Ghostbusters: The Video Game

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Ghostbusters: The Video Game
PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 box art
Developer(s)	PC, PS3, Xbox 360 Terminal Reality (single player), Threewave Software (multi player)[1] PS2, Wii, PSP[2] Red Fly Studio Nintendo DS Zen Studios
Publisher(s)	Atari,[3] Sony Computer Entertainment (Europe only, PS2 and PS3 versions)[4]
Distributor(s)	Atari,[3] Sony Computer Entertainment[4](retail) Steam[5] (online)
Series	Ghostbusters
Engine	Infernal Engine (PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)
Native resolution	540p (PS3)[6] 720p (X360)[6]
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable,[2] PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360
Release date(s)	NA June 16, 2009[7] EU June 19, 2009 (PS2, PS3), Late 2009 (Xbox 360, Wii, DS, PSP, PC)[4]
Genre(s)	Action game, Third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: T (PS3, Xbox 360, PC), E10+ (PS2, Wii), E (PSP, DS) PEGI: 7+ (Wii, PS2, Nintendo DS), 12+ (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
Media	Blu-ray Disc, DVD, DS Game Card, Wii Optical Disc , UMD
System requirements	Dual core processor, 2 GB RAM, 512 MB Shader 3.0 capable video card, 9 GB free hard drive space
Input methods	DualShock 2, Sixaxis controller, DualShock 3, Xbox 360 controller, Wii Remote and Nunchuk, keyboard, mouse, Stylus

Ghostbusters: The Video Game is an action computer and video game released in 2009. Terminal Reality developed the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 versions, while Red Fly Studio developed the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Wii versions, and Zen Studios developed the Nintendo DS version.^[2][8] In North America, all versions of the game were published by Atari,^[3][9] while publishing in Europe for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 versions was handled by Sony Computer Entertainment.^[4] The game was released amidst several delays in development and multiple publisher changes. ^[10]

The game, based on the Ghostbusters film franchise, follows the player's character as a new recruit in the Ghostbusters, a team of parapsychologists who pursue and capture ghosts. The game is modeled after a third-person shooter, but instead of using a traditional gun, players are equipped with a "proton pack", a laser beam-like weapon, and a ghost trap to fight and capture ghosts. ^[11]

Many of the principal cast members from the films were involved in the game's production. Each of the actors who portrayed the Ghostbusters in the films, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson, lent their voices and likenesses to the in-game characters. ^[12] Aykroyd and Ramis, who wrote the films, also aided in minor script doctoring for the game.^[13] Other film cast members, such as William Atherton, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Annie Potts lent their voices and likenesses to the game's characters. Ghostbusters: The Video Game also contains the soundtrack from the original Ghostbusters film, along with various characters, locations, and props featured in the films. ^[12] Ghostbusters creator Dan Aykroyd has said that "this is essentially the third movie."^[14]

Contents 1 Gameplay 1.1 Multiplayer 1.2 DS version 2 Plot 3 Development 4 Reception 5 See also 6 Notes and References 7 External links

[edit] Gameplay

The game is a third-person shooter, placing players in the role of an original character simply known as "Rookie", a new recruit to the Ghostbusters team. Players control Rookie's movements as he explores the environments of each level, seeking out paranormal activities and ghosts, either alone or with up to all four of the other Ghostbusters. Players can switch to a first-person perspective by equipping the Rookie with the PKE Meter and goggles. In this mode, paranormal items are highlighted and the PKE Meter will help direct players to ghosts or haunted artifacts. Players can scan these elements to gain more information about them and receive a monetary reward. Weapons cannot be used in this mode.

Outside of the first-person mode, players can aim and fire the proton pack's beam to weaken ghosts so they can be captured in a ghost trap. However, continuous use of the pack will cause it to overheat. The pack can be manually vented to cool it down. While the pack is overheated or being vented, players will momentarily be unable to use the pack's weapons. Once a ghost is weak enough, players can switch to the capture beam to manuever the ghost into a ghost trap. With a ghost in the capture beam, players can also execute a "slam" attack to force it against a hard surface, weakening it further and making it easier to trap the ghost. The capture beam can also be used to move objects in the environment.^[12]

The single player campaign for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and 3, and Wii versions is the same. Over the course of the game, the proton pack is upgraded to include additional firing modes, a Stasis Stream, a Meson Collider, and a positively-charged Slime Blower, each with an alternate firing mode. The Slime Blower's alternative mode is a Slime Tether which can be used to pull objects together and to solve some environmental puzzles. By capturing ghosts, as well as identifying haunted artifacts and new species of ghosts using the PKE Meter, players earn in-game money to spend on upgrades to proton pack modes and ghost traps.^[12] The game also tallies monetary destruction caused by the player, with Xbox 360 Achievements and PlayStation 3 Trophies awarded for either minimizing damage done, or for causing a high amount of damage.

In place of a traditional heads-up display, the player's health and weapon status are represented as meters on the rear of the proton pack. Health regenerates over time if the player does not take further damage. However, by taking more damage, they can be knocked down; if there are other Ghostbusters still standing, they will attempt to reach the player and revive him/her. Similarly, the player can help revive fallen team members. However, should all the active Ghostbusters fall, including the player, play will end and the player will have to restart at the last checkpoint.^[12]

The Wii and PlayStation 2 differ slightly from the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC versions in some aspects. In addition to the "cartoon"-look graphics and the Wii version uses the Wii Remote for gameplay. Visual aspects of the interface are relocated, such as placing the proton pack's temperature meter as a HUD element instead of on the backpack. On the Wii and PlayStation 2 versions, the player "slams" a ghost by initiating a Simon Says-type game with the ghost.^[15][16]

[edit] Multiplayer

In the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game, players can play online in a cooperative mode with up to three others in a variety of missions outside of the main storyline. These includes capturing as many ghosts in a limited period or attempting to defend ghost disruptors as they are charged up. There is no local multiplayer mode in either the Xbox 360 or PS3 versions of the game. Players are rewarded an amount of career earnings for their performance, though this has no effect on the single player game. In the Wii version, the entire single player mission can be played split-screen by two players. There is no multiplayer version in the PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, and PC versions.^[17][18][19]

[edit] DS version

The DS version developed by Zen Studios is completely different from the other versions and has been compared to Activision's old Ghostbusters computer game. Making use of the DS's touch screen, this version features isometric action, as well as driving sequences and elements of resource management.^[20]

[edit] Plot

This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page. It does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve it by citing reliable sources. Tagged since June 2009. It contains a plot summary that is too long compared to the rest of the article. Tagged since July 2009.

The events of the game occur during Thanksgiving 1991, two years after the events in Ghostbusters II. A new recruit to the Ghostbusters operation is brought on board to help test new proton pack equipment; due to the high risk, Dr. Peter Venkmen insists that the recruit be only named as "Rookie" to avoid developing any personal affection. As Ray introduces the Rookie to the rest of the team, a large-scale PKE shockwave ripples through the city and frees Slimer who flees back to the Sedgewick Hotel where he was first caught. The Ghostbusters are able to recapture the ghost along with several others that have recently appeared, but upon leaving the hotel discover that the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man is ravaging Times Square. As they fight the giant creature, they find he has been following a woman, Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn, a museum curator in charge of the Gozer exhibit, and Drs. Egon Spengler and Ray Stantz suspect a connection between her and the ghost appearances. After destroying Stay-Puft, the Ghostbusters try to deduce Ilyssa's connection, but are cautioned by Walter Peck, now head of the Paranormal Contract Oversight Committee (P-COC), and Mayor Jaques Mulligan about causing too much damage to the city.

As they prepare to investigate the museum, the Ghostbusters are called to the New York Public Library to capture Eleanor Twitty, the "Gray Lady", their first paranormal contact who has reappeared. She guards over a book called the Gozerian Codex, but relinquishes it to the Ghostbusters. However, as they try to leave, they fall through a portal into the Ghost World, an alternate universe inhabitated by ghosts, and fight their way out. Egon determines that the Ghost World is pushing through the fabric of reality and they must find out how to stop it. As they leave the library, they discover a mandala symbol burnt into a wall, but are unable to determine its meaning. At the museum, the team defeats spirits attempting to possess several party-goers at a large gala, and discover a similar mandala on the museum floor that opens to reveal a massive network of tunnels below the city filled with a black slime. Through their investigation and the Gozerian Codex, Egon and Ray surmise that Ivo Shandor, the architect that designed 55 Central Park West that helped to summon Gozer previously, was responsible for building the tunnels and renovations at the library, the museum, and the Sedgewick Hotel, using their energy to summon another Great Destroyer like Gozer; the penetration of the Ghost World into the real world is a result of this process nearing completion.

The team returns to these locations to disable the mandalas, and then travel on their boat, Ecto-8, into the Hudson River to investigate the last point, only to discover an island castle that rises from its depth. Egon tells the team that the island is known as Shandor Island, and was owned by the Shandor's until the last member of the family died; on that same night the river swallowed the island. As they explore it, they discover a painting of Ivo Shandor's mother who looks just like Ilyssa; she is a descendant of Ivo Shandor but due to her being adopted she has no knowledge of this. Deep below the island they find large machines that control and distibute multiple colors of slime; Winston believes this is where the Mood Slime that helped power Vigo the Carpathian came from. They are able to shut down the island's mandala before it sinks again.

When they return to the mainland, the Ghostbusters find that Ilyssa was captured and the containment vault shut down, which released the ghosts (again), and suspect that Peck is attempting to bring forth the Great Destructor. A massive mausoleum appears in Central Park. The team works its way through the ghosts protecting the mausoleum to a central structure. Inside, they find both Ilyssa and Peck chained to the walls, and are surprised to find Mayor Mulligan, possessed by Ivo Shandor, attempting to become a Great Destructor, even larger than Gozer. The Ghostbusters are able to exorcise Shandor from the Mayor, but when they try to defeat him, they are pulled into the Ghost World and are forced to fight Shandor's Destructor form. They manage to defeat it by crossing their proton pack streams, and return back to the real world, where they rescue Ilyssa, Peck, and the Mayor before the mausoleum collapses.

During the credits, the original four Ghostbusters determine that five of them is just too many, but decide to offer Rookie a position as the head of a yet-to-be-opened branch in another city.

[edit] Development

In 2006, game developer Zootfly started work on a Ghostbusters game before having secured the rights to develop the game from Sony. The company subsequently released videos of an early version of the game onto the Internet. However, the company was unable to secure the rights to develop the game as a Ghostbusters game. Zootfly then continued development of the game as a non-Ghostbusters themed game renamed TimeO.^[10]

Coincidentally, in the Spring of 2007, Sierra Entertainment and developer Terminal Reality met with Sony to discuss the possibility of developing their own Ghostbusters video game.^[21] The positive reaction that Zootfly’s videos garnered helped sell the concept of such a game to Sony.^[10] After a successful pitch, Terminal Reality started developing the game, eventually stating that the PS3 was the lead development platform. ^[22]

Development of the game stopped when Vivendi merged with Activision to form Activision Blizzard. On July 28, 2008 Activision Blizzard (the publisher of Vivendi's and Sierra's titles) announced that only five franchises would be released through Activision. Ghostbusters was not one of them and was put in developmental limbo following the announcement. The Sierra PR team later confirmed that the game was not and would not be cancelled.^[23]

Ending months of speculation, Infogrames announced on November 7, 2008 that Atari would be releasing the game in June 2009^[24] to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the first film's theatrical release. At the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show, Sony confirmed that the game would be released on June 16 in North America and June 19 in Europe, alongside Blu-Ray releases of the Ghostbusters films.^[7] Sony later announced that they would be publishing the PS2 and PS3 versions in Europe granting the Sony consoles a timed exclusive release, while Atari would publish the game for other consoles later in the year. Atari would remain the sole publisher for the games in North America.^[4] Despite Namco's purchase of Atari's European operations, this release schedule remained intact.^[25] The Xbox 360 version of the game is not region locked, allowing gamers in European markets to import and play the North American Xbox 360 release. ^[26]

[edit] Reception

Ghostbusters: The Video Game met with generally positive reception. Greg Miller of IGN gave both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions an 8.0 out of 10. Miller describes the game as a "love letter to Ghostbusters fans", saying that it "makes you feel like you are really a Ghostbuster. He lauds the CGI cutscenes as a positive feature, but finds fault with stiff character animation and bad lip sync. Miller gave the Wii version a 7.8 out of 10. Unlike Miller, fellow reviewer Matt Casamassina believed that the aiming system in Ghostbusters was better than the aiming system in Resident Evil 4.^[27][12] PSM3 gave the game a score of 85 out of 100, stating that the game was "too short, but packed with quality and imagination."^[28] The A.V. Club gave the game a B-, noting that it was the best Ghostbusters game.^[29] Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot rated the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game a 7.5 out of 10, listing the ghost-trapping gameplay and multiplayer mode as positives and frustrating spots in the game and repetitive gameplay as negatives. ^[11] He also reviewed the Wii version and gave it a 8 out of 10 stating that "Ghostbusters is such riotous fun that you'll forgive its short length."

Ars Technica has reported graphical differences between the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game. Despite the fact that both versions were developed simultaneously by Terminal Reality, Ars claims that the PS3 version appears to use lower quality textures compared to the Xbox 360 version. ^[30]

[edit] See also

• List of Ghostbusters video games

[edit] Notes and References

[edit] External links

• Official site

v • d • e Ghostbusters franchise Movies Ghostbusters (1984) | Ghostbusters II (1989) | Ghostbusters III (to be announced) Television The Real Ghostbusters (episodes) | Extreme Ghostbusters | Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (cameo appearance) Other media Comics The Real Ghostbusters | Ghostbusters: Legion Songs "Ghostbusters" | "Disco Inferno" | "In the Name of Love" | "On Our Own" | "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" Other Role-playing game | Ghostbusters Spooktacular Video games Ghostbusters (1984) | The Real Ghostbusters (1987) | Ghostbusters II (1989) | Ghostbusters (1990) | The Real Ghostbusters (Game Boy) (1993) | Extreme Ghostbusters (2001) | Extreme Ghostbusters: Code Ecto-1 (2002) | Extreme Ghostbusters: The Ultimate Invasion (2004) | Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009) Universe Peter Venkman | Ray Stantz | Egon Spengler | Winston Zeddemore | Janine Melnitz | Stay Puft Marshmallow Man | 55 Central Park West | Proton pack | Ectomobile