Ghostbusters The Video Game review

“So you want to sacrifice reputation for money?” Ghostbusters puts this question to you after each successful mission, and it’s the sort of thing a more cynical reviewer would make a clever introductory joke out of. Not us, though – we’re not clever, for one thing, and we’re only cynical when a game is cynical first. From the snappy dialogue to the over-use of Ray Parker Jr’s classic song, it’s clear this is built on a bedrock of goodwill towards fans – but, y’know, that doesn’t mean the game is any good.

Rather than taking control of a rookie Ghostbuster as in the Wii version, you play as the original four. The reasonably tactile busting will make you feel good, but missions are too brief, giving you only a couple of ghosts to trap and some slime to collect before hauling your ass back to the station.

There’s depth to the research and character development, but you won’t need half of the abilities or equipment you can conjure up. You have to physically drive to each mission, but Ecto-1 handles like a dead Transformer, making this the worst part of the game. The world itself is shockingly murky, which makes costly crashes inevitable. “Do you want to sacrifice reputation for money?” This game hasn’t gone that far, but it has strained that hard-earned reputation to its very limits.

Jul 2, 2009