Derrick
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We ain’t afraid of no ghosts in Terminal Reality’s (overly) faithful adaptation
It’s amazing how far some people are willing to milk a franchise these days. VW attempted to relaunch the Beetle at the turn of the century; sadly, they failed. David Hasselhoff abandoned his Baywatch shorts for a career in music and alcoholism; fortunately he only succeeded at the latter. And how can we ignore Hillary Duff aka Hannah Montana (Ed. I don't know him, i swear), the bubbly Jill-of-all-trades who clearly feels no shame in having her ever-smiling mug plastered over every object in the average tween’s bedroom short of the ‘feminine products’ and the light switch.
It’s with this mentality that Atari and Terminal Reality have resurrected the decomposing Ghostbusters cash cow to bring us Ghostbusters: The Video Game, this century’s attempt at converting a new legion of fans in the same way that the original films did back in the 80s.
The result is a bit of a mixed bag though, and while the pedantic developers ensured a surprising amount of authenticity in the title, the short lifespan, dated humour and often repetitive gameplay means you’ll probably find that ‘the video store to see if they have the new Hannah Montana’ is the better answer to the famous question of “Who you gonna call?”
Set in the early nineties a few years after the events of Ghostbusters 2, the game straps the player into the proton pack of the new recruit to the original spectre-slaying foursome. A wave of paranormal activity is sweeping New York once again, and it’s up to you, Agatha, to rid the city of a variety of spooks and, you know, save humanity and stuff.
(Note: for the remainder of this review, we’ve dubbed the protagonist ‘Agatha’. This is because Ghostbusters: TVG sees it unnecessary to specify if said character has a voice, any sense of individuality, or is even in fact a man and not a rather masculine female trucker.)
Agatha is controlled from a third person viewpoint, and draws a lot of inspiration from the (far superior) Dead Space. Health and ammo are displayed on the back of the proton pack, which is a good thing as this system has already proven effective in the aforementioned deep-space survival horror. As weapons are switched, the pack changes appearance to reflect which type of death the player is currently dishing out.
Although there are only four main weapon types, they’re all upgradeable and feature different firing modes for different ghosts. Being the guinea pig for all the new ghost busting gadgets, Agatha will unlock more toys as the story progresses, which is quite a relief after expecting the same old blast beam from the movies to carry through the entire plot.
Ghosts are either defeated through repeated punishment or via the capturing mechanic seen in the films. First, it needs to be smacked around a bit via the proton stream; then, the stream changes to a kind of energy lasso where the ghost can be slammed in obstacles to weaken it further and draw it closer to the trap; finally, in true Ghostbusters style, the trap is thrown down and the unfortunate apparition is dragged into it for safekeeping back at base.
Foul phantoms and belligerent banshees can also be frozen with a stasis stream, blasted with an explosive Boson Dart, or weakened with the Slime Blower. The coolest of all the weapons though is the Slime Tether, which uses two sticky hands (like the toy ones that we all went mad for in the 80s) to manipulate objects in the world. A small and underused extra, but a decent addition nonetheless.
The PKE meter is used extensively too, allowing ghosts and collectibles to be tracked and discovered. (It’s a bit finicky having to whip it out while fighting off the spectral armies of Hell though, but it’s a minor issue.) Scanning spooks and spectres nets the player extra cash for upgrades, though these too aren’t really noticeable and don’t allow for much customization. Slam dunking ghosts into the traps is kinda cool though, and it would’ve been good to see more innovation like this rather than such strict adherence to the Ghostbusters formula.
It should be clear by now that this a remarkably faithful reconstruction of everything a Ghostbusters fan has come to know and love about the franchise. The character models, although a tad cartoony, are fairly decent replicas of the original cast, and of course a movie tie-in like this wouldn’t be complete without the original actors themselves providing the voiceovers. Venkman complains constantly, Egon mumbles technobabble under his breath, and Janine the receptionist takes weird calls as you wander through the HQ. Agatha remains mute though, which in a strange way actually seems to not tread on the toes of the integrity of the adaptation.
There are even appearances by Slimer (how could you leave him out?), the Librarian Ghost, and the iconic Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Heck, even the dancing toaster features as an interactive item for gamers to fiddle with. Being the thorough reviewers that we are, we watched both movies in preparation for the game, and we can assure hardcore Ghostbuster nuts that there are oodles of tiny details that will impress even the most discerning fan.
Unfortunately, despite the attention to detail in bringing this ghoul-infested world to life, there are just too many small problems that let down the overall package, resulting in the gamer feeling like a really small ghost being sucked into a really large trap.
The first issue are the embarrassingly bland textures. Even in the levels where the architecture and design is really quite good, the chunky props look like Slimer has violated them in the only way a perverse, slimy ghost knows how. In fact, there are some signposts in the opening level that we couldn’t even read because the type was so blurry: not something a gamer who’s forked out for a 42” HD LCD wants to see.
Also, the in-game cutscenes are pretty atrocious. This, though, is mainly because the pre-rendered videos are so good; it’s disappointing to see borderline-8-bit ghosts after gazing upon the wonderful FMV sequences. Why all videos were not done this way is as mystery to us. (Though not half as mysterious as the hairlines of the actors that miraculously grew back a good inch or so since the last film. Gotta love creative licence.)
Our second gripe is the terrible, terrible dialogue. Yes, it’s impressive that Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis (the original screenwriters) penned the script, but the jokes are so tired and outdated that there’s not a single actual laugh to be had. (If you don’t believe us, remember that these are the guys that thought Vanilla Ice was cool.)
On top of this, the game gets so far up its own, er, interdimensional portal that it forces the player to wait between one bit of action and the next while one of the characters cracks a lame joke. Continuity is extremely important in any game, and Ghostbusters:TVG seems to have forgotten this golden rule.
Lastly, the constant blasting of ghosts can get a bit monotonous at times. There are some interesting bad guys to vanquish and capture, but once the first few have been wrangled into a trap there’s not much more staying power to be found elsewhere. Add to this the very short game time on the single player campaign (around 7 hours for an experienced gamer) and the irritating 30-second load times, and we’re left with a title that’s starting to look like a fan-only exclusive.
In conclusion, Ghostbusters:TVG is a bit of a disappointment, especially considering that it’s supposed to be a major release. While we must acknowledge the lovingly recreated elements of such a classic film series, we can’t help but think that perhaps more time should’ve been spent on jacking up the visuals, tweaking the load times and adding some more actual gameplay instead of concentrating on maintaining the authentic extras.
Sadly, with this in mind, the whole experience feels somewhat like one of those Panasconic or Samsumg TVs you get from knock-off shops in the Far East: they look exactly like the real thing, and they may seem like perfect copies at first glance, but you know in your heart that they’ll never, ever be as good as the original.
Review courtesy of My Gaming
It’s amazing how far some people are willing to milk a franchise these days. VW attempted to relaunch the Beetle at the turn of the century; sadly, they failed. David Hasselhoff abandoned his Baywatch shorts for a career in music and alcoholism; fortunately he only succeeded at the latter. And how can we ignore Hillary Duff aka Hannah Montana (Ed. I don't know him, i swear), the bubbly Jill-of-all-trades who clearly feels no shame in having her ever-smiling mug plastered over every object in the average tween’s bedroom short of the ‘feminine products’ and the light switch.
It’s with this mentality that Atari and Terminal Reality have resurrected the decomposing Ghostbusters cash cow to bring us Ghostbusters: The Video Game, this century’s attempt at converting a new legion of fans in the same way that the original films did back in the 80s.
The result is a bit of a mixed bag though, and while the pedantic developers ensured a surprising amount of authenticity in the title, the short lifespan, dated humour and often repetitive gameplay means you’ll probably find that ‘the video store to see if they have the new Hannah Montana’ is the better answer to the famous question of “Who you gonna call?”
Set in the early nineties a few years after the events of Ghostbusters 2, the game straps the player into the proton pack of the new recruit to the original spectre-slaying foursome. A wave of paranormal activity is sweeping New York once again, and it’s up to you, Agatha, to rid the city of a variety of spooks and, you know, save humanity and stuff.
(Note: for the remainder of this review, we’ve dubbed the protagonist ‘Agatha’. This is because Ghostbusters: TVG sees it unnecessary to specify if said character has a voice, any sense of individuality, or is even in fact a man and not a rather masculine female trucker.)
Agatha is controlled from a third person viewpoint, and draws a lot of inspiration from the (far superior) Dead Space. Health and ammo are displayed on the back of the proton pack, which is a good thing as this system has already proven effective in the aforementioned deep-space survival horror. As weapons are switched, the pack changes appearance to reflect which type of death the player is currently dishing out.
Although there are only four main weapon types, they’re all upgradeable and feature different firing modes for different ghosts. Being the guinea pig for all the new ghost busting gadgets, Agatha will unlock more toys as the story progresses, which is quite a relief after expecting the same old blast beam from the movies to carry through the entire plot.
Ghosts are either defeated through repeated punishment or via the capturing mechanic seen in the films. First, it needs to be smacked around a bit via the proton stream; then, the stream changes to a kind of energy lasso where the ghost can be slammed in obstacles to weaken it further and draw it closer to the trap; finally, in true Ghostbusters style, the trap is thrown down and the unfortunate apparition is dragged into it for safekeeping back at base.
Foul phantoms and belligerent banshees can also be frozen with a stasis stream, blasted with an explosive Boson Dart, or weakened with the Slime Blower. The coolest of all the weapons though is the Slime Tether, which uses two sticky hands (like the toy ones that we all went mad for in the 80s) to manipulate objects in the world. A small and underused extra, but a decent addition nonetheless.
The PKE meter is used extensively too, allowing ghosts and collectibles to be tracked and discovered. (It’s a bit finicky having to whip it out while fighting off the spectral armies of Hell though, but it’s a minor issue.) Scanning spooks and spectres nets the player extra cash for upgrades, though these too aren’t really noticeable and don’t allow for much customization. Slam dunking ghosts into the traps is kinda cool though, and it would’ve been good to see more innovation like this rather than such strict adherence to the Ghostbusters formula.
It should be clear by now that this a remarkably faithful reconstruction of everything a Ghostbusters fan has come to know and love about the franchise. The character models, although a tad cartoony, are fairly decent replicas of the original cast, and of course a movie tie-in like this wouldn’t be complete without the original actors themselves providing the voiceovers. Venkman complains constantly, Egon mumbles technobabble under his breath, and Janine the receptionist takes weird calls as you wander through the HQ. Agatha remains mute though, which in a strange way actually seems to not tread on the toes of the integrity of the adaptation.
There are even appearances by Slimer (how could you leave him out?), the Librarian Ghost, and the iconic Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Heck, even the dancing toaster features as an interactive item for gamers to fiddle with. Being the thorough reviewers that we are, we watched both movies in preparation for the game, and we can assure hardcore Ghostbuster nuts that there are oodles of tiny details that will impress even the most discerning fan.
Unfortunately, despite the attention to detail in bringing this ghoul-infested world to life, there are just too many small problems that let down the overall package, resulting in the gamer feeling like a really small ghost being sucked into a really large trap.
The first issue are the embarrassingly bland textures. Even in the levels where the architecture and design is really quite good, the chunky props look like Slimer has violated them in the only way a perverse, slimy ghost knows how. In fact, there are some signposts in the opening level that we couldn’t even read because the type was so blurry: not something a gamer who’s forked out for a 42” HD LCD wants to see.
Also, the in-game cutscenes are pretty atrocious. This, though, is mainly because the pre-rendered videos are so good; it’s disappointing to see borderline-8-bit ghosts after gazing upon the wonderful FMV sequences. Why all videos were not done this way is as mystery to us. (Though not half as mysterious as the hairlines of the actors that miraculously grew back a good inch or so since the last film. Gotta love creative licence.)
Our second gripe is the terrible, terrible dialogue. Yes, it’s impressive that Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis (the original screenwriters) penned the script, but the jokes are so tired and outdated that there’s not a single actual laugh to be had. (If you don’t believe us, remember that these are the guys that thought Vanilla Ice was cool.)
On top of this, the game gets so far up its own, er, interdimensional portal that it forces the player to wait between one bit of action and the next while one of the characters cracks a lame joke. Continuity is extremely important in any game, and Ghostbusters:TVG seems to have forgotten this golden rule.
Lastly, the constant blasting of ghosts can get a bit monotonous at times. There are some interesting bad guys to vanquish and capture, but once the first few have been wrangled into a trap there’s not much more staying power to be found elsewhere. Add to this the very short game time on the single player campaign (around 7 hours for an experienced gamer) and the irritating 30-second load times, and we’re left with a title that’s starting to look like a fan-only exclusive.
In conclusion, Ghostbusters:TVG is a bit of a disappointment, especially considering that it’s supposed to be a major release. While we must acknowledge the lovingly recreated elements of such a classic film series, we can’t help but think that perhaps more time should’ve been spent on jacking up the visuals, tweaking the load times and adding some more actual gameplay instead of concentrating on maintaining the authentic extras.
Sadly, with this in mind, the whole experience feels somewhat like one of those Panasconic or Samsumg TVs you get from knock-off shops in the Far East: they look exactly like the real thing, and they may seem like perfect copies at first glance, but you know in your heart that they’ll never, ever be as good as the original.
Review courtesy of My Gaming