loved to see the Ecto-1, details of the ghosts, or literally anything else. Repetition dulls excitement. And I want to know why Janine looked so weird. Developers, why did Janine look nothing like Janine? I will admit that Venkmann was a bit of a perv in the movies, but it was subtle Bill Murray charm. In this, it’s really kind of creepy how much of a horn dog they made him.

Despite all of the frustrations that come with games that are made in lieu of a third live-action installment of a movie that came out 25 years ago (are there any other games in this genre?), I would definitely recommend at least renting it. If you’re familiar with those loveable rascals the Ghostbusters, check it out. Recognizing the references makes you feel good inside. Plus, you get to kill a giant marshmallow man. Don’t tell me that hasn’t been your dream since the first movie.

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