WiiNintendo owner, hey_suburbia, received a promo copy of Ghostbusters: The Video Game from Atari recently. He then passed it on to me for a review. I’ve been playing for the past couple hours (interrupted here and there by phone calls). I’ve not finished the game, but I believe I have enough under my ghostbusting belt to give a review of this new game for the Wii, which will hit store shelves tomorrow, June 16, 2009.
As with most of my reviews, I will talk about 4 major components (story, visuals, gameplay, controls) before I give my final overall impressions.
Introduction/Story
Ghostbusters: The Video Game is based off of the original two movies from 1984 and 1989, written by Dan Aykroid and Harold Ramis. This game was also written by Aykroid and Ramis. In addition to writing, both men star in the film alongside Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson as New York City’s self-appointed ghostbusting team. Three of the men are scientists, and they use their skills to develop tools in order to catch ghosts. This game picks up after the second movie. You play the role of a new cadet Ghostbuster (male or female – depending on who you choose). In this role, you are not only being trained, but you are also the “guinea pig” for all their new equipment. In the beginning of the story, you revisit the hotel from the first movie, in order to recapture some ghosts. As you begin to track them down, you all realize that there are several ghosts who are reappearing. Even the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man is back. The story unfolds through both gameplay and cut-scenes. These cut scenes are done very well, and are sometimes quite hilarious, in true Ghostbuster form. However, if you do not want to watch them for whatever reason, you can easily skip through by pressing the + button. It is also worth noting that this game will be available for all major consoles (i.e. Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo DS).
Visuals/Graphics
First thing is first. I’m not a graphics-only gamer, but I will be honest in saying that is the first thing people see (obviously). You control your character in a third-person perspective, and the cut-scenes are usually done in first-person. The Wii version of this game is done in a cartoon-style, as opposed to the more “realistic” style of the PS3 and 360 versions. It has been said by the developers that they believe the Wii version looks the best because of the cartoon-style. I am not sure I completely agree, as I believe I need to see the other versions in action before I make my comparison conclusion. So, only looking at the Wii, I believe this game looks good. I won’t say it is visually stunning, but it does do a descent job of painting a picture. The characters resemble their human counterparts (some more than others), the ghosts look great, the tools/weapons look really good, and the environments are also descent. The camera is usually right on, by following your character, but every once in a while, it seems to be in the wrong place. Overall, it’s good, though. There are two things I believe they could have worked on in order to make it even better. The first is the scenery. In the cut scenes, the backgrounds and surroundings are great. But during gameplay, it seems to take a backseat to the foreground,. The second improvement I would make is on the character movement. This includes how a character moves on screen when controlled and not controlled. They seem to always move in the same way, no matter where they are walking. The only thing that changes is their speed. Going right along with walking, their mouths do not always match up with what they are saying. I know they are meant to look like cartoons, but this could have been better. Overall, though, the game looks pretty good. None of the negatives kept me nor will keep me from playing this game.
Gameplay
Put simply, this game is fun to play. I believe this for two reasons. The first is that it reminds me of the movies that I like so much. The second is that I get to take part in the ghostbusting, instead of just watching it on the TV. You move around using the Nunchuck’s analog stick. The main component is obviously finding ghosts, wrestling them around with your proton blaster, and then capturing them. To use your blaster, point with the Wii Remote and press and hold the B button. Drop the trap with the Z button. All ghosts are different and involve different techniques when wrangling them in. To learn these techniques, you use your PKE meter. Pop it out with UP on the control pad, and scan with the A button. Put it away with DOWN on the control pad. I’ve got to be honest. Wrestling and catching ghosts is fun. Having to scan everything is annoying. You can easily beat most early stages without scanning items/enemies, but you will not reach your achievement at the end if you don’t scan everything. The same goes for the pages of the Tobin Guide that are scattered around the levels. However, collecting these pages is not nearly as bad, because to find them, you just start blowing things up. Which reminds me, most of the environment is destructible (to a certain extent). So, in summary, the gameplay is great, but I don’t like scanning with the PKE Meter nearly as much as capturing ghosts. They did make stages replayable, which was a great idea, due to me not wanting to collect everything the first time through.
Controls
When I first heard they were making a new Ghostbusters video game, I was so excited to play it on Wii. Mainly, I felt like this because the Wii Remote helps you feel more like a Ghostbuster. In the end, the controls did not disappoint. Sure, it gets a bit frustrating when you want to relax your hand a bit, but then find yourself spinning around the room. However, this is only a minor problem. But if that is the case, maybe it’s time for a break. Just pause, sit the remote down, and come back later when you are not so tired. The IR sensor responds perfectly. Shooting a ghost down with your blaster feels exactly how it should. When you have finally worn down the energy level of the ghost, you must bash it around the room. To do this, a simple quick-time event is initiated. You must thrust your Wii Remote in the direction indicated on screen. This usually works, but I did notice, at times, where it did not read my movement correctly. (Implementing Wii Motion Plus maybe could have fixed this.) The control of your character with the analog stick is usually right on. It would have been nicer to have varying speeds in movement, but you can’t win them all. In the end, I was very pleased with the controls of this game. Everything seems to work almost exactly as I would have hoped.
Concluding Overall Impressions
I am really enjoying this game! It is a perfect nod to the movies, and it makes you feel like you are a part of the actual team. The story feels like a third film, where I am a character. I also think it was great to revisit old ghosts from the movies, and they did so very well. If I have anything negative to say, it would have to be about the PKE Meter and the lack of humor. Don’t get me wrong, the script has some hilarious parts, but it seems to be more serious than the movies (at least so far). If you are a fan of the movies and/or a fan of action-puzzle games, I definitely recommend this game.
I apologize for not having some gameplay footage of my time with the game, but my old capturing device does not work with my new Mac computer. However, if you readers want, I could set up a time where I can live stream some gameplay as I work through some levels.
Official Game Website – Click Here.
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