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Ghostbusters: The Video Game

Available on: Wii - PS2 - PSP
More information: Wikipedia
Cover scans: MobyGames - CoverGalaxy: Wii - PS2 - PSP
GameFAQs.com: Wii - PS2 - PSP
Press: IGN: 7.8 - GameSpot: 8.0 - Metacritic (average): 76

Pros & Cons:
Pertaining to My short list below.

(Wii version was used for this review)

The graphics are clean, with a charming, whimsical art-style, giving the characters an extremely caricaturistic effect that suits the game well—those like Egon and Venkman are spot-on, and the ghosts' cartoonish designs are clever and likable. The destructive system, while not as robust as the 360/PS3 version, is impressive nonetheless, with a similar effect achieved, complete with scorch marks lining the area from your Proton Pack's beams. Environmental textures are clean and well-detailed; particle effects are sharp, with dynamic streams of energy coming from your varied arsenal; the lighting effects fuel ghosts' transparencies nicely; the framerate is steady; and load-times are brief. Negatively, the game tends to look a bit blurry; there is a moderate amount of messy aliasing; certain characters like Peck, Janin and Ray look nothing like real-life counterparts; it often hitches/pauses as the game loads while you play—this goes for cutscenes too; and in widescreen, most of what is round in the interface is unchanged from full-screen and lazily squished. But its art style wins out over technical lackings, and it is one of the better looking third-party wii games.

The art style suits the game well—it even retains some environmental destruction.

The Wii's motion controls are implemented well, with surprisingly responsive input as you use the Wiimote's cursor to turn your character and aim your Proton Pack (works without a hitch; you won't even think about it after a couple of minutes), a quick flick of your nunchuck in a required direction to wrangle a ghost once you've worn it down, and an underhanded motion—while holding Z—with the nunchuck to toss out the trap. You'll also use a shake of the nunchuck when you're slimed to shake the stuff off, and a quick yank downwards with the Wiimote to pull certain enemies apart or objects out of the way—other than the motion controls, you'll use the B-trigger to shoot and C to lock onto ghosts; all is easy to pull off and intuitively placed. As for the gameplay, in comparison to the other version, you are getting the same overall gameplay formula, level order/setting, enemies, boss battles, damage earnings, and regenerative health system (including the necessity to revive allies when they're downed), it's still fun to destroy everything in sight, and you still feel like a Ghostbuster.

Although they retain the same settings, the majority of levels are designed and layed out differently, and even in the instances where they're nearly identical, what goes on in them is different. Same goes for the bosses; some are nearly identical (and just as fun), others are the same boss, but different in layout/strategy, and a few others are exclusive to this. The ghost wrangling is similar, but instead of manually pulling them into traps, you flick the nunchuck in a prompted direction; it's simplistic, and with its responsive control, fun. In regards to what is wholly different, this omits the needless upgrade system; you can select gender (it's solely for aesthetics; they refer to you as he either way); and this is much more puzzle-oriented, with features absent from the 360/PS3 version; like using the PKE to navigate hidden paths, spot invisible, slimable objects and avoid Ghost Snares; Slime Blower to coat invisible objects and make them tangible; and Stasis Stream to freeze puzzle and platform objects or make blockages brittle (and then blow away with another weapon)—in many cases, the above gadgets are actually better implemented than in its bigger brother.

Bosses like Stay Puft are nearly identical to the 360/PS3 version, and just as fun.

On the negative side, like the other version, ghost wrangling gets tiresome; even the basic ghosts take way too long to wear down, and in more chaotic areas, you will get sick of having to wait for the arrows to pop up as other enemies attack and wear you down during the process. This is furthered by this version's lack of reloading, which is replaced by a meter; your pack still overheats (quickly), and since you can't manually recharge, you'll find yourself frequently waiting for the meter to drop in the more dire situations; it can get annoying, or worse, frustrating. Lastly, although you can explore the Firehouse and slide down the pole, that's the extent of it—it is much smaller than in the other version; levels are broken up into smaller bits, with many sequences cut down, or just cut (like the entire Ghost World sequence); and they should have added a sprint—you simply run too sluggishly. The allied AI is adequate, and do a decent job of helping you wear down the enemy, throwing out traps and healing you, but like the other version, they just can't handle higher enemy numbers. And enemy AI, while not smart per se, give a good—often overwhelming—challenge throughout.

The storyline is everything you would expect from the third Ghostbusters movie, from its soundtrack to voice acting (performed by all of the original cast) and a script done by the original writers—it shows. Everything is here, the tongue-in-cheek humor, the wise-cracking one-liners, needless collateral damage, Slimer, Stay Puft, the Librarian and even Walter Peck. The story follows the same formula of the first, with a damsel in distress and a long-dead bad guy; the cutscenes are full of humorous, entertaining dialog, with Ray's technical jargon and Venkman's dry-humored, womanizing persona in place; and the plot is well-paced, with a natural progression of unfinished plotlines from the first neatly tied up. Compared to the 360/PS3 version, the cartoony art style and often abridged cutscenes lessen the cinematic feel and overall impact, but it does have a few funny exclusive scenes, like one where the hotel manager slaps Ray in the head—thinking he's a ghost—as he squeals like a girl. Otherwise, it's the same overall script and sequence order, and while it may not be the definitive version of the story, what's here is more than adequate and still "screams" Ghostbusters.

(In fullscreen above) you can play through the entire campaign in split-screen co-op.

The difficulty on default (out of three) starts out on the easy side, but gradually steps up to a more moderate level, as ghosts attack while you're busy wrangling others and become much harder to wear down and wrangle into traps, in addition to stepping up in number and type. There are also a couple of tricky, cryptic platforming and puzzle portions; solvents needed to defeat bosses get more complex; swarms of ghosts that endlessly spawn from nest-like objects become more common; and the enemy comes in non-stop droves in the last two levels (including a few resilient golem mini-bosses) and in great variety—you'll have to frequently switch between weapons to effectively combat each. And while the last boss is a—tedious, but—anti-climactic push-over, and checkpoints are conveniently close, in every instance, you can die quickly if you don't keep your fellow Ghostbusters revived, and in turn, they you.

After completing the relatively brief five hour campaign (closer to six if you take your time to collect all of the art pages and scan all enemies), you can use level select—in the form of a tv at the Firehouse, showing stats like time completed, damage earned, and art/scans collected—to replay levels and collect all 103 of the art pages and scan all 103 of the ghosts (view art/scans in Tobin's Spirit Guide at the Firehouse), which in turn, unlocks cheats; Equipment Strength Upgrade, Faster Health Recovery, Increased Scanning Speed, Invulnerability, and No Equipment Overheat, along with the Gozerian Rookie Outfit—immune to sliming—if you beat the game once in the hardest difficulty; you can enable cheats at the pause menu in "Unlockables" at any time. Lastly, on the Wii version (only) at the start of each level, you are prompted with the option to play alone or with a friend in co-op split-screen—you can play the entire game in co-op, or quit to the Firehouse at a checkpoint and switch to single-player.

Closing comment:
So overall, with the scaled down narrative/levels, cutesy art style and shorter length, this isn't the definitive version. But like its bigger brother, other than often tiresome ghost wrangling (which could've still been challenging without being boring—like less resilience, more number) and slightly reliant AI allies, there's little to complain about, with well thought-out bosses, varied weapon use and plainly fun gameplay—this game is worth playing—even if you have the other version—and is a solid Wii action title to boot. And while it's lightly scaled down (although in some instances not, like puzzles), in the end, it immerses you just as much in the Ghostbusters universe.

Pros & Cons review posted: 08/30/09

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Content review for this game:
Pertaining to the ESRB rating.

Comic mischief | Fantasy violence | Mild language | Mild suggestive themes

Content sum up: Compared to the "T" rated 360/PS3 version, this E10+ rated version is far tamer in content (with the majority of intense elements cut, along with a more cartoony, kid-friendly art-style) in every way but language, which, surprisingly, remains largely intact—otherwise, it'd be appropriate for ages 10, if not 7+. So (overall), I recommend this game for ages 13+.

Comic mischief: Ghosts (like gluttonous, green blob "Slimer," who's seen eating cake as it passes right through, etc.) behave in an over-the-top, cartoony manner; morbid issues like death, murder, possession and the occult are observed and commented on in a matter-of-fact, tongue-in-cheek manner by the Ghostbusters as they haphazardly destroy everything in site without a care; and there is mild crude humor; ghosts often vomit slime—lacing your body until shaken off—and a certain enemy, Snot Hags, are piled blobs of green goo in the loose form of their namesake.

Fantasy violence: Taking place a couple years after Ghostbusters II, the story begins as you find the Ghostbusters training a new recruit, whom Venkman insists on simply calling "Rookie." During Rookie's training, Slimer is accidentally released, and as they revisit the Hotel Sedgwick to recapture the gluttonous ghost—because of a recent PKE shock wave that hit the city—they get more than they bargained for, like the return of Gozer in his Stay Puft Marshmallow Man form, and a slew of ghostly activity. As they deal with a new paranormal mess, they're burdened by meddling of the major's newly formed P-COC (or, Paranormal Contract Oversights Committee) headed by Venkman's mortal enemy and all around obnoxious guy, Walter Peck. To top it all off, the teams' new acquaintance, Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn, helps them discover that Ivo Shandor—the man who built the complex that summoned Gozer the first time—retrofitted more buildings in order to harness the power to break the barrier between our world and theirs', and unleash more like Gozer—time for some Ghostbustin'...

After you get trained in basic control and gameplay mechanics at headquarters, you'll make your way to Hotel Sedgwick to start your first mission. And the base gameplay consists of using the PKE meter to track ghosts' trails, the Proton Pack's Blast Stream to first wear ghosts down, and then the Capture Stream to "Wrangle" and "Slam" them in reverse of their struggles into commissioned floor traps. As you navigate the levels and fight through waves of ghosts (reviving downed teammates, watching your pack's meter for overheating, pressing buttons to activate objects/lifts, etc.), you'll use later equipment to solve puzzles; Slime Blower to clear Black Slime from blocked paths, or reveal and lace hidden, intangible objects with slime; Capture Stream to drag slimed objects from blocked openings, pull down weights to lift gates or platforms, or grasp, recharge and place batteries in generators to open doors; the Stasis Stream to freeze moving platforms or make blockages brittle enough to destroy; and the Para-goggles to navigate hidden paths or avoid invisible Ghost Snares, all the while trying to reach the source of paranormal activity and destroy it: bosses.

You'll be combating a plethora of ghosts, all unique to their levels, starting with Hotel Sedgwick (most look as they sound): Kitchen Wisps (swarming cooking utensils) and Sous Chef Ghosts. Times Square: Construction Ghosts, Marshmallow Minis (Stay Puft's minions made of the stuff), Electronic Wisps (swarming arcade pixels), Printer Paper Zombies (human forms in paper), and (flying) Gargoyles. Public Library: (flying) Book Bats, Library Phantasms, Literature Page Zombies, and Book Centurions (with javelins and shields). History Museum: Wayward Possessors, Black Slime Floaters (ghosts with scythes), (possessed) Mayan and Egyptian Mannequins, Snot Hags, Confederate/Union Ghosts (with guns and swords), Flaming Skulls, and (dog-like) Hound Demons. Hotel Sedgwick (revisit): Malevolent Echoes (shadowy human forms), Spider Scuttlers and Hotel Phantasms. Lost Island: (insect-like) Black Slime Scuttlers, Spawn, Elementals, and Behemoths (all made of it), and Cultist Ghosts. And Central Park Cemetery: Grave Scuttlers (living, crawling gravestones), (flying) Stone Cherubs, Gravedigger Ghosts, (flying) Imp Demons and (golem) Stone Elementals.

The combat system is moderately chaotic and destructive, but little beyond that, with a very cartoony, over-the-top tone, and other than the fantastical particle effects that expel from ghosts in the form of green and blue, gooey ectoplasmic slime, there is no blood. And the combat consists of using your Proton Pack's continuous Blast Stream to wear enemies down; Boson Darts' missile-like burst to do more damage; Shock Blast to discharge short-range bursts of shotgun-like energy; Slime Blower to damage Black Slime Ghosts or exorcise Possessed Humans; and Slime Mine to expel a ball of slime, which attaches itself to enemies and then explodes. Your Proton Pack also has impact on the surrounding area, as it tears through, crumbles and breaks up almost anything, flinging dozens of random objects left/right, and after scuffles the area is ruined, with scorch marks filling floors and walls in trails. Many ghosts must be trapped and react in panic as they flail from capture, while others can be destroyed or pulled apart with your Capture Stream, and will dissipate or explode into their original materials; Black Slime, marshmallow, books, paper, stone, etc.

The ghosts themselves are aggressive and attack from all directions, ambushing you in great numbers; flying ghosts (along with swarming pots/pans, Flaming Skulls, Book Bats, etc.), telekinetically fling random objects and/or rush into you, shoot damaging energy or possess objects and try to attack with them until the objects are destroyed. And grounded ghosts (along with droves of crawling, exploding Hoppers, Black Slime Scuttlers, Grave Scuttlers, etc.) form from random objects (paper, books, stone, etc.) and rush at you up-close, often with what the form is equipped with (swords, spears, molten stones, etc). It steps up later in, as the smaller, crawling enemies will spawn in endless amounts from nest-like portals; bosses like Chef Sargossa (who attacks by flinging butcher knives), Stay Puft (who tries to reach in buildings with giant hands) or hulking golems (pounding at you in cramped quarters) can be tense; ghosts will often trap you in a room until they're all defeated; and many ghosts have mildly disturbing appearances, like the huge, eelish Collector—tentacles coming from its mouth—or the plump, freakish—human-torso, spider-bodied—Spider Witch.

The atmosphere can be lightly spooky, as furniture and objects levitate, fly off shelves or abruptly slide to block your way. Lights flicker as you traverse dark corridors, and places like the Spider Witch's lair (dank hotel hallways laced with webs) or the ruined graveyard are mildly eerie. Ghost slime you, slowing you down until you shake it off, and you can be harmed by invisible Ghost Snares; if too much damage is taken, you'll fall to your knees as the screen fades. And allies can be downed; you'll lose their help until you can reach and revive them. But, while it can get stressful, it's always campy and light-hearted; you only ever feel as if you just have to tolerate ghosts' hissy fits. Cutscenes contain plenty of chaos, tongue-in-cheek references to occult rituals, signs, demon worship, and paranormal activity in the lightest of senses. As for age group, in comparison to the "T" rated 360/PS3 version, this E10+ rated version is considerably tamer (with the majority of intense elements cut, along with a more kid-friendly and cartoony art-style) in every way but its language, which, surprisingly, remains largely intact—otherwise, it'd be quite appropriate for younger kids.

Mild language: (The ESRB didn't mention this in their rating, although it's mild) There are four uses of d*mn, and one use of p*ss and pr*ck—play on obnoxious character's name; "Peck"). In addition, in a brief scene, Venkman (a Ghostbuster) coughs "Preck" under his breath; there is one use of hell and d*mned in context; and if you have the subtitles enabled, you will see a single use of "D*mn" and "Pecker" left over from the 360/PS3 version's script—although they are not heard.

Mild suggestive themes: (The ESRB didn't mention this in their rating; it is mild)

Venkman (a Ghostbuster) shamelessly flirts with main female character, Ilyssa, throughout (Ilyssa: Why are you looking at me?! Venkman: Well you look a lot better than the others [Ghostbusters] really)—they briefly kiss at the end.
It's mentioned that, in order for the evil "Collector" to procure a rare book from her library, he "seduced" Eleanor Twitty (now Library Ghost) and then killed her.
Wayward Possessors are in mildly scant dress, revealing a light amount of their bony midriffs—but since they're dead and possess you, it detracts appeal.
After spotting a portrait of what seems to be Ilyssa in Shandor's castle, Winston states, "Ilyssa, I see her!" Venkman replies in a solemn tone, "You and me both. She's wearing just a simple terry cloth robe, and she's brought me coffee."

Content review posted: 08/30/09

Content review

Pros & Cons