Who ya gonna call?
Ghostbusters isn’t just a film … it isn’t just a cartoon series … it’s a cultural phenomenon with one of the most memorable lines in movie history. Which makes it all the more incredible that fans have been kept waiting for a follow-up to Ghostbusters II for twenty long years.
The good news is that as Ghostbusters gears up to celebrate its 25th birthday, Atari have picked up the rights for the Ghostbusters video game. Set two years after the events of the second film Ghostbusters is, in some ways, the sequel fans have been waiting for.
Everything feels Ghostbusters authentic
Not only has the original scripting team come back to write the story, but the original actors have dusted off their Proton Packs and resurrected their Ghostbusters roles in order to bring the video game to life. Lets face it wouldn’t be the same without Bill Murray delivering the punch line.
So twenty years after Venkman and Co last got slimed, what’s changed for the Ghostbusters? Well, not much actually. Now recognised as a legitimate business, the Ghostbusters are expanding their business and are looking for recruits. That’s where you come in. Players take the role of a rookie, fresh on the team and eager to bust some ghosts.
Welcome to spook central
As the recruit you are using experimental Proton Pack upgrades developed by Egon and Ray. One of the upgrades is the Shot Blast, which is the Proton Pack equivalent of a shotgun blast used to wear down ghosts and destroy the scenery (we’ll get on to the destruction in a moment). Another new trick is slamming the ghosts to really weaken them, which sounded a little odd at first but as it turned out was incredibly fun.
Lets face it wouldn’t be the same without Bill Murray delivering the punch line.
As you would expect when you’re carrying around a device that could potentially level an entire city, you’re going to damage a few bits and pieces along the way; it happened in the films. This has not been overlooked by the developer, as the environments do have elements of destruction. Walls can be burnt, tiles will shatter and glass will explode in a rather cool rippled effect.
Not only can the environments be damaged, but so too can the contents of the environment. Chairs, tables, books, lighting …they’re all at the mercy of your Proton Pack. In fact, destroying your environment is part of your strategy. Seeing as the ghosts can pick things up and throw them at you, it makes sense to destroy any potential missiles before they get chucked in your direction.
The ghosts don’t just throw objects at you. Ghostbusters features a physics engine called Golem Tech. This engine allows the ghosts to build bodies out of the debris, so they have a physical body to attack you with. As the body moves around you can see the individual pieces that have formed the paranormal body.
Ghostbusters the video game also reunites you with other Ghostbusters characters; some welcome some not-so-welcome. The welcome additions are Janine the secretary, Slimer and of course the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. The not-so-welcome include Walter Peck the environmental agency man who caused more problems then he resolved in the films.
Chairs, tables, books, lighting …they’re all at the mercy of your Proton Pack.
Although you are playing the role of a Ghostbuster, your character doesn’t actually speak, which is a relief. You are able to focus on the game while the other characters interact (and entertain) just as they would in the films. So essentially you are a fly (complete with Proton Pack) on the wall.
The readings I'm getting on this are off the charts
Some feared that Ghostbusters would fall into the bad game adaptation based on good film trap. But as the Ghostbusters video game isn’t actually based on the film (it’s more of a third chapter) it seems to have escaped that tag.
Scripted by the original writers, voiced by the original cast and developed by fans of the films, Ghostbusters the video game is a worthy third instalment. With so many staunch fans of the Ghostbusters movies, it could all have gone horribly wrong for Atari. Instead, they can hold their Proton Packs high and proudly say: We came. We saw. We kicked its ass.
Preview by: Tom "Proton-Packing" Daly
Preview Published: 19.03.09