Ghostbusters: The Video Game Review (PS3)

A show of hands if bustin’ makes you feel good….no not that kind of bustin’ sicko, the kind of bustin’ that only Ray, Egon, Peter and Winston can do. Ghostbusters has been a long time in the making and after all the wait with this game, we finally get a movie game that actually is good (Wolverine doesn’t count since the movie sucked and the game was in development before the movie was announced).

You play the new recruit hired to help out with testing new equipment for the Ghostbusters. As your training begins with Ray and Egon, a blast of energy sweeps across the city emanating from the Gozer Exhibit at the museum. Slimer’s containment cell breaks from the blast and he escapes. You follow his trail to the Sedgewick Hotel where he first appeared. Trying to catch him you stumble upon some strange things and run into some old foes. Realizing that the blast from earlier is the cause of all this, you begin to investigate it and find all sorts of crazy things and familiar places throughout the game. This game is a treat for fans of the original film since most of the content in the game references the movie. There are references to the second movie as well but not as much as the first one. Now this is not to say this is a rehash of the first movie, the script and story for the game was done by Dan Akroyd and Harlod Ramis and is a brand new story. One can say this is what the third movie would have been had they made it back in the day. I love the fact that they don’t set this story in present time. It is actually set in 1991, two years after the second movie so it flows better and ties in easier with the movies.

 Sound is amazing in the game. They use the original score from the first movie and the famous Ray Parker theme song. The voices are great with the original cast with the exception of Louis (not in the game himself but a reference is made about him in the game) and the Mayor (new mayor voiced by Brian Doyle-Murray). New love interest for Peter is Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn voiced by Alyssa Milano. I did have some issues with the lips not matching the words spoken and there were some delays at times with the line deliveries. Sometimes there would be a good 5 second delay before someone spoke. It made those lines less funny or effective. Also, Bill Murray seems to not have the energy in most of his voice acting in the game. Almost like he is bored. Just when he says something great, it goes back to him sounding monotone or bored.

The graphics were ok for the PS3 but after hearing how it pales in comparis

on to the 360 version I have to say that I am disappointed in Atari and Terminal Reality for letting this game look that bad on the PS3 compared to the 360. Terminal Reality used the PS3 as their developing console and said that their Infernal Engine was better on the PS3. Not sure what they were thinking. The texture quality and compression is bad compared to the 360 version. Still, it doesn’t take away from how good the game is and if all you have is a PS3 then it won’t hurt the quality of fun you will have with the game.

Gameplay is pretty good. The game plays like Gears of War in that you move around the screen in the same manor. Over the shoulder view, shooting, and even what they call sprinting in this game feels a lot like the roadie run in GoW. I think this is a good thing though since the game mechanics make you actually feel like a Ghostbuster fighting alongside the rest of the guys. It’s like you are playing Multiplayer with the cast throughout the whole game. You get 4 different weapons in the game but they are not available to you right away. You have to get to a certain point in the game for each one to unlock. Once unlocked, you can then spend money you earned for catching ghosts through the missions to upgrade your weapons and traps. What I thought was cool is that all your weapons and status for health and “ammo” are built into the Proton Pack. When you switch from your main weapon to another one you unlocked, the pack changes shape and color to let you know you are using a different weapon. For instance, when you get the slime upgrade, when switching to it, the pack changes and you see a green canister come out of the top of the pack and the 4 lights on the back of the pack turn green. There is a reload button for your weapon in the game but its more of a cooling switch. When using the Proton Pack, it will start to overheat. You will know this by either the pack smoking, the beeping noise or the meter that is on the side of the pack. If you don’t vent (reload) the pack, you overheat and have to wait about 3 to 4 seconds before you can use the pack again.

Load times are kinda bad even after the 4GB mandatory install on the PS3. Not sure what the install is suppose to help with but seemed like it was a waste.

I tried Multiplayer out and there are 2 modes. First mode is campaign mode where you can pick a level from the game and play though it with up to 4 players. Kinda wish you could play co-op in the main story instead of this lame mode. The other mode is made up of 6 different play styles.

Thief: Protect the Artifacts from the ghosts

Protection: Activate and defend the PKE disrupters

Slime Dunk: Compete with teammates to dunk Slimer in the Super Slammer trap

Destruction: Destroy evil relics to stop the ghosts from appearing

Survival: Stay alive as long as you can fending off wave after wave of ghosts

Containment: Capture as many ghosts in a set time limit

I for one love the Survival mode and think that would be great with 3 of your good friends online. Just like Horde mode in GoW.

This game has very little faults and does the fans of the movies service to the extreme. If you are not a fan of the movies, this game might come off as an ok title to rent. If you ever imagined being a Ghostbuster when you were little and bought the Proton Pack toy and uniform to match, this game is for you.

$45 out of $60

Andy Breeding is the Co-Founder and Host of Handheld Heroes. You can also find him on Twitter