Ghostbusters: The Video Game. How do I even start here? This is a new installment in a glorious series that saw a lot of us through our childhoods. The Ghostbusters were in theaters, on TV, in toy boxes, in cafeterias, on the radio and on home consoles for a good portion of my life. I received the Ecto 1 toy as a gift from my parents after a major surgery as a kid. I had the Firehouse play set that came with oozing slime. I even packed Ecto-Cooler in my lunch every day for school. You better believe that I’m a diehard Ghostbusters fan, as I’m sure a ton of you can claim. It’s because of my love for the series that my standards have been set exceptionally high for Ghostbusters: The Video Game.
Developed by Terminal Reality, Ghostbusters: The Video Game was written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis (the duo behind the flicks). The game is voiced by the entire central cast, along with some extras that will have your childhood dreams reeling.
Graphically speaking, GTVG doesn’t fall short… for the 360. The PS3 version arrived in stores marred with something like 56% resolution when compared to the 360. When running side-by-side, the difference is noticeable. If you only experience the PS3 version, you probably won’t know any better. But if you see both in motion, you’ll likely lean towards the 360 version quickly.
The environments are visually pleasing and varied. You’ll bust ghosts underground, in the city streets, in hotel lobbies, kitchens, corridors, graveyards and dilapidated mansions. Even though the campaign is exceedingly short-lived (more on that later), the development team managed to fit enough variety in the package in order to make it seem just a little bit bigger. There are times when the areas themselves become seeped in a level of shadow that makes it damn near impossible to see. Yes, it’s warranted, this is a ghost hunting experience, why the heck would it be well lit? But the only reason this even warrants a quick mention is because of the fact that the dimly lit areas may lead some players astray from the mission.
Character models are sharp and distinguished. You’ll notice animations have been put in the brow of characters' faces in order to eliminate some of that stoic, motionless look a lot of games give off. You know those dead eyes that plague some games? None of that here. In motion, some of the body movement for these characters falls a little flat and stiff. This is especially noticeable with in-game engine based cut scenes. Compared to the CG cut scenes, the in-game stuff comes up incredibly short. They're also rife with mismatched lip sycnhing.
