Ghostbusters: The Video Game

I've been a fan of ghost busters since i was a kid. i saw the movies, watched the cartoon, i was even a ghost buster for halloween when i was 8 years old.

well i was looking through game demo's on xbox live and saw that there was a Ghost Busters video game. so i downloaded the demo and played it. at first i wasn't too impressed. catching the ghosts were fun and awesome but i felt the demo showed it as more of a puzzle game. well 2 years past since then and i was in the store looking for a cheap game to entertain me and i saw it on the shelf and it was pretty cheap. so i decided oh well i guess ill get it. it will entertain me for a while.

while playing it i actually got into it. the characters were just as i remembered. especially Bill Murray's character. and i got really excited to fight the Stay Puft marshmallow man lol.

well yea it is sort of a puzzle game and it seems even more ridiculous than the ghost busters movies but you got to remember Ghost Busters is not supposed to be a horror movie or game. its supposed to be a comedy and this team of misfits just gets into this kind of trouble while investigating and catching the paranormal.

Set in 1991, it seems New York's favorite paranormal eliminators known as the Ghostbusters are still catching ghosts since the events of 1989 when they went back in business. A new recruit joins our fellow men as a different kind of evil force is creating chaos from the Sedwick Hotel to all the way to Central park where the boys with the rookie must yet again vanquish the forces of evil.

An outstanding movie based game that proves not all movie tie-in games blow! i love how this game for the Xbox360, PS3 and other systems manages to be a sort of third movie but as a video game until we get the real GB 3 coming next year. The original cast such as Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Dan Ackroyd, Annie Potts, William Atherthorn and Harold Ramis return to reprise their characters as well as 2 new characters voiced by Brian Doyle Murray and Alyssa Milano are introduced, the graphics are surprisingly well done including the settings. The controls are very good especially when your catching ghosts as well as doing new tricks like Boison-Darts to the slime-shooting like in Ghostbusters 2 if you recall.

There is terrific voice acting as well as the script written by Dan and Harold who worked on the first 2 movies scripts is quite good for a game. It's a fairly simple if sometimes hard in a couple of levels kind of game that actually satisfies the Ghostbuster fan including myself and brings back some familiar characters such as Stay-Puft to Slimer, this one introduces the guy who made the Gozar worshipers in the old days and who is the one behind the river of slime from Ghostbusters 2. I also love how it uses the original movie's soundtrack by Elmer Bernstein as well as the famous song everyone knows.

One of the best games i've ever played for it is the best GB game since the Sega Genesis GB game and the Arcade Real GB game, however it is a BIG improvement over those horrible NES GB 1 & 2 games.

The Ghostbusters franchise got its start with the classic comedic horror film of the same name in 1986. The success of that film allowed the creators to make a sequel, two cartoon series, and a number of video games. However, the franchise has been lying dormant since the cancellation of Extreme Ghostbusters in 1997. This new game brings the Ghostbusters back to life, complete with the original cast and a script written by Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game for the Xbox 360 takes place in 1991, the ghostbuster have practically become a household name and are looking to expand their business. They start by hiring a new recruit to mainly to do all the grunt work. The conveniently take places at the same time that there has been an explosion in the quantity of haunting in New York City, even defeated enemies are making a come back, such as Slimmer and Stay Puff.

You play as this new recruit as you fight a wide variety of ghost, spirits, and monsters as you and the Ghostbusters try to discover the source of the resurgence. Over the course of the game, you obtain three weapons in addition to the standard proton beam. These weapons include paralysis beams, rapid fire blots, and of course slime. All these weapons have strengths and weakness that can be used to defeat monsters and solve puzzles. Your weapons can also be upgraded with the money made by catching and scanning ghost. These purchases improve your equipment by mainly increasing its damage or duration. One problem about this system is that almost all of the upgrades can be purchased in just one play through. This leaves the game with little replay value.

The levels are pretty linear and only allow the player to venture where the game wants them to. The backgrounds can also be a tad repetitive, which can cause a player to lose their way. Fortunately, the game effectively employs the use of the PK meter which helps to point the player in the right direction and also to find ghost and hidden objects. Despite a little repetitiveness, the background and the environments of the game are fantastic. They are really creepy and sometimes downright scary. They are all very believable and really suck you into several well designed surroundings.

Between these levels, you can hangout at the station house and mess around with several interactive objects including some that you'll find hidden in certain areas of the game. While this is amusing for a short while, the novelty where off quite quickly. As even bigger problem caused by these little intermissions occurs when you turn off the console while at the station. Upon returning to the game, you'll find that you will be starting and the beginning of the next level rather than the station house. This causes you to miss the cutscenes that take place at the end, which usually provide key plot points.

However, the greatest thing about the game has to be seeing cast back together again. This could easily have been a simple check casher, but the writers and the actors put a lot of effort t into making the game as loyal to the original film as possible. The entire cast is completely in character the interaction and chemistry between them is as good as it was in the movies. The only thing could have been improved is the recruit. Even though he is has no lines, a little more interaction between him and the rest of the cast would have been nice. There are even some points in the story where a major event occurs and he is barely even seen.

Aside from these problems, Ghostbusters: The Video Game is a ton of fun, but has a limited lifespan which may not be worth the games self price. Unless you are a hardcore fan of the series it may be better to take the rental route or wait to buy a used copy at a discount price. This game is said to be a precursor to an additional film which is to be released in the next couple years. If this game is a sign of how good the movie will be than I am indeed looking forward to it.

first off, i always thought the ghostbusters movies would make a good video game. a few years ago i thought this in my mind, just a passing thought that GB's would be a cool game to play. and low and behold, my little passing fancy became a reality. UN-believable. and let me tell you, its so worth it.

I notice some guys are saying that this game "sucks" if your a hardcore gamer. They couldn't be more wrong. The game has plenty of neat and fun challenges to accomplish, and just from a game point of view, it looks phenomenal, like a movie. But I do have to agree, the ones who really win here are the GB fans. But obviously most people love GB from what I can tell, so who wouldn't enjoy busting ghosts in full HD amazingly detailed environments and gadgets? Sure it is linear to a point, but its just a really fun trip that I have a hard to imagining anyone really getting bored here. Its just fun, and it has some great humor which is sorely missing in many games today.

whenever i see or think of ghostbusters, i get that warm and fuzzy feeling of back when i was a kid and loving to watch the movies, heck even the corny cartoon shows. but i always have fond memories of these movies. now, years later, to play a game and being able to hunt ghosts with the original cast in familiar locations, i mean it just brings back all those feelings i had when i was younger. its probably one of the funnest and funniest games out there right now. i loved both films, and personally i must admit i prefer the 2nd film, but this game seems to take a lot of its story from story elements from the first movie. however i did notice that there was also many references to the 2nd film, moments like going into a sewer where instead of a river of slime, its a "river" of flowing PK energy spirits. even ray mentions "does it feel familiar in here guys?". and of course all the slime and slime blowers are there, as well as vigo's painting in the firehouse that says funny things.

it follows the same formula of the last 2 films: there's disturbances, ghostbusters check them out and bust lots of ghosts, they find out who the big villain is, and they defeat him. its this same formula that has made the GB films so much fun and memorable, and the game follows this tradition. the graphics are STUNNING, i am truly amazed how life like they are able to get these characters nowadays. the gear itself is totally accurate and looks amazing in the game like the ecto goggles, PKE meter, and especially the proton pack, which you see change and alter throughout, with new upgrades that are fantastically wild but yet stay within the reality of the ghostbuster world. busting ghosts was never this fun, i mean its awesome to be able to shoot the proton pack for real in a game! i ALWAYS wanted to use them! all the cast is here, even Walter peck is back. heck, even that Murray brother who was in GB2 is in this one! its really a great treat for all GB fans everywhere and i throughly enjoyed it and plan to enjoy it for a long time. the game definitely has repeat value, I've played it so many times now and let me tell you, busting ghosts NEVER gets old. its so much fun, and the story is surprisingly complex and good. not good enough for a 3rd movie script (seriously, bringing back all the villains from the first movie can only work in a video game) but still a very interesting twist on the first movie's, and to an extent the 2nd movie's, ideas. totally worth all the bucks i paid, all 60 of them!

heres to hoping for a game sequel!

Note: I played the XBox 360 version. I don't know if there are any differences with the PC or PS3 version. I read that the Wii, PS2, DS, and PSP versions are a completely different experience so read another review to learn about those.

In the last year there were two franchise games that I feel really capture the feeling of being the character. The first is Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. The other is Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Although it's a third person "shooter" it doesn't feel like any other shooter. This feels like Ghostbusters. Whether you're blasting ghosts with the proton pack, sliming possessed people, searching for spirits with the PKE, or just running around you feel like a Ghostbuster.

The gameplay is entertaining in itself. None of the controls are complicated. The enemies are varied enough that you're never getting bored or repetitive. There are several problem-solving puzzles so the whole game isn't always point and shoot. It has its difficult parts without ever feeling impossible. And nothing's quite as fun as slam dunking a ghost into the trap.

The graphics are pretty good looking. The character models look real enough. The ghosts look like the movies where they're almost like a muppet. The environments are well done, it's worth several walks around the firehouse to notice all the details. The graphics aren't boundary pushing but they're still pretty good, just take a look at the Stay Puft level.

The atmosphere is really what makes it feel like Ghostbusters. There are times when it's laugh out loud hilarious. Others when it's edge of your seat scary. For example, in the library level Ray is great to listen to as he desperately hunts down the Library Ghost from the first movie. But there's one part where you approach a table in the corner and turn around to find yourself surrounded by book stacks. It creeps you out but Ray chimes in with some quip, you laugh, and move on. It captured that great Ghostbuster dark humor feeling.

The best part of the game is how authentic the game feels. First, all the actors return to voice their characters again. No Lorenzo Music or cheap sound alikes. This is the real deal. Everyone's back in perfect form, plus some great appearances by Alyssa Milano, Brian Doyle-Murray, and even Max von Sydow. It's a shame that Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis didn't return but the story works well without them. It really sounds like a movie. The environments are detailed enough. The firehouse is exactly like the films as are the hotel and the library.

The story is grand enough to be its own movie. It follows the usual film plot device of a powerful ghost trying to take over the world. However, it's not like Ghostbusters II where it's just the same plot over again. This time they added a mystery aspect. There's a question about just who the villain is and what he is doing, and in every mission you find clues to help solve it. The story itself builds off the first movie with respect towards the second.

My one and only problem with the game is that it is too short. It seems like once the story really got me hooked I was finishing it. It's not that the levels are too short or the story is lacking in any way, though it could have been expanded a bit. I finished the campaign in just three days. But maybe it was so entertaining I couldn't put it down until I was finished, and like the movies I enjoyed it so much I just wanted more. It is entertaining enough to warrant more than one play through.

This is a must for Ghostbusters fan. Whether you've watched everything Ghostbusters a hundred times over, love the first and refuse to acknowledge the second, or simply grew up on the cartoon show(s). It has everything you could want from another Ghostbusters film. Even non-Ghostbusters fans who are gamers of any level should check it out. It may not be the must-have game like Halo, Grand Theft Auto, or Call of Duty but is definitely worth a rent at the very least. Simply put: every gamer should play this game.