Developer Terminal Reality, best known for action games such as Bloodrayne, knows exactly who gamers are going to call with the recent release of Ghostbusters: the Video Game.
Ghostbusters allows the player to fill the role of a new member of the Ghostbusters team, known only as “Rookie”, and fight alongside the original team to defeat another incarnation of Gozer. The game plays much like Gears of War, using a third-person camera system and the ability to change weapons on the fly. Captured or defeated spiritual entities gain the player money, which can be used to purchase upgrades for the equipment used throughout the game. Spiritually possessed items can be found throughout the levels, the collection of which also aid the player in upgrading equipment. The game also includes both co-op and competitive multiplayer, with the players either helping one another take down the ghosts or competing against each other to see who can make the most money.
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One of the best, and most noticeable aspects of the game, is the amazing graphical style to the character models. Each returning character looks remarkably similar to their real life counterparts, even down to the scars on Bill Murray’s cheeks. The character model of the Rookie is not a typical video hero, packed with muscles and with a chiseled jaw. Instead, he looks like an average person, complete with a little paunch under his flight suit. Even the ghostly enemies, the models of which change based on the level, look and move around as realistically as one could imagine. The proton pack beams pack quite a punch, in both visual style and destruction of the world, and feel exactly like they looked in the movies. The musical score to the game is exactly like the movies, which makes the player feel even more involved in this universe.
One of the more negative parts of the game is the difficulty during some levels. There will be times, especially on the hardest difficulty, when the player will have to play through multiple times to beat. Adding to the difficulty is the fact that the checkpoints are not always as close together as one would like. Some enemy attacks are a one hit kill, which is frustrating during the few solo parts of the game with no other teammate to revive the player. However, correct use of the dodge button and knowledge of what is coming on the horizon will help during the more frustrating and difficult levels.
Ghostbusters plays like the fantasy of every fan of the franchise. The amazing graphics, music, and atmosphere make the player feel he or she is playing one of the movies. The game even starts with a grainy Columbia Pictures logo, just like back in the day of VHS tapes. Although the difficulty may be a bit too much for casual gamers, any fan of the movies, or even just a fan of action games, will enjoy this game.
