Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Wii) Review
To be perfectly honest, I was very sceptical and perplexed when the video game adaptation of Ghostbusters was announced. While the actual gameplay seemed pretty easy to translate to a video game (Luigi’s Mansion says Hi), it seemed rather strange to create a video game based on a franchise so late into its life, if you could even call it that. Even more so, I was very sceptical as to whether the Nintendo Wii version would be just as good (or in my opinion, bad) as the high definition versions and whether it would provide as much of an experience. Thankfully, it does, and sometimes I even thought it was much better than its high definition cousin.
Ghostbusters takes place approximately two years after the events that occurred in Ghostbusters II. The Ghostbusters themselves (most of which return to lend their likeness and voice) are training a new recruit dubiously dubbed “The Rookie”. During one of the Rookie’s training sessions, a large PKE shockwave hits New York and the Ghostbusters are called in to clean up the mess. Along the way, they’ll encounter the beautiful Ilyssa Selwyn (voiced by the even more beautiful Alyssa Milano) who will assist them in preventing a crazed architect from flowing the city with ectoplasm and thus, with ghosts.
One of the greatest aspects of the Ghostbusters game is that the script was penned by the same writers as the movies, resulting in some rather funny scenes, as well as a great sense of humour being played throughout the game’s events. Most of the likenesses from the original movie return, sans Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis (who declined to reprise their roles).
The first thing you’ll notice with the Ghostbusters game is a little bit unusual, but a very wise decision. Rather than try to mimic the realistic looks of every character and environment, the developers of Ghostbusters Wii have created a very unique art style for the game, creating kind of caricatures of the characters. This works perfectly for the platform as instead of attempting to mimic something that the Wii can’t do well, the developers have chosen a much more appropriate way. The character models are for the most part smooth and well animated, while the ghosts behave just as you would expect them to after watching the film. Similarly, the special effects used to render the infamous proton stream look amazing, bending and behaving as you would imagine them to.
As a quick aside, it’s worth noting just how well the game runs, particularly in the two player splitscreen co-operative mode. Most games would offer a sub par experience that would drop in framerate at every instance of SOMETHING going on in the game world; however, Ghostbusters keeps a very fluid framerate, even when there are more than four protons streams chasing several enemies throughout a level. The engine used here is a technical marvel for the Wii and is a great demonstrator of what the console can do in the right hands (and with the right technology).
And of course, one of my biggest concerns regarding any game that is graphically impressive is that the gameplay needs to be just as impressive, after all, we need to play it, right? Ghostbusters is a third person action game in which players takes the role of the aforementioned rookie, either male of female. There is a central “hub” where the Rookie and his fellow ghostbusters meet after each mission in order to gather data, review objectives and just generally fool around until departing for the next mission. Missions largely consist of moving from area to area, chasing enemies, solving “puzzles” in order to determine where a ghost may be, as well as scanning enemies ala Metroid Prime in order to keep a record of each enemy (and friend) encountered.
For the most part, the gameplay is very competent. Movement of the character is mapped to the Nunchuk, while shaking it removes any detrimental effects on the player (being soaked in sticky marshmallow is one of them) Naturally, as you’d expect, the Wii Remote is pointed at the screen to aim the characters weapon as well as turn the character, while the trigger is used to fire. The D-Pad allows the player to switch between their proton stream and other devices such as the PKE Scanner, which detects paranormal activity as well as allows the player to scan enemies and characters with the A button.
Perhaps the most fun element of the gameplay is the actual process of capturing a ghost. After weakening them with a proton beam, players must move the Wii Remote in the direction shown on the screen to “slam” the ghost to the walls and weaken it. Upon being weakened, a trap can be deployed by motioning a throw with the Nunchuk (this function is a bit hit and miss) and the ghost is thus captured. It’s a very fun and interesting mechanic that takes advantage of motion controls without really pushing the implementation into the more-novel-than-practical area that many games do these days.
Overall, the gameplay in Ghostbusters is a very well put together package. It did admittedly take a while to adjust to moving the Wii Remote to the side of the screen to turn the character, but after that it felt like a pretty smooth experience akin to Metroid Prime. As previously mentioned, the action segments are rather enjoyable and can get rather hectic without any slowdown, but players may see some of the multiple action segments as meaningless padding rather than something more worthwhile. Puzzles and investigative scenarios do a great job at breaking up the action but by no means ever become a bore. Some motion movements can sometimes be misinterpreted by the Wii itself (particularly the Ghost Trap throwing motion) which results in some annoyingly misplaced traps. Thankfully, these traps seem to be unlimited (or, we never ran out) so it’s not a huge problem in the big scheme of things. Similarly, some objects in the environment that were meant to be removed in order to progress would not allow us to lock on to them and thus not allow us to move them.
Thankfully, players looking to jump into the game with a friend can do just that, with a co-operative mode that allows players to play through the whole single player campaign with a friend, no strings attached. It’s nice and refreshing to see developers implementing a proper co-op mode (at least, in Wii games) without providing some crappy “Challenge” or “Co-Op” mode completely divorced from the actual single player. Balance doesn’t get messed up either with the addition of another character, though some cutscenes do seem a bit weird when it’s clear the guys are talking about ONE rookie rather than two. Still, we had so much fun during our play session that we honestly didn’t notice it too much (and for a co-op component that runs so well, quite frankly, who cares?).
As previously mentioned, most of the original cast return to reprise their roles from the movie, excluding Rick Moranis and Sigourney Weaver. As a result, the voice acting in this game is top notch and the writing adds to the overall audio package the game has to offer. You’ll be chuckling quite a bit. Ghostbusters newcomer Alyssa Milano does a good job, too. The music itself feels great and is very much inspired by the pieces featured in previous movies too. It’s a very faithful package that holds up to previous entries in the series perfectly, and the game’s audio is really no exception.
Unfortunately, the game is rather short and players may not see much of a reason to continue busting. I always say this, but completionists can always revisit the game to collect art cards and enemy scans to complete their “ghost collection”, but honestly outside of that, unless you want to play the co-op mode again, there’s really not a whole lot to do here. Ghostbusters will clock in at under ten hours, also, though increasing the difficulty can probably squeeze a little bit of extra time out of this title. Still, there’s unfortunately not a lot of replayability in this package.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game is probably one of the best licensed games available and definitely one of the best available on the Nintendo Wii. Fans will take incredible amounts of joy in recognising the music, characters and voices of the previous movies, and thankfully there is a lot of substance behind this fan service, too, as well as accessibility to non-fans of the Ghostbusters series. The only thing that truly lets down this great package of graphics, audio and gameplay is a severe lack of replay value, but honestly, it is a pretty fun experience (especially with a friend) that you should probably look into savouring for yourself.
Ghostbusters is a very well put together package that fans of the original two movies will totally enjoy, while those looking to get into an action game that does things a little bit differently will also find solace too. Its a bit unfortunate that, despite the games brilliantly crafted engine, that there are some glitches and a few niggles present, but overall the game is a lot of fun. Co-op is some of the best weve seen on the Wii and helps make the game much more enjoyable with those wanting to bust ghosts together. A shame its so short, though.
Graphics 8.0
A very unique style that effectively makes Ghostbusters feel like an interactive cartoon. Facial expressions, character likenesses and locations from the original movies have been recreated faithfully and are instantly recognisable despite this new, fun artistic style. Smooth performance really sets this apart from other titles, particularly in splitscreen mode.
Gameplay 7.5
Some genuinely fun gameplay elements that Luigis Mansion players may recognise, spiced with some cool puzzle and investigative scenarios. Pacing is fairly decent, though some players may find fault with the constant action sequences that can become repetitive. The ghost capturing sequence is overall a very nice application of motion controls, though some functionality is a bit flimsy and hard to pull off successfully. Some glitches here and there could have used a bit of polish.
Sound 8.0
Brilliantly crafted soundtrack from the previous movies, as well as voice acting from the major actors behind the original Ghostbusters in the films. Typically high quality aural offerings throughout.
Tilt 5.5
Upon completing the game, theres unfortunately not a whole lot more to do, besides collecting art pages to complete a collection and scan missed enemies. Completionists will get quite a bit of time out of this title, but most players will clock in their Ghostbusters experience at around ten hours or less. Co-op does add to the functionality, but unfortunately it just means playing through the same game again, with a friend.
Value 9.0
Despite the shortness and some of its technical shortcomings, Ghostbusters is probably one of the most fun experience me and my partner have had in a long time. Great use of the motion controls, a great engine powering it and the return of some of the most recognisable actors to fill their roles all adds to a package that is made to appease fans while not shutting out newcomer either.
