Busting Makes Me Feel Good!
Time passed and Ghostbusters now spooks our PLAYSTATION 3's. Surprisingly, the game is not the disappointment a few were predicting.
Taking place after the events of the second film, Ghostbusters ties the plots of the first and second movies with classic comedy and off-the-PKE-meter action. We begin the game as a new recruit testing ghost trapping prototypes when a supernatural pulse goes through the city of New York. Stirring up the ghosts of the city, Slimer, one of the film's most recognized poltergeists, breaks free and it is up to us to trap him. We follow him to the ol' Sedgewick Hotel and the real fun begins. With the ability to wield the great wand of the proton pack and our own set of traps, we can cause mass destruction on the hotel as nearly everything up to the pillar panels are destructible. Destruction is rounded up and counted for in monetary debt which contributes to the achievement of PSN trophies. Also, capturing ghosts gains the player some cash to spend on upgrades for the PKE meter, proton pack, and surprising new tools, all of which are useful and rarely pointless.
Capturing ghosts can be a bit frustrating for the action is fast paced and the fellow Ghostbusters can't hit the broad side of a Marshmallow Man for the life of them. Also, your partners tend to go down quite often and require your rescue as you need them to rescue you, which they seem to struggle in doing. Once your team is down it is mission failed. But, once caught in the flow of the game, busting does make you feel good.
Aiming and firing the proton stream is easy as it handles like any third person shooter with an overheating weapon. Thanks to a quick button press and a few well-timed dodges, cooling the pack in the midst of battle is somewhat fluent and enjoyable. Tossing the trap is assigned to a button and the distance of the toss isn't too close nor too far from your character, making the trapping process smooth. Trapping ghosts is fun as it requires weakening the ghosts with constant proton blasts as the, for the lack of a better word, life bar goes down. Once the ghost is weary, the press of another button captures it in your stream and a few flicks of the analog stick slams it into all obstacles to further weaken it. Then throw your trap and keep the ghost centered in the light beam until captured. Zap 'em and trap 'em. Easy as that.
Unfortunately, some characters don't make an appearance such as Louis Tully, the zany Ghostbuster and Dana's neighbor, and we don't have the chance to drive the Ecto-1B, but we do fight one iconic manifestation that well makes up for the loss.
All in all, Ghostbusters is a beautifully written and well animated game which delivers the excitement of busting ghosts. A few shortcomings such as lack of local multiplayer and the questionable AI of your fellow members makes a possible great game simply good, Ghostbusters is still a ride not to be missed.