But despite the fun factor, the game is a bit methodical and gets very repetitive. Watch cutscene, crack joke, travel down hallway, trap ghost, repeat. Towards the beginning of the game, the monotony of it all leads to disappointment. At one point early on in the game as Winston takes the damsel in distress Dr. Ilyssa Selwen (voiced by Alyssa Milano) to a safer place, he says “Don’t go having any fun without me”. Frustrated, at that point, I felt like responding “Don’t worry, I wont”.
Luckily the game turns around at this point. Via an upgrade to your pack, the slime blower and the slime tether make for new avenues of gameplay. You can use the slime tether to move objects or platforms, smash enemies into the wall, or even tether a ghost to a trap instantly snapping him into containment. Around this time the level variety makes for a more enjoyable experience.
There are other upgrades to your pack such as the Shock Blast, Statis Stream, Meson Collidor, and Overload Pulse, but they feel very tacked on. There isn’t much of a use for these other than filling out the directional pad, which is used to select from your arsenal. This is an area that could have made for more interesting gameplay twists. But that’s not the only missed opportunity.
Many times throughout the game, especially back at the ghostbuster’s firehouse, you will see things you can interact with. Things such as water bubblers, arcade machines, and an answering machine. Sadly the most exciting of those things is the answering machine. A simple addition of playable arcade machines, or use of the pool table would add some fun, and reason to actually spend more than a few seconds in the ghostbuster’s firehouse. This added layer of depth is missed throughout the game, and could have really helped bring more variety to what is a very repetitive game.
It may seem as though I nitpicked through this game, but I did so out of love for the original movies. I did so because this game, although good, could have been GREAT. The character interaction, the graphics, and the blast you will have using the proton stream, trapping ghosts is taken away from by lack of direction, variety, and depth. When the credits roll you will have played a good game, that is good enough to not be thrown in the movie tie-in junk pile. That being said, it’s not going to make it as one of the gems of this generation of gaming like it did with the blockbuster movies that will forever have a place in our hearts.
PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score
Proton stream and trapping ghosts are great fun Objectives aren’t always clear Lacks depth, and variety |
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