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 Ghostbusters
(Playstation 3)
Based on the popular 80's films,
Ghostbusters for the Playstation 3 delivers supernatural action,
high-spirited comedy and cool special effects. Playing as a new recruit,
you run through the streets and skyscrapers of Manhattan as you try to
capture renegade spirits through the use of your special energy beam
weapons. Along the way, you'll interact with the classic Ghostbusters crew
and face off against some familiar enemies. The gameplay is fairly
enjoyable and somewhat challenging at points, making it accessible for a
wide audience. The developers have done an excellent job in recreating the
classic environs, and this gives it an authentic look and feel. Its not
the deepest game out there, but Ghostbusters should please those who
enjoyed the movies. |
| Taking
place a couple years after the events in the original Ghostbusters movies,
the game puts you in the role of a new recruit on the Ghostbusters squad.
You're the new guy, so they've decided to test their latest inventions on
you, since it's also extremely dangerous. As the nascent Experimental
Equipment Technician, you've been given some cool prototype technology to
use that hasn't been seen yet. You can't start busting ghosts cold and
you'll have to first learn the ropes by listening to the other main
Ghostbusters characters. They'll offer advice and techniques as you go on
missions with them and face off against paranormal beings. You begin
slowly taking down a couple of minor ghosts and are given the basic
instructions in how to use your tools. You begin by learning to use your
proton back-pack ghost capturing device in a few beginner levels. The
first thing you'll discover is that capturing ghosts is a multi-step
process. Not all ghosts are easy to spot with the naked eye and hide in
unexpected places and you need to use the PKE meter to locate them.
Switching this on changes the view to a first person mode where you can
see the device in front of you. When you get close, it beeps and the two
arms light up and swing into action, indicating paranormal activity. Once
you encounter a ghost, you need to take off your meter and return to
normal settings. Your fist task is to aim it towards any ghosts to capture
them in your stream. Most ghosts will fight you, so you'll usually need to
have one of the other characters nearby and have them focus their stream
on the ghosts, too. Once a ghost is trapped inside your proton stream,
you'll have to set up a trap and move them towards it. While this sounds
easy, you'll often have to struggle with them as they try to escape your
beam. You can reduce their resistance by swinging them around and hurtling
them up and down to the floors and ceilings. Once they've entered the
trap's capture ray, you need to push them left and right quickly to
finalize the capture.
 There
are several required steps to defeat a ghost but fortunately, the controls
are fairly simple and this makes capturing the ghosts a relatively
straightforward process. It's fairly simple to use and understand how the
system works, and while it does take some practice, it becomes second
nature quickly. It can be annoying sometimes, because if a ghost escapes
your beam, you have to start all over from the beginning. This can happen
for a variety of reasons including getting attacked from other ghosts or
mixing your streams with other team members. You also have to watch out
since your tools have a limited amount of power. When you're running low,
you have to stop and recharge, which is another factor you have to watch
out for. One of the more ingenious parts of the interface is that your
health status can be seen on the back of your Proton pack. Using the
standard green line, it shows when you're energy is running low. Like many
current games, all you usually need to do is lay low for a few minutes and
your health regenerates. If you lose your all your health, one of the
others will usually come to your aid and revive you. This makes it very
difficult to actually lose a life in Ghostbusters. You
don't have capture all the ghosts you encounter, this is especially true
of some of the smaller spirits or possessed items. For these, you can use
plasma shots. These fire at ghosts rapidly and you can use to destroy them
quickly. As the guy in charge of experimental weapons, you begin with a
fairly basic set of weapons, but these are upgraded as you play the game.
These include shock blasts that cause a lot of damage and stasis streams
that you can use to keep dangerous ghosts at bay. Later on, you'll also be
able to fire dark slime at foes and use Slime Tethers, Meson Colliders and
other weapons. These usually become available when you complete levels.
These are divided into different classes, and you can usually use two at a
time in primary and secondary modes and can switch between these different
classes at any time. Adding these gives Ghostbusters more variety, giving
some strategy to your attacks. There are some very hard beasts to defeat
and certain ghosts can only be trapped by these more powerful weapons. It
makes the game feel that much more challenging, and while not overly
complex helps to keep things interesting for the experienced player.
The gameplay itself unfolds in a fairly
linear fashion and most levels unfold in what become somewhat predictable
ways after you've played through for awhile. You usually begin by entering
an area, looking for smaller ghosts and using your PKE meter to find them.
Each level plays like a scene from the movie, and ends up building to a
battle with a boss character. Depending on where you set the difficulty,
you'll either find the game very easy or quite difficult - the harder
levels require you to put more effort into trapping ghosts and throw more
smaller monsters at you. While there are some relatively challenging
sections in the game, it's fairly easy to progress through the levels if
you take the time to do so. The single player game takes a cinematic
approach and this linear design allows for a cinematic feel that gives you
the feel of interacting with a movie. Its loads of fun to play through,
but the game also includes an online multiplayer mode where you and a
friend can battle through the levels together, which makes the teamwork
approach feel that much more effective. Ghostbusters' overall design is
fairly good and the storyline moves forward at a fast and entertaining
pace. The levels are interesting and do a good job in recreating many of
the famous locations from the films, while adding a few new ones to keep
you surprised throughout. While it doesn't diverge too much from the
movies, the process of trapping and collecting ghosts makes for an
interesting mechanic that gives the game a unique feel.
 Using
extensive motion capturing techniques, the developers allow the original
Ghostbusters cast to come back to life in their original form. All of the
characters you remember are present and using the original quartet of Bill
Murray, Ernie Hudson, Dan Akyroyd and Harold Ramis plus many of the
supporting characters lends the title an authenticity that many
movie-to-game translations lack. Additionally, Akyrod worked on the script
as well, and it has some hilarious one-liners and good jokes and retains
that classic Ghostbusters feel in terms of approach and style. This works
with an interesting plot to make you feel like you're actually inside the
film. The new adventure brings back many of the famous ghosts from the
movie along with some new ones, which makes the nostalgia factor quite
high. From a visual standpoint, the levels are nicely detailed and the
renders of Manhattan are impressive, giving you a sense that this is
actually happening. The game does a good job in recreating the movies'
special effects with the neon steams emanating from your Proton packs and
the ghosts themselves looking quite faithful to the source material. While
you don't have complete freedom of movement, there's enough to give you a
sense of actually participating in the action. Even though Ghostbusters is
kind of an old franchise, the game feels fresh and interesting
throughout,. Its mix of nostalgia and modern techniques makes this an
engaging title that brings the classic films to life with some truly
impressive technical achievements that back up an entertaining and fun
story that should please fans of the classic comedies.
- Michael Palisano
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