Ghostbusters returns in Videogame form (Ghostbusters: The Video Game (PS3))

Member Name: Midnight_Walker

Product:	Ghostbusters: The Video Game (PS3)
Date:	26/06/09 (5 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Looks great, fun weapons, brilliant boss fights, good story

Disadvantages: Somewhat limited gameplay, not 'true HD' if you care about that sort of thing

Ghostbusters: The Videogame is not your average movie/game crossover - for a start it's actually pretty good!

You begin the game not as an original ghostbuster, but instead as a new recruit working his way up the ladder. At first this was a little disappointing, but as the game progresses you realise that it makes sense - it allows the 'real' ghostbusters to interact on their own, and that's a definite plus point of this game - it's very well written (it should be - it was written by two of the cast!) and humour is prevalent throughout. All the original actors are present here, voicing their characters, and characters really do look like their real world counterparts. This authenticity is a great touch and is a definite high point.

The game itself is admittedly a little limited - but I suppose there's only so much you can do and stay true to the source material. As you progress you'll collect powerups for your proton pack, enabling you to use different kinds of attack throughout the game, which will change based on who you're fighting - you have the standard proton stream, with an alt-fire grenade, a stasis stream to slow down enemies with an alt-shotgun, a slime gun with an interesting 'slime tether' mechanic - a very well realised slime rope which pulls whatever it's attached to, and finally a homing machine gun style gun. Each are very unique and very much required if you want to be any good at the game - you'll be required to switch between them fairly often.

The PKE meter (ghost scanner) is present, and a pretty useful tool, which will help you find treasure, and the way forward. If you scan a ghost with it, it will also tell you the best way to tackle it, which is an immense help. Normal ghosts are common, and good to fight - although they take longer to kill than your usual shooter enemies just due to the nature of the game - you're meant to be gradually wearing them down before dragging them into a ghost trap. Fortunately this never feels tedious and is immense fun - dragging ghosts into the ghost trap is espescially well done and possibly the most satisfying part of the game.

Boss fights are simply amazing - giant towering behemoths (yes, including Stay Puft!) with the usual intensely glowing weak points. You usually have a few tasks to do before you get to blast away at the weak spot though, which is nice, and helps mix things up a bit.

On the graphics front, it's somewhat lo-res, although I never really noticed that until I was fairly close to the screen, so it's not something I minded, and everything else is visually stunning. Environments are beautiful, ghosts look very much like you would expect ghosts to look - Stay Puft espescially is an awesome sight to behold.

It's possibly a little short, clocking in at around 8 hours, but to be honest, that's not a bad thing - I think the limited gameplay might have gotten a bit stale had it gone on any longer, so I think it's a good length for the game.

Overall, it's an absolute blast to play - no self-respecting Ghostbusters fan should be without this game. If you're not a fan though, then I'd say try before you buy - as a pure shooter, it's limited.

Summary: A must-own for any Ghostbusters fan