Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009) Review

[Herbert1405241469 0]

There have been several Ghostbusters games published before... I personally own the two made for NES (which were pretty bad IMO) but when I first saw the "leaked" youtube video of footage of a game where the characters were dressed up in those familiar jumpsuits, with back packs, shooting lasers.... the first thing I thought: "Please don't screw this up!"

 

The newest Ghostbusters game, released June 2009, is quite a remarkable feat... It's the first time, that I can recall, where they actually have the original voices from the movies used in a video game adaptation. Egon, Ray, Peter, Winston. All of the characters are voiced by the real actors. Brought back after 25 years. There are more, but I haven't verified they are all the original actors. I know that Luis Tully didn't come back (Rick Moranis is retired and didn't need the money apparently). The characters themselves are really detailed, though just barely slightly off... except Winston. Check out this screenshot:

 

 

There are a ton of small details in the levels that indicate how thoroughly the game creators went through the movies to create the old New York, circa 1991.

 

Now, this movie takes place in 1991, but notice that Winston has his mustache back... Which he had shaved off in GB2... It seems like the game creators were more focused on GB1, but there are elements of GB2 of course.... There is a big portrait of Vigo just chilling in the fire house that you can interact with... He sounds a hell of a lot like whoever voiced Vigo in the movie, but overall, just a novelty thing.

 

 

Ok, let's get down to basics.

 

 

Sound: The ambient sounds and proton pack equipment is very nice. Based right out of the movie. The music is the same licensed music from the movies, so you feel more like you are LIVING the movie. Awesome, props for that. One bad thing I've noticed... The voice acting audio sounds like it's been converted from 48khz to 44khz, or something like that. There is an audible screechieness you can sometimes hear as though they converted audio frequencies very poorly... Not terrible, but just enough so you think you hear it.

 

Graphics... The textures are awesome on the suits, but some textures are better than others. If it weren't for the size of the levels I would expect slightly better, but considering the size of the levels, I'd say it's ok. You can read magazines on tables, though it's not razor sharp. Levels take a minute or more to load, and the loading screen is just the ghostbusters logo, which is kinda boring since you have to stare at it so long.

 

Gameplay... It feels like the game creators added mouse acceleration, and took a lot of adjusting to make it feel right. I'd move my hand slightly and teh character would turn slowly... So I accelerate my hand just a weee bit, and the guy whips around 180 degrees.... Makes for some difficult playing when you're constantly whipping back and forth trying to see what the hell is biting you in the back.

 

I hope they come out with a patch for that.

 

At first, I thought I'd have to constantly vent the proton pack, which overheats if you don't do that... But I believe it does it automatically. It's hard to see your health and the heat bar right on the pack, since you're looking at the ghosts, and not your back anyway... The only way to heal is to not get hit for awhile by taking cover. And when you go down, you have to get picked up by a team mate, and if they are all down, you have to restart from the nearest checkpoint.

 

There doesn't appear to be any dynamic saves... Checkpoints only. They usually save before a hard part, so if you get stuck, it's not usually too far back.

 

The BAD:

 

The game would not install. I had to run the entire install which took FOREVER and then it came up with that the installation was interrupted... All you have to do is go into the DVD and copy all the files in the /setup/bin folder to the main directory where you installed Ghostbusters, and create a shortcut yourself for the desktop.

 

Once I did that, it worked fine.

 

Overall, so far a decent experience. I got a free movie ticket worth $10 when buying the PC game at Gamestop, so I technically only paid $19 for the game. Definitely worth it.

AH, but

 

 

The PC version has been ROBBED of multiplayer.

 

 

So if you are hoping for a multiplayer ghostbuster experience, you will need a console.

 

But, so far the solo experience is worth the money.

 

Have fun hunting ghosts!

[iGuest 3]

Okay, I got Ghostbusters: The Video Game. And after the installation is complete, I get this ridiculous message EVERY time saying, "can't mount W23ART.POD: File not found." And I need someone to give me some advice on how to fix this. I installed the game in the C drive. I have Vista, more than enough GBs, so please don't go blaming my computer, and everyone tells me to reboot,l and I've done that a record total of 23 times. I really want someone to help me, if you give me an answer, will you please put it in simple English, and make it easy to follow? Thank you for your time. God Bless. 

-question by Egon'sBoss

[iGuest 3]

Place the crack in the installed directory;not in this directory{C:Program FilesAtariGhostbusters}.You get this error because  In the installed directory this file {ghost_w32.Exe}is not present.Pasting the crack file will do the job.njoy

-reply by UvSp

[Wolflock 0]

If I ever get this game it will have to be downloaded free. I dont touch Atari since they offered absolutely NO support or patches for After Dark (The new one). I kept getting bug after bug and was not to pleased since I had paid for something that I could not even play.Hope Atari has woken up a bit now.

[avadir 0]

I'm a GB fan but I still cannot belive they actually made a full 360 game for it. lol.