Those kids who were born in the beautiful sweet spot of 1980 - 89 will attest to the fact that Ghostbuster-mania was very real and beyond awesome. Kids of the 80's and 90's had it made with GI-Joe and Transformers making their way into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters. The movie was just meant to be a passion project by Dan Aykroyd celebrating his love for the paranormal and Harold Ramis, who just flat out loved making films. This was lightning in a bottle that featured the most amazing lightning-laser effects that could be trapped along with a ghost.
You name it, this franchise had it. The toys alone were a God-send for any childhood and we had the movies and the cartoons to boot. One thing this franchise lacked, however, were the video games. They HAD the video games, sure, but they were not especially forthcoming with the quality of said games. The NES games, the Genesis and anything else that came out of it were never looked upon with a lot of fondness or memorable content. The only thing the video games have going for them now is the Youtube videos they birthed making fun of them.
In 2009, that all changed in an instant. For some reason, the original cast of the four Ghostbusters decided to come back together in full force. They got a few new side characters and they put together something that no one would ever see coming in a thousand years. This never works! Rambo tried something similar. It was a rail shooter and it was terribly made, but it also came out with no recent coinciding tie-in products. There was no precursor to this and the iron luke warm for the property at best. Well, it goes to show that a quality product wins out. This game was well received by critics and fans. It sold millions of copies and even received a Remastered edition.
The real problem that this game has is that it is only really for the fans. It only has that one demographic in mind and they pulled it off with such flying colors. This game is so directly targeted at Ghostbusters fans that it almost hurts. That is the common story, though. If you are a fan of Ghostbusters, then, it is a very safe bet that you will love this game. If you are not really fond of this series of cartoons and movies, then you may find the gameplay a little repetitive and some of the puzzles a little lackluster. This game is obviously not perfect, but it is very close.
What makes this game shine above all the rest is that, while they are still trying to create a true threequel to the Ghostbusters in movie form, they already did it in game form. That is no joke. It takes place in 1993, very well within the range of the first two movies, and all of the guys were rendered in beautiful 3D 2000's game graphics. It has callbacks, new ghosts, new locations and old, familiar locations that true fans will recognize right away. You not only get to see all of them in action but you are a Ghostbuster yourself!
You are a rookie who just got hired and you are thown into a situation that is going down all through the city. Ghosts are being sighted everywhere and many of them are returning to this plane after having already been captured! Yes, so you have the excuse to bring Slimer back, the librarian, you even get to see what a giant Slor is! If you're a fan, you know where that's from! There are a ton of Easter eggs and nods to the original movies and even the Real Ghostbusters series.
There are some parts that can get rather boring. There are some portions where there are no ghosts or minimal ghosts going through corridors, looking for the next cutscene and/or puzzle. Yes, there is some slow pacing here and there. This gives way to some awesome boss fights! Going against such iconic characters like Slimer in a recreation of the party room scene from the first movie, it makes you feel like you did it with them. They keep saying how familiar this all looked, but that was a wink to the fans saying "go on and have a ball". It really makes a difference being there and doing this with the Ghostbusters themselves cheering you on, saying you are a Ghostbuster like them.
Those who are not in the know will not understand how amazing it is to defeat the Staypuft Marshmallow Man. This is something you watched them do when they fought Gozer in the movie, we never could have wondered that such a clean translation could be brought from the silver screen to the video controls right at your fingertips. That is what this game did for its fans and that is what is missing with a lot of projects that attempt to do the same. Even with all of the VR games and whatever other horrid properties came out of this franchise, we fans have this.
The first playthrough can be slow if you don't know what you're doing because some of the boss fights can be a little confusing and some of the puzzles can be overly complicated for one reason or another. All of this can be overcome and you will be setting up traps, making awesome upgrades to your arsenal and even keeping count of the property damage you commit as a result of your weapon discharging every which way. The slime weapon from Ghosbusters 2 is also here and it is even the preferred weapon with slime based menaces! The upgrades make your life easier and they even register you as the guinea pig for all of their new stuff! You have nuclear powered equipment of questionable integrity near your person through the duration of the game! This is so exciting! '
You can put a price on the game, but Ghostbuster fans cannot put a price on this masterpiece of fandom. All of you can argue about which movie is not canon or which movie is the true followup to the series, but this is the slice of the pie we choose to keep as the true successor and final installment to a series that needs to be laid to rest. With it being Harold Ramis's final appearance as Egon and the last thing he signed off on. This is what is fitting. He's not just a Slimer, he's a Virtua Slimer.
