Rating of
3.5/5
Proton Blasting Fun
dbarry_22 - wrote on 07/19/12
Ghostbusters: The Video Game doesn't take itself too seriously, leading to some quality, fun filled action. In general, most video games that are based off movies don't work, especially if you try to incorporate specific elements from a particular movie into the game. Fortunately, this is different. The characters of Peter, Ray, Egon, and Winston all have the voices from the famous actors who played them in the movies. It's a brand new story, taking place some time after Ghostbusters 2. It's not a suprising tale; ghosts have taken over the city again and the Ghostbusters have to save the day. There are many other familiar faces, including Slimer, Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, The old ghost lady in the library, Janine, and the Mayor as well.
The story is humurous and light hearted. You play the role of an unnamed rookie who just got hired by the other Ghostbusters. So, you never play the role of Peter or Ray, you just get to listen to them (and sometimes save them). No matter what situation, most of the time the characters make some sort of witty comment in the middle of combat reminding you that you're playing an action-comedy and you shouldn't be taking the game too seriously. As the story develops, you end up encountering old foes from previous movies which helps bring back the nostalgia of the franchise.
The graphics on the Wii take the same route as the story. It doesn't try to look too realistic. The main characters have a cartoony look to them, and most of the levels have bright colors. I like this in games, because often times when you try to look realistic, you end up just looking dark and gloomy.
Combat in this game is done well. As the game progresses, you gain new abilities on your blaster creating a little diversity in the way you dispense of ghosts. By the end, you have your normal proton blaster, a freeze ray, a short range bursting weapon, and a slime gun to go along with your reader. Not all enemies can be beaten the same way, sometimes you have to de-electrify them, or slime them to get the dark energy off and so on. And, of course, at the end you have to trap most ghosts in one of those containers you have to slide on the floor. The use of the wii remote is used well. You point and blast as expected, but at the end of a battle with a ghost you need to bash them against the wall with quick moves from the controller. I had a few issues with it working with an up bash or a down bash, but in general it worked well and was a nice touch.
I played the game in co-op mode. I think it's even more fun playing with a friend. Teaming up on a ghost is way better than hoping your computer Egon does the right thing. Also, during stages when you destroy a bookcase, painting, or whatever, a damage total in dollars goes up. It's pretty fun to see who can destroy the most between you and your friend.
There isn't much to additional content, but you can scan all the enemies and learn more about them and also pick up artist renderings of all the characters as well, they hide in objects you can destroy giving you more incentive to blast away.
The game isn't long, less than 10 hours, but to me that was just about the right length. The game didn't make you do the same thing over and over and the story wrapped up in a timely manner. It's a fun game that's totally worth picking up if you enjoyed the movie and see it in a bargain bin.
3.5/5
