Having grown up in the late 80’s, early 90’s Ghostbusters comes to mind as one of the most famous franchises of that era. With two blockbuster movies, a cartoon show, a line of toys and more, Ghostbusters was impossible to ignore. 25 years later, coinciding with the theatrical re-release on Blu-Ray and DVD, comes a video game from creator Terminal Reality. Bringing back the beloved cast, humor, and more from the movies, Ghostbusters: The Video Game looks to relinquish the ghastly stigma associated with movies that are turned into videogames.
The game starts at the Ghostbusters’ Firehouse with the original ghostbusters recruiting an eager new cadet, you. Even though you are the new ghostbuster on the block, you are tasked with doing almost all of the ghost hunting that lies ahead.
Your character never speaks, and instead takes a back seat to the humorous banter that takes place between the original cast of the Ghostbusters. Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson’s likenesses are spot on, and the script works well within the Ghostbusters universe.
The game kicks off with Slimer, who is trapped in a containment unit on display within the firehouse and subsequently makes his escape. He flees to Sedgewick Hotel, which you may remember as the place where the team encounters Slimer in the first Ghostbusters movie. Equipped with your trusty proton pack, you chase Slimer from hallway to hallway until you eventually trap your slimey foe.
The ghostly adventure spills out into the streets of New York City, where you will strut alongside Ecto-1 trying to take down another familiar face, the Stay Puft Marshmallow man. An epic battles ensues at the top of a skyscraper. You aim down at the ticked off Stay Puft, shooting him in the face until he loses his grip, falling to a giant melty, marshmallowy splat. Perfect time for a S’mores joke from Peter Venkman.
All joking aside, this left me confused as to why we were seeing Stay Puft, the Sedgewick, all icons from the first film, if this takes place 2 years later after Ghostbusters II. Sadly this is just the beginning of quite a bit of confusion and frustration that you will encounter in this game, particularly if you’re familiar with the story progression of the film series.
