Geekscape Games Review: Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime
Ghostbusters: SOS has been out for the Xbox Live Arcade for one week and is will be available to download on the Playstation Network today. Some of you may or may not be hardcore fans of all things Ghostbusters, and honestly, that could be the make or break when deciding to buy this game or not.
Gameplay
Gameplay is what’s most important when it comes to games going straight to XBLA and PSN. Ghostbusters has a very casual feel to it. Hardcore gamers won’t get anything out of this game if you’re looking for a challenge. While the idea and action of taking down ghosts with your proton pack is appealing, the enjoyment won’t last due to enemies becoming repetitive not far into the game. Be aware that this game will only provide hours of gameplay on one playthough.
The controls are simple enough for anyone to pick up and play. The left stick moves your avatar while moving the right stick fires your proton pack in the corresponding direction. As your progress through the game, you will be add more variations for your proton pack. These variations are used depending on the color of enemy you’re fighting. Switching weapons is easy, especially for the Xbox 360 controller as they are mapped to the color of the buttons on the controller.
Catching bosses is initiated by pressing the Right Trigger. Afterwards, you are prompted with buttons to press similar to quick-time events.
Playing with CPU’s can be fun, playing with friends is even better. Don’t get me wrong, the CPU’s are far from frustrating, save a couple of fights. They waste no time in trying to revive you if you go down and don’t stand in corners during boss battles. They are always active, and that’s definitely a plus. In some cases, CPU’s may have the advantage in boss battles simply because they tend to stay out of the way of area effect attacks done by the boss.
It’s fun at first, but it can get boring fast. If you love Ghostbusters and are afraid of a little repetition, it’s strong enough to hold you’re attention to the end of the game. 5/10
Story
If you plan on keeping up with this story, get ready to do a lot of reading. The cinematic are told through comic-book style art, which was nicely made, and speech bubbles. I won’t spoil anything for those of you planning on playing this game, but the longer the game went, the more my interest in the story deteriorated. The four characters are somewhat likable and are introduced at the beginning of the game.
While it may satisfy Ghostbuster-loving fans, don’t expect it to wow you. 6/10
Graphics
What you see is what you get:
It doesn’t get any better than that. One level that is worth pointing out puts the team in the back of a truck which is driving through a city with ghosts attacking you from all directions. It’s up to you to fend off attacking ghosts long enough for the driver to escape. Don’t worry, if you have three friends with you, you’ll all be in the back. No driving in this game.
The graphics are on par for XBLA and PSN games. 8/10
Final Score
6.3/10
Ghostbusters: SOS is somewhat of a party game and can be fun with friends in the same room or over PSN or XBL. If you buy this with the intention of playing through alone, the amount of boredom increases with the amount of time you spend on this game. Casual Ghostbuster fans, this game will probably do you right. In any case, hardcore Ghostbusters fan or not, download the trial/demo before purchasing.
