Ghostbusters The Video Game

I have something to admit, I don't believe that everything in this world needs its own video game. Sometimes franchises should just quit while they're ahead and not try to squeeze every cent out of us by slapping a name from a beloved childhood artefact on a sub par, somewhat related product and expecting us to buy it. So when I saw that there was going to be a Ghostbusters video game I was not only sceptical but also a little angry.

As time went on I heard that it was being written by the original duo that wrote the classic scripts and I became more and more interested in the game until finally I had my own copy to review. At this point I was cautiously optimistic that I was about to put in a game that would just zap the boredom away and hypnotise me with all the charm and humour that I'd become accustomed to from the films.

I wasn't wowed. It certainly was better than I'd initially thought it would be, but those damn marketing bastards had told me that I would be dazzled and in hysterics from start to finish and I wasn't and once again I was angry.

So I took a step back and instead of rating the game against my past fan-girl- I looked at the game objectively and marked it accordingly.

By the time I'd finished jotting down all my thoughts I had one very messy page and a smile on my face. Here's why:

Firstly the script really is decent. It's funny and has a good pace and feels like a genuine attempt at a real Ghostbusters script. The voice acting was also alright and Ray's delivery really made me chuckle out loud a few times.

Secondly the visuals are decent. The Ghostbusters all look like themselves and the ghosts are comic and creepy at the same time. The environments and levels are also well detailed and interesting, but could have been better designed. A few times I found myself tracking ghosts down a long alley/corridor/street and then having to immediately double track all the way back because they'd just zoom past me.

And lastly the gameplay is decent. The controls make sense and are easy to get use to, plus it's really neat to hunt the nasties with EPK meters and use it to identify all the sludge and goo left behind.

So overall if you're a fan you'll probably enjoy yourself if you're willing to overlook the mediocrity of the title. The problem remains that a Ghostbusters game should be epic treat, not just so-so.