Pros - A Ghostbusters story that lives up to the two movies. Superb voice acting. Gameplay that captures everything you thought busting ghosts would be about. Destructible environments make for a kinetic and fun ride. Engaging multiplayer gives the game some legs in terms of replay value. Many parts of the game play out like a survival horror, and dare I say ’spooky’.

Cons - When the game is standing still, there’s not much to look at. The story while high in quality, is lacking a bit in length. Some quirky bugs hamper the experience at certain locations. Music can be repititive.

Last week I posted my first impressions of Ghostbusters: The Video Game. After another full week, I’m ready to give my final verdict for the game that puts a proton pack at your disposal, and drops you alongside the gang of Ghostbusters we all love.

That alone should be enough of a review. Since you’re looking for a bit more substance, I’ll elaborate on my thoughts a bit..

Ghostbusters: The Video Game is a release that has been 20 years in the making for me. 1989 was the last time a full-on, live action Ghostbusters movie had been released. Now, after the long wait I believe we have the quintessential third movie we’ve been waiting for. Being the ‘third movie’ entails some strengths and weaknesses that depending on how big a Ghostbusters fan you are will either warrant a purchase or not.

Ghostbusters starts out much like the original movies do. There’s a huge psycho-kinetic wave of energy that explodes at a museum and traverses all across New York City. This triggers an effect that allows the ghosts, and ghouls to turn the city into their own personal playground. Of course, the Ghostbusters step in to try and save the day. I’m purposefully being as general as possible in my summation of the story, because if you’re like me then you like to go in fresh without knowing anything. As you play the game the story unfolds like a homage piece at certain points, while standing on its own in others.

The game is presented with a slick main menu, and from there the presentation only gets better. Developers should really take inspiration with how Terminal Reality utilizes screen space. I’ve always been someone who likes to see the least amount of HUDs as possible. In too many games, the screen is littered with health bars, ammunition counts, and maps. If a game is trying to capture a cinematic feel, then plastering HUDs all over the place really takes away from the experience. Luckily, in Ghostbusters there are no HUDs what-so-ever. In fact, the only time you’ll see something pop up on screen that isn’t directly related to your character or the action is when one of your teammates needs revived.

Terminal Reality is able to achieve a clear screen, by utilizing the character’s proton pack. All the information you need to keep up with is displayed on the proton pack itself. Genius. You’re health is represented by two horizontal bars that will deteriorate and go from green to red depending on how much damage you take. Your proton pack is also your weapon, but instead of using ammo there’s a heating/cooling system you have to track. Like your health, your proton pack’s heat meter is represented by two bars that will rise the more your proton pack is used. When your pack heats up to a certain point, the bars will turn red and your controller will shake. You’ll then need to cool it down by pressing the R2 button. If you overuse the proton pack then you’ll be knocked back and take some damage.

Overall, I really like the heating/cooling system of the proton pack. I honestly think it’s better than a standard ammunition count, as you’re not trapped with reloading all the time and you can stretch the pack to its limits if need be. I’d like to see more risk based weapons in games for the future.

The progression of Ghostbusters: The Video Game plays out very linear, and is where you’ll either be sold or turned off. With so many sandbox type games on the market, it’s as though so many people expect it in every game. I’ve heard too many times, “I want to be able to roam the city”, or “I want 20-30 side missions”. I could possibly support the side missions idea, but for Ghostbusters a sandbox environment just isn’t need. And for me would have ruined the experience.

I stated earlier that the game has a cinematic feel to it, and that just wouldn’t have been achievable with a non-linear structure. I like the fact that if I wanted to, I could play the entire game and everything would unfold without a pause (except loading screens). There’s no menus for choosing missions, or me having to drive across the city to my next location. Everything is streamlined, and keeps the narrative and gameplay tight and cohesive.

While Ghostbusters: The Video Game has a wonderful story, what feels even more like a ghost busting experience is the gameplay itself. I’m sure if you were a child in the 80’s or even early 90’s you have Ghostbusters toys. If you have/had the plastic proton pack with the nerf stream at the end of it then you imagined what an actual ghost capturing experience would feel like. Well, Terminal Reality allows you to actually experience ghost busting in a virtual world.

Moving around in the game feels a lot like many other third-person action games out there. The speed of movement plays like a solid middle ground between the slower Resident Evil 5 and something like Gears of War. It’s a bit on the clunky side, but you have the option to dodge, and run for smaller periods of time so you do have options with maneuvering.

Once you run into a ghost, most of your encounters will play out like the ghost wrangling you see in the movies. Your proton pack shoots out an energy stream that damages ghosts. The aiming system is tight, and at no time did I feel that the analog movements were off. The ghosts generally move in a frenetic pattern, and it can be challenge to chase them around while staying alive and damage them. At a certain point, the ghost’s health will reach a critical point. This is when you throw your capture stream on them. Holding the capture stream, you can drag the ghost around and slam them against the environment to daze them. You’ll then throw out your trap and guide the ghost in. One nifty aspect of ghost wrangling is that the more capture streams your teammates have on it, the easier the capture is.

Most of the game will have you capturing ghosts, but there are variations to the action that keeps everything fresh. There are smaller entities that just require you to blow them up, and some of the boss fights are more about you strategically moving around and firing then going for a capture. Along with the enemies, the proton pack has a variety of different uses and attachments as well.

As you progress through the game, you’re proton pack will naturally upgrade. You’ll start off with your standard proton stream. Then you’ll obtain a slime blower, meson Collider, and finally a stasis stream. Every option has a secondary fire mode as well, and the entire package provides a varied amount of weaponry. Most of the game you’ll be using your proton stream though. The slime blower, and tether are mostly used for puzzles that hinder your progress. The meson collider and stasis stream are adequate additions, but for the most part really just play second fiddle to the proton stream.

A question you might be asking yourself is — if there’s no on-screen maps then how do I know where to go? Well, like the proton pack, Terminal Reality utilizes another piece of Ghostbuster equipment to integrate directly into the gameplay. Here, is where you’ll use the PKE meter. There are a couple of functions that the PKE meter uses, and for the most part keeps slower parts of the game more interesting. A large portion of the levels in the game will have you tracking ghosts, as they can be tough to find. With your PKE meter out, you’ll go into first person mode with your meter in the middle of the screen.

The prime function of the meter is to detect where ghastly entities are hiding. The whole thing plays out like a hot/cold system. As you come closer to a ghost, the PKE meter’s arms will slide up, and subsequently lower if you move farther away. At points this can become tedious, especially if the stage has a ‘maze’ like feel to it and your route isn’t readily apparent. Besides tracking ghosts. For the most part though, it adds an interesting navigation system that’s better than just following a blip on a mini-map.

Along with navigating, your PKE meter will be a way to scan ghosts, and artifacts in the game. Every ghastly entity in the game has the potential to be scanned, and its profile will be added to the Tobin’s Spirit Guide. Along with the ghosts, there are possessed items sprinkled through out that you can scan and add to the archives. These features again are just additions to game play, and keep things form being just ‘find ghost - capture ghost’. Also, if you’re a completist then you’ll find a hefty amount of extras to obtain. Not to mention the large assortment of trophies, which are cleverly named and add to the experience more than feel like a burden.

Once you’re done playing through the story, and unlocking everything then you might want to move onto multiplayer. The multiplayer aspect of the game is a deep experience, which really took me by surprise.

Your standard quick match, lobby, friends menu based system is all there. Your statistics are also tracked, and there’s even a level/cash based system that will keep you wanting to improve. As you catch ghosts and successfully conquer multiplayer matches you’ll receive cash which acts much like experience points. As you level you can unlock various upgrades and items. For example, you can unlock the blue suits from the Ghostbusters II movie.

When you’re in a game lobby you’ll have the choice to be any of the four main Ghostbusters or you can choose to be the rookie. Also, you can choose a weapon specialization but basically all this means is that you’ll start the stage with that weapon. This isn’t really all that important because different weapon ammunition is scattered throughout the various stages.

There are 6 different multiplayer modes in all, most of which feel unique and all provide a faster, more arcade experience than single player.

-Survival
-Containment
-Protection
-Thief
-Destruction
-Slime Dunk

Survival is much like what the name suggest. There’ll be wave of enemies that attack your group, and surviving the onslaught is a must. As the stage progresses, the amount of enemies will increase until you get to the final stage. Which plays out a boss fight, and adds a sense of accomplishment when you win.

Containment is a time attack mode, where you try and capture as many ghosts as possible in a certain time limit.

Protection is much like a King of the Hill mode, where you have to protect PKE disruptors from the ghosts looking to destroy them. This is probably the most team based mode, as communication and making sure that all the ghosts are taken care of requires strategy.

Thief is like a hybrid between Survival and Protection. There are four artifacts that ghosts will try to steal and its up to your team to make sure they stay safe. There’s a time limit, and you’ll win if even one artifact remains.

Destruction, is more like a free-for-all compared to the previous modes. There are various nodes scattered around the stage and you have to destroy them all while defeating the ghosts that will come out from them.

Slime Dunk is really the only competitive mode in multiplayer, as the other game types rely heavily on team work. With Slime Dunk you only receive cash when you dunk a Slimer into your own trap. This can make for some interesting competition, especially if you and someone else are going for the same ghost. You can try and wrangle it away and dunk it in your own trap. And of course they’ll be doing the same as well.

My only complaint really with multiplayer is that there’s no co-op for playing through the story. It makes sense in terms of how the story plays out for certain areas. But it would have been nice to experience everything unfold with a friend.

The graphical quality of Ghostbusters is truly a tale of two worlds. Standing still, there really isn’t anything to ohhh and ahhh at. The proton pack is probably the most detailed aspect of the game you’ll run across, which makes sense considering you’re looking at it all game long. The level textures, and even the character models don’t really look as detailed as they could have been. The in-game cutscenes really lack a polish that could have been pushed farther to their limits.

Luckily, most of the game will have you running around catching ghosts and destroying the environment which looks fantastic. Nearly everything in the game can be broke, blown up, or incinerated. And it all looks glorious. The proton stream is bright and animated exactly like you would want to see it. So, in motion I give the game a thumbs up but standing still too long reveals a lesser quality than I would have liked.

Along with the graphics, the audio of the game feels a bit mixed. First, let me say that the Ghostbusters soundtrack is one of my favorite movie soundtracks ever. However, that doesn’t mean I want to keep listening to it over and over as I play through the game. The main theme is played at every menu, every loading screen, and through out many parts of the game. The are a few other tracks used as well but it seems like Terminal Reality played it too safe with staying nostalgic with their track list.

The voice acting, and sound effects are dead on though. With the return of all the original actors to voice their various roles, the game brings all the lovable characters back to life. They really could have phoned it in, but for the most part the voice acting is natural and provides many funny moments along the way. There are a few repetitive ramblings during gameplay. Like, Ray telling you to use your slime tether over and over when trying to decipher a puzzle. The sound effects seem as though they’re captured directly from the movie. The proton pack sounds just like the wonderful buzzing from the movie.

In conclusion, I can easily recommend this game to any Ghostbusters fan. If you’re strapped for cash but want to see how the story plays out then definitely give it a rental. While the game could have used some polish in a few areas, all the important aspects of the game were handled with extreme care. You can tell Terminal Reality was dedicated to the project, and its really paid dividends.

Score: 8/10