Review

Ghostbusters (2016)

Although it has been said a lot lately, THIS franchise truly needs no introduction. If you are like myself, then the theme song and those “dogs” scared the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks out of you as a kid; I loved the first movie but couldn’t look at the screen when those things were on running around. In time you’d also have grown fond of the humorous characters and well…the ghostbusting! Basically, Ghostbusters has been around since the mid 80’s and it has taken the world by storm ever since. To keep up with the times, Sony decided to do a reboot of the original movie and Activision chose to release a new game for the occasion.

This new Ghostbusters takes place sometime after the newly released film. That said, it is light on story; it isn’t difficult to figure out the plot with a game like this. Ghosts are taking over NYC and it is up to you to save the day. With a franchise as established as Ghostbusters, you can get away with not having an engrossing story as long as the gameplay is top notch and delivers the goods…

The game utilizes a 3rd person top down view and resembles the Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Gauntlet games, except with twin-shooter controls. Each level takes place across New York City in various locations. A cemetery, library and asylum are just a few of the environments for busting ghosts and taking names. Every locale essentially, has the same goal and objective – investigate and exterminate, rinse and repeat. You will use your scanner to locate paranormal energy that releases ecto though. Ecto serves as a point system that gets tallied after each level and assist with leveling up your character in a simple RPG style. Stats like stamina, strength and grenade recharge make up a few of the choices. Each character utilizes a main weapon that varies with each character. These include an assault rifle, dual pistols a minigun and a shotgun; don’t worry, they use photon energy over ballistic ammunition.

Each character also has a grenade function at their disposal that also varies with each one. BUT, a Ghostbusters game would not be complete without the Proton pack. The pack, while it does damage enemies, is primarily used to trap the bosses. It was a smart move to keep things fresh and not monotonous when it came to the weapons. Sadly, the rest of the game is seeping with monotony. The same music, enemies (aside from the boss of each level,) and one liners from each character permeate every level, making what could have been entertaining feel like a chore. While most games are repetitive in nature, this is one of the games that actually feels repetitive.

While the iconic Ghostbusters theme is present and accounted for, the rest of the music is a subdued mix of spooky Halloween tunes that sound like something you would hear at a retail store. Before each level however, there is humorous dialogue between NYC citizens and the ghostbusters when they get phone calls. The highpoint for me though, was switching between each characters main weapon and hearing the proton pack charge up. Honest nerd moment and it was pretty cool hearing that sound again; it’s akin to hearing the Transformers’ classic transformation sounds for a brief second in a bad Michael Bay film. It gets your hopes up.

It’s unfortunate that Ghostbusters not only lacks the original characters that made this franchise so iconic, the new characters from the reboot are MIA as well. The generic characters they created serve only as cannon fodder and/or to check off a list of clichés. The hired muscle, pretty boy, hot chick and nerdy girl reported front and center and they couldn’t be more boring. FireForge could have at least created 6-8 characters for this game instead of 4, providing a little more variety within the cast.

If you haven’t noticed my tone through this review, it’s been rather dull. Just stating what’s what and so on. That’s how the game feels when you’re playing it. FireForge did provide something of worth, beyond a cool sound effect and theme song. For one, Ghostbusters utilizes the latest Unreal Engine 4 graphics engine, crafting a colorful graphic novel style that fits the game well. The lighting and shadows help to create a spooky atmosphere while the vibrant colors and particle effects put you right into the action. Then there are the controls. The left analog controls your character’s movements while the right aims the weapons. Right trigger fires, the right bumper vents weapons to keep them from overheating, and the left trigger throws grenades/switches between primary weapons and the proton pack. Basically, just getting in and playing is fairly easy moments after picking up the controller.

And that’s about it. Overall, Ghostbusters left a lot to be desired. I really wanted to love this game and while it can be fun and I liked it (at times), it just isn’t that great. As it stands my favorite Ghostbusters game is the INSANELY rare 80’s arcade game. But for a quick weekend thrill it will pass the time and do the trick.

Editor’s Note: This copy of Ghostbusters was provided by Activision.