4-May-2009 Doubtless you'll be hearing loads of bustin' clichés in the coming months in the lead up to this game's eventual release in June, so we'll spare them here. Don't it make you feel good?
Get used to seeing stuff like this. Every 30 seconds from now until 19 June you're going to hear or read something about Ghostbusters The Videogame because it coincides with the 25th anniversary of the release of the movie.
So that means you will doubtless hear that siren, hear that song, and see Ray Parker Jr. chasing semi-naked women around a neon house over and over again. Chances are you'll be sick of the sight of Venkman, Stanz and crew come the summer - the game will only make it worse as it's unerringly loyal to the original movie.
Brave and stupid That's the game's biggest threat, right there. It's what pitches it squarely against everything from Eighties nostalgia to the internet to Bill Murray. If Terminal Reality, the group of brave/stupid souls behind this, puts so much as one foot out of place it'll be accused of taking cherished memories, placing them in a stainless steel box and putting the box into a microwave set to 'High'. On the surface, it's got everything bang on - it sounds right, looks right and says all the right things, but does it feel er, right?
Dan Aykroyd himself instigated the whole thing in the first place; imagining this as the third chapter in the Ghostbusters legacy, set two years after all that 'love thy neighbour' guff in Ghostbusters II. His script is the principle reason Bill Murray agreed to voice Venkman after years of refusing to entertain the notion of going back to the hermetically sealed franchise.
Major landmarks All the major landmarks from the movies' depiction of New York City are here - there's the public library, where ghosts use books as shields against the proton beams; there's the old fire station the bustin' business calls home; there's Times Square, scene of the confrontation with Mr Stay Puft. All of these are fleshed out in hefty detail, with boxy Eighties' police cars stationed outside and crowds of onlookers setting the atmosphere.
There are numerous cutscenes, some of which are pretty lengthy, so hopefully this won't get in the way in the final build of the game. If you're not a fan of the film, you won't be a fan of these, since they showcase the sort of one-liners and retorts that made the movie so memorable. But if you're not a fan of the film you won't be playing this anyway.
You play as the fifth and newest member of the Ghostbusters, so sadly that means you don't get to fill Venkman's, Stanz's, Spengler's or even Zeddemore's boots. That decision was taken, says Terminal Reality, so that you can better experience all that snappy dialogue. In the build I played, the job took my character and Stanz to an office block in Midtown, New York, which was afflicted by Mr Stay Puft's Marshmallow Minions.
These are ferocious little critters which seem to be motivated by pure evil - more like maladjusted marshmallow Rottweilers - and they're hellbent on chewing you up and spitting you out.
The section begins with you and Stanz donning your PKE meters to locate the ghouls. Very simply, these work out like night-vision goggles, in that a sighting reticule lights up when you pass over a creature hidden from view; it also scans and records information about particular types of spirit for fans to look over later.
Sticky white gloop Once the Minions are found, they flood into the room and the action kicks in after a nice period of tension setting. Here, the proton beam is ineffective against such fast moving targets, so you'll need to fire off Boson Darts against them, the equivalent of proton shotgun rounds.
These have the satisfying effect of blasting the Minions into sticky white gloop, which coats everything. Mostly, you'll have to carefully manipulate ghosts into your trap with the proton beam. That's the reason you'll be buying the game in the first place. Well, that and waiting for the immortal line: "Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown!". Alright, that was just me.
Essentially this is a third-person shooter with a heavy back-pack connected to an energy-spewing rifle rather than guns and ammo. There's no reloading here. Instead, you must vent the backpack regularly to prevent it from overheating - when this happens the pad starts to shake and you won't be able to get a shot off, leaving you vulnerable to attack or letting the ghosts escape.
Trapping spooks Trapping spooks is the star of the show - Terminal Reality has nailed it, obvious even in this build. The proton beam is used to latch onto a ghost, using a combination of the R2 trigger and the analogue sticks, and it's a very slick operation. The beam is responsive and simple to get to grips with - once you've got the ghost fixed in the beam, the L2 trigger allows you to knock it into nearby objects and walls to soften it up and make it easier to trap.
Hitting Square slides the trap out into the fray, with a clearly visible beam of light showing its position. Once you've dragged the ghost into the beam of light it opens out into that familiar cone - this acts as a funnel through which you must force the ghost into the trap, wangling the analogue sticks as you go so it doesn't escape. This can be done multiple times as you carry a few traps with you, so the odd trap lost in the carnage doesn't matter too much.
The highlight of the section was easily the confrontation with Mr Stay Puft. Still set in this office block, it sees you racing to get to the rooftop, occasionally spotting a huge eye staring at you, or avoiding a massive marshmallow arm smashing through a wall and scrabbling around for you.
Rooftop confrontation Once on the rooftop, you're then suspended over the side as you attempt to halt the giant Michelin Man's climb up the skyscraper. Contrary to what you might be expecting - it's not terribly challenging. You blast away at him and the occasional marshmallow boulder he throws at you - but it's very definitely something you could imagine doing in the original film.
In the background the lights of Times Square twinkle and occasionally flare and dazzle, while down below police lights flash in an urgent heartbeat of twisted morse code. It's Eighties' New York, just as you remember it from the movies, right down to the fire hydrants and crowded sidewalks.
Character models too are superb: Stanz's slight waddle is faithfully captured, as is Venkman's laconic stroll - will Ackroyd's Stanz pop a cigarette in his mouth and start puffing away? The jury's out on that one for the moment, but it's more than likely. And yes, the core mechanic of the game - trapping ghosts - is spot on. What more could you want?
From the small section I played however, it's hard to know how these standout events are all interconnected. The chances of it morphing into Oblivion with spooks is pretty thin; Gears Of War with proton guns is a more accurate description, and no less welcome. Is it cutscene, trap ghost, cutscene? Or is it something more coherent than that?
I hope so, because no matter how satisfying trapping ghosts is, it could quickly become tedious if there's not much to support it. Still, Ghostbusters is practically guaranteed to sell by the bucketload: twenty and thirty-something gamers with fond memories of the mid-Eighties will be sure to lap this up regardless of quality. Thankfully, it's not looking too shabby.
I cant wait for this (ps3). My only concern is that they are making it for every platform under the sun and this is never a good sign. Fingers crossed :?
Yeah, I'm hoping (hope hope hope!) that this game is gonna kick ass, the first film is one of those all time classics that, next to the all time number one male solo activity, really helps centre me. This and Jaws, but that game was ass.
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