Ghostbusters Review
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SpectralShock
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There is no doubt that the original Ghostbusters film is one of the most widely known science fiction films of the 1980s, a film that separated itself from the others by being both a hilarious comedy and also an interesting science tale. By contrast, the sequel a few years later that was Ghostbusters 2 seems to have lost a lot of the unique appeal and sharp writing of the original. I am not here to critique movies of course, but with this reference I am sad to say that in terms of writing and plot, Ghostbusters: The Videogame continues the decline of the series straight into mediocrity. The game was released after several delays in development and multiple publisher changes. There have been many reports that the writing and plot of the game was meant to be used in the movie, and this could have potentially been a good movie to boot. But, as video game narrative goes, it simply does not work. If you’re a huge fan of the movies then undoubtedly you’ve already finished the game and enjoyed all the little details and references to the lore of the series. But for a lot of the gamers out there, both fans and non-fans of the movies, the Ghostbusters game comes off as your typical everyday third person action game with some imaginative but very rare locations and great true-to-life character designs.
You spend a lot of time with the team, though it’s not as fun as it should have been
One of the reasons for the success of the movies was the plot. Many fans likely jumped at the fact when it was revealed that the story of the game was partially written by Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis – the actors who also worked on the script for the movies. Each of the actors who portrayed the Ghostbusters in the films – Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson – lent their voices and likenesses to the in-game characters. The events of the game occur during Thanksgiving day 1991, two years after the events in Ghostbusters 2. The team are training a new recruit, you, who does not have a name and does not speak. The nameless new recruit you play looks very young and some of the facial animations are rather odd. A large energy shockwave then hits New York City, and sends the team on a variety of calls to capture ghosts that result from it. If you have seen either of the movies, you are now starting to realize that this sounds a lot like the plot of the films. Indeed, during many parts of the game it seemed to be that the writers were simply copying the plot of the films with a few changed locales. I do not wish to spoil a whole lot, but you will see many ghosts from the movies (and will have to catch them again), there will be a damsel in distress (who will turn out to be the cause of a lot of events because of her ancestors), and so on. It’s hardly original, feels like the writers just wanted to do a game based on the movies but ended up adding just enough of their own material to make it “an original”. You will also visit a few locations from the movies (more than once) such as the Sedgewick Hotel, the New York Public Library, and the Museum of Natural History. Again this feels like you’re simply going through the notions of the films with a new story painted over them, which is not overly exciting for fans who wanted something new to see. The dialogue is very cringe-worthy as well, and there are so many “witty” lines and cutscenes that it almost becomes unbearable to listen to yet another attempted slapstick joke time after time. There are a few good batches of lines, but the rest is just nonsense banter and I can’t believe that the real actors doing the voices were given such terrible material to work with. After a while the story narrows itself down to more of a game setting, tasking your team with shutting a few portals around the city before the big finale. You will likely be the best member of your team due to very simplistic AI, catching the most ghosts and keeping everyone alive – but at the end of the game, the four Ghostbusters determine that five is just too many, and offer you a position as the head of a yet-to-be-opened Ghostbusters franchise in another city. Gee, thanks.
Alright then, maybe the story didn’t quite turn out, but the gameplay must be amazingly fun right? All those times as a kid you imagined being a Ghostbuster, not crossing the streams and setting your traps at just the right time to pull the catch in. Sounds great in theory. In execution, things did not go as smoothly. But let us be fair, the gameplay is as polished and solid as it gets – the problem is, it totally lacks the excitement of the whole situation that you were hoping for. Your proton pack fires four different types of particles, though each has only a few uses so you’ll be going back to the favorite proton stream to catch the ghosts every time. Gameplay is quite simply boring; you simply point at the ghost who is floating above you and wait until his health bar drains to the red zone. Then you smash the ghost into a wall or ceiling to temporarily knock them out, throw your trap, and guide them inside. Done, now rinse and repeat for the majority of the game. It’s very simple and not at all like the fun you imagined and hoped for. Sure, there are boss battles that are a bit more engaging and require you to destroy the shields around the boss before you can capture it, or to dodge and dive from the incoming fire. But it still remains very simplistic gameplay at its core, which is a good thing for any casual players or fans of the film that are new to games. But for the core gaming audience, there is simply not enough here to present any kind of gameplay challenge. The control style is very reminiscent of games such as Gears of War, minus the ability to take cover. Your view is always over-the-shoulder of your character, which means a lot of your view is obstructed unless you are playing on high resolutions.
Character likenesses are great, but the voice acting suffers
There is just a single player story that lasts under 6 hours to get through, and you’re practically finished with the game. The included extras are not worth your time – just a few cutscenes from the game to watch again, and some concept art. There are no behind-the-scenes interviews with the actors or anything really special for the fans. There is no multiplayer at all for the PC, which is different from the 360 and PS3 versions which have a few online modes. The omission of multiplayer for the PC version was never justified.
The game runs on Infernal Engine, which does a decent job and performs well on a wide range of PC hardware. There is a good physics system in place that allows objects to break apart in randomized locations and environments to act accordingly with your destructive beams. All of the characters are modeled very well and look a lot like their real life counterparts, but the facial animations could use some work and there are some lip syncing problems. The locales in the game are faithfully modeled but often dull, and you visit a few locations more than once. One of the highlights is the Ghostbusters building that has been carefully re-created to match the films, and it is a joy to explore the home of heroes and see all the little details that went into the making of the environment. Unfortunately there is almost no interaction to be found, so all you can do is admire the looks and details of the place. It must also be noted that there were some very imaginative worlds created – and best of all, you are usually separated from your team when exploring these environments. This allows you to really get into the game’s atmosphere and explore the spooky corners of the world without teammates getting in your way or trying yet another monologue disaster. You know that there is something wrong when your best gaming moments are spent without the famous Ghostbusters team by your side. The famous “Who you gonna call?” song is almost entirely absent; I was only able to catch it twice – during opening and closing credits, and even then not in full length.
Some environments you visit are genuinely spooky
It is an unfortunate trend that games based on movies are headed for disaster the moment they are conceived. Some titles attempt to avoid this trend by releasing separately from the movie and/or by creating their own take on the story to offer something extra to the fans. Games like Chronicles of Riddick managed to find success in this area, but Ghostbusters unfortunately misfires. All of the likenesses and character voices are there, but a sluggish plot and simplistic gameplay never really take off. I am no expert, but perhaps writing for a video game is quite different than writing a movie script and with all the talent of Aykroyd and Ramis – a few writers experienced in the video game field could have been used. The voice acting is also very flat and while it’s great to hear some of Bill Murray’s remarks, the delivery isn’t quite up to par. Gamers will likely find Ghostbusters: The Videogame a less than engaging title that’s likely not worth the full price of admission, and fans of the movies will just want to watch the films again after finishing the game, rather than playing it for a second time.