Grab your proton packs!

Title: Ghostbusters
Price: $59.99
Platform: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
ESRB Rating: T for Teen
Score: 8.0 out of 10

I think the Ghostbusters are pretty much a household name at this point. Nearly everyone has seen the movies, or the cartoons, or the comics, or the endless amounts of children's toys, breakfast cereals and other landfill fodder that comes along with a successful movie franchise. As popular as the movies are, the original was released over twenty-five years ago. Generally the only thing worse than tying a game in with a movie is tying a game in with an old, classic movie. As a fan of the films and many of the actors and actresses who were a part of them, I can honestly say that this game stays true to the spirit of the movies and feels like ten straight hours of fan service.

Every time someone decides to make a video game based off of a movie I simply sigh, shake my head and wonder what they're thinking. Sure, it sounds like a great idea, allowing fans of a movie to immerse themselves in a world they'll never have a chance to visit otherwise. The problem is that these games are usually nothing more than half-hearted attempts to make a few extra bucks by shoe-horning a movie license into some studio's half-finished game engine and calling it a day. I could fill this page (along with the rest of this issue) with a list of bad games based on movies. There are, however, exceptions to every rule. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that not only was one of my favorite childhood movies being resurrected as a modern day video game, but that it was actually good, too.

Set two years after the events of the second Ghostbusters movie, the game brings together many of the key members of the cast to create what feels, from start to finish, like a third film that we'll never get to see in theaters. Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis voice Ray Stantz and Egon Spengler, and also wrote the game's script just as they did for the movies. Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson reprise their roles as Peter Venkman and Winston Zeddemore, though Murray's lines honestly feel phoned-in much of the time. Even many of the supporting characters are voiced by their original actors, including Ghostbusters secretary Janine Melnitz and meddling politician Walter Peck. The developers of the game have managed to bring together so many of the original elements that it's truly impressive, and the effect it has on the game is invaluable. You feel like you're in that movie world again, interacting with the same characters, yet somehow it's all some new adventure that you've never seen before. This is one of the major components that many movie-based games seem to miss.

There's definitely some good gameplay buried beneath the thick layer of nostalgia. Although there's nothing too terribly ground breaking, Ghostbusters is a solid third person shooter. It's worth the price of admission just to get your hands on a proton pack after waiting all these years! Missions typically consist of combat segments interspersed with some story bits, all interwoven with the wise cracks and corny jokes you'd expect from this bunch. Capturing ghosts, finding hidden artifacts and otherwise doing what you're supposed to earns you cash, which in turn allows you to purchase upgraded equipment for the rookie (that's you!) to test out in the field. It's nothing extravagant, but it does allow players to concentrate on upgrading the equipment they prefer to use instead of forcing you down a single path.

Many of the locations visited in the movies return in the game, and while I can appreciate what they were going for to a certain degree, it would've been nice to see a few more original settings thrown in. Regardless, it all looks great thanks to texture and animation work that's honestly a notch above what I'd expect for a game like this. Even the main characters look pretty darn close to the real actors, though the lip syncing is never quite right and everyone's skin looks a bit too shiny. The ghosts are one outstanding example of the work put towards keeping the feel of the original movies, and their twisted and terrifying forms looked and felt just right.

Ghosts aren't all you'll be busting, and there are tons of different types of enemies to encounter. Many of them feel very gimmicky though, forcing you to use one specific weapon type or another to inflict any serious damage. Also, many of these other enemies don't use the same mechanic of capturing them with the proton stream and then finessing them into a ghost trap that you see in the movies, leading those parts to feel more like any other generic third person shooter. Another problem is that some enemies hurl projectiles that cause you to lose complete control of your character, and force you to wait as he falls down and takes his time in getting back up. The animation feels like it takes forever and it's very difficult to keep track of all the junk flying around in the middle of a battle, meaning that these types of fights get very annoying, very quickly.

Despite its flaws, Ghostbusters is a solid game throughout. There's enough story and humor to keep you interested, and sufficient action to keep things challenging. It's also the closest that Ghostbusters fans are likely going to get to seeing the original cast together again, and the production values are on a level that most other movie license games can only aspire to. Pick it up if you're a fan of the franchise, or at least rent it and give it a play through.