Customer Reviews

Ghostbusters: The Video Game

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I was super excited about this game when I got it. After running through a couple hours of problems on PC I went to buy the Xbox 360 version. The game is awesome but not on the PC.

Here's some of the issues I experienced with the PC version.
1. The installer only works on the default mode. You can install to a different directory but you don't get 6 files needed to run the game. Installing to the default location then copying the missing files to the custom location fixes the issue. (it's also a REALLY slow install)
2. The game does not fully use multiple processors. If you're running a dual/triple/quad core processor the game will only really use 1. There's even a warning on the back of the box stating this. I'm running a triple core processor and the game seemed to run ok despite the load not being balanced.
3. Load time of levels/maps is EXTREMELY slow. Expect to see load times between 30 to 60 seconds. This may be related to the processor issue but I'm not sure.
4. Controls are made for a controller, not a mouse. You use WADS for moving and your mouse for looking around. When you're busting ghosts you need to zap them a while then wrangle them. Wrangling requires you to move your mouse in the opposite direction of the ghosts movement. Unfortunately it also means you move the mouse quickly to the edge of your mat, pick it up, recenter the mouse, and do it again. A trackball would probably be fine or a controller. Using a mouse is a bit of a pain.

The reason this game is 1/2 the price of the Xbox360 and PS3 versions is because it doesn't have multiplayer. (And was put on the PC as an afterthought IMO.) It's a fun game but you will play through it once or twice on the PC and be done with it. I give Atari props for reducing the price.

If you buy this game used make sure the instruction manual is with the game. There is a game key you will need inside the manual.

As a long-time fan of the franchise, I was really excited for this game, especially considering that Aykroyd and Ramis wrote and starred in the game (oh, yeah, the rest of the Ghostbusters do their own voices too).

Simply put, it's fun and it's worth the money. Yes, it is inferior to the PS3 and 360 versions - no multiplayer, no achievements, plus controls designed for a console controller. On the other hand, it's half the price and the single player mode is identical.

The environments are incredibly detailed. Wandering around the firehouse in between missions, you can see the care the developers took getting the details just right. Levels are fairly well designed (though really linear), and catching ghosts is just a blast. The variants of the proton pack can be fun too, though some are kinda hokey. Most importantly, though, the story is fun and hilarious. I found myself literally chuckling or laughing at jokes from time to time (Hindenburg: The Musical? Priceless.).

There are a few issues - some repetitive gameplay at times, occasional collision issues, not a whole lot of replay value, but overall it's a solid game. Yes, the PC version has DRM - easiest way to fix that, IMO, is to buy it on Steam. Sure, Steam has DRM too, but it's not nearly as draconian as the DRM Atari, EA, and other publishers have subjected gamers to over the last couple years. Easy to manage, install, and uninstall.

If you like the franchise, buy the game. If you want to play with your friends, buy it for PS3/360.

Let me start by saying that the printed PC version of the game suffers from an installer bug. I have a solution to the problem at the end of my review. That said, I don't at all regret paying full retail for Ghostbusters: The Video Game. It was a thrilling trip down memory lane, with a few bumps and bruises.

Terminal Velocity, Akroyd, and Ramis made a nice decision putting the player in the khakis of a new, unnamed, voiceless recruit. Starting out in the firehouse, I was hit by a tidalwave of nerdness while being able to explore the classic Ghostbusters HQ. Each of the original characters retains his own personality and voice, and it's loads of fun interacting with them. Akroyd and Ramis mostly hit gold with the script, with each character playing off the others and engaging in some pretty funny back-and-forth (Egon finally telling Ray to SHUT UP at the end of a tough level killed me). I could quibble with the volume mixing, particularly Murray's lines, but this is fixable by dropping the background and effects volumes to 75% while leaving voice at 100%. Overall, it's a treat just to watch the scenes unfold.

Oh but there's more. Remember the glowing ILM special effects from the films? Remember how much you wanted to be able to hold a proton pack for a second, just long enough to tear the paint off the walls of a luxurious hotel? Now double your enthusiasm, and that's the fun you can expect busting ghosts in this game. If you've seen screenshots or videos of the gameplay, you still don't understand the visual and audible awesomeness of holding your very own unlicensed nuclear accelerator. Finally dropping a spook into the trap after an exhausting battle is a joy indescribeable without playing the game. I can't overstate the greatness of the game's weapons (which vary nicely as the game progresses). And the ghosts look great too, with varied designs that are simultaneously fresh and in keeping with the style of the original films. Speaking of which, most of the classic locations from the first movie, like the library and the Sedgewick, are revisited in all their glory. The game detected and set up my Logitech gamepad perfectly, so the console control option is available for those who wish.

There are a few downsides to all the madcap action, unfortunately. The player's character moves realistically, that is, like an average adult male human being. Of course, he's fighting very inhuman enemies that can fly vertically, hurl objects, and spawn anywhere. Sadly not enough time was spent playtesting the levels, and while the game is relatively bug free, it's also outrageously and unfairly balanced in certain areas. Too many enemies are allowed to attack the player simultaneously, and the defensive intelligence of teammates is nonexistent. This results in a number of areas where you're constantly knocked out, or can't complete a mission due to babysitting duties with your "professional" allies. Fewer onscreen enemies, and more moments of invulnerability (while reviving teammates and using the PKE meter for example) could have nearly perfected the gameplay. As it stands, it's very fun and very flawed.

In summation, Ghostbusters: The Video Game is a thrill on PC, and far better looking than any of its console counterparts. My average system ran it at a decent framerate with many of the goodies turned on, too, so it's not a system hog. Despite the balance flaws (and a disappointingly generic final boss), it's a big old bright neon, plaster-bubbling, ectoplasm-frying blast.

What I want to do briefly is help people with the installation bug. To avoid the problem altogether, choose "easy" installation. This installs the game to your C:Program Files folder. If, however, you choose the custom installation, the installer program goofs up and installs half the files to your preferred destination and the other half to the C:Program Files folder. The simple remedy to this is to go into C:Program Files\Atari\Ghostbusters and copy all files, then paste into your preferred Ghostbusters folder. Then retry the install, and it will complete. Of course you also have to go online to unlock the registration code, so consider this before buying the game.

SecuROM. 3 install limit. Online activation. While EA and other companies are starting to move away from DRM, Atari apparently can't take a hint.

Oh and you also can't save anywhere. Typical brainless console port. While I understand that consoles being inferior and all have problems with save anywhere, at least allow us PC gamers to save whenever we want.

This game doesn't deserve more than 1 star.

I purchased this game for the PC platform because all I have is the Wii and wouldn't be able to really witness the graphics that it advertised. In general, I loved the game! I am a hardcore Ghostbusters fan and was beyond excited when I first heard this game was coming out. After my initial game play, I have a few pros and cons worth discussing.

The Cons:

Controls: Obviously, the game was meant for you to have great control over the main character so that you can really feel like you're in the ghostbusting action. The controls on the keyboard are not necessarily easy to manuever. I found myself having to look at the keyboard every so often because I was pushing the wrong key (throwing the trap out instead of running backwards). I have yet to try a computer game controller but will probably try it out.

Computer with Power: I just bought a new laptop that has a newer AMD processor that's equivalent to core 2 duo (2.2 GHz), 4 gb of ram, 320 hd, and an updated graphics card and I found that this still was not enough. At the most intense parts of the game, I found the game running very slowly which was rather irritating. Sometimes I would have to move the character so he's looking straight up so that the graphics and motions are "real time". If you don't have an "up-to-snub" computer with a great processor, ram, and graphics, the game will probably be sluggish.

Voice matching: I don't know if this was a problem on this platform or what, but the game's dialogue did not match up with the character's mouth movements. It was off or there was a lag. It was kind of annoying because of the sluggish performance on the laptop, some of the dialogue would get cut so I'm left trying to fill in the dialogue gaps on my own. However, I did notice this on the Wii version too.

Pros:

Gameplay: Regardless, I had fun playing this game. It was neat being able to control the rookie ghostbuster and blast your proton stream to catch ghosts. The eerieness is there too especially when you put on your goggles to scan ghosts. I found it creepy in the library level and you can hear kids voices. Gave me goosebumps! I also love the fact that you get an assortment of weapons. They each serve a purpose and it's amazing to be able to really use them.

Story: It actually felt like a sequel to the Ghostbusters movies (both 1 and 2). I watched both movies before playing the game and it was so neat to see how they tied events from the first two films to the game's story. Not only could you witness this new chapter of the Ghostbusters saga, but got the ability to play it.

Graphics: While I was not particularly happy with my computer's performance of the game, I loved the graphics! It was so realistic and added quality to the overall game. It stayed true to the characters and ghosts we've seen before, and added some great features with newer ghosts. The proton streams and ghost trap streams look amazing and brought back memories of me pretending to blast ghosts when I was a little kid.

Overall, I loved the game! It really captured that element for the fans and it was sort of an apology for the second movie (even though I liked the 2nd movie). I really want to play this on the PS3 or Xbox 360 to get that real gaming experience. I highly recommend playing this game!

This is the game every Ghostbusters fan has waited for. Yep, the installation is buggy if you try anything other than default installation, but get through that and you have about eight wonderful hours of kicking ethereal butt and taking names alongside the original movie characters.

Seriously, pay attention to the story and the dialogue. If you don't know the movies, don't care to play around with things (like clicking Vigo's portrait in the HQ or the dancing toaster) and just want to play a shooter then there are better options. If it hadn't been for the buggy install I would have given it 5 stars.

Installation issues aside Ghostbusters for the PC is an enjoyable experience albeit rather short for a decent shooter. The game is played from an over-the-shoulder perspective that can be a little confusing when first starting out though I became comfortable with the controls after the first few levels.

INSTALLATION: Firstly, there is plenty of installtion troubles with the game. My install uses over 10GB of hard drive space on the C drive which I'd rather not be required to use. A second issue I ran into after installation was a misprinted CD key for SecuRom activation. This led to about four hours of reinstall attempts and registry hacks until I tried changing the 'O' for a 'Q' in my CD key. (There really isn't a tail printed on the 'O' and SecuROM insisted that my CD key didn't exist.)

CONTROL: The controls are a little confusing, but I didn't have any problems adjusting to the stream mechanic. Wrestling the ghost into the trap is particularly difficult as there is little feel for when a ghost is going to try jumping one direction or another while being trapped. The 'sprint' sunction is largely irrelevant as is the 'jump' function.

GAMEPLAY: The plot is exceptionally linear and the lack of a save feature is inexcusable. Moreover in between missions the player returns to the firehouse for brief and largely explanative interactions. However the player must also be wary that quitting at this point will not save the game at this in-between point; rather when continuing the game will jump to the next mission with the Ghostbusters already on scene and deployed.
There are a large number of 'secret' cursed objects to collect (though the PKE meter handily points them out) as well as a record of all the ghosts you've scanned. There's also a damage counter portraying how much damage (in dollars) the Ghostbusters' streams are doing to the surrounding environment.
The player returns to largely familiar places from the movies; the storyline does a good job interweaving the original plot of the movie into the game and the game to a limited extent further explains points of interest from the movie.
You are allowed to replay missions as much as you want, however you can only play with the equipment you had when you finished that level. There are several instances in the game where it appears a future upgrade would benefit a specific area in a previous mission. Not being able to replay a mission with new equipment is largely dissapointing.

FEEL: Overall the game lacks the feel of the original movies and doesn't quite live up to expectations of being a Ghostbusters game beyond the initial "this is so cool!" feeling. Some of the weapon upgrades are unbelievable, and all of them require upgrading before they are truly effective.
The ghost descriptions in game are quite entertaining and the detail put into classes of ghosts contributes to the Ghostbuster-y feel of the game. However some of the 'secret' items in the game feel like 'we need an extra item'items.
One of the most dramatic examples of losing the feel of the game is the lack of full team participation in missions. In every single mission (save for the very last few stages) one of the Ghostbusters finds a reason to be absent from the mission.
The voice acting does feel a little forced particularly from Bill Murray's character.

GRAPHICS: The graphics are quite stunning, and I have to say the lack of options to adjust the detail levels is, for once, refreshing. The detail level adjustments are really high or low and there are only a handful. The requirements are quite steep but the overall polish is excellent.

OVERALL: The overall gaming experience is largely enjoyable. Gameplay time is less than 8 hours, the upgrades can all be purchased inside of a few levels, and there is no reason to avoid damaging the environemnt; in some cases it almost seems encouraged. I'm happy I purchased the game through Amazon, the price is about right for the experience I got out of the game. The potential for a truly GREAT game is present, and with a little tweaking could be realized. I'm a little dissapointed in the gameplay time as well as the lack of unique environments.
If you're a fan of the Ghostbusters franchise, you probably will not be too dissapointed, but I feel a need for more gameplay. Side missions to random houses and a larger lead-in to the main plot could substantially improve the gameplay. I'm giving the game two stars rather than three because of the extreme installation issues, DRM software, and the Securom key failure. Three stars for overall game quality. Replayability is medium-low to low. The game really screams for user made content or a large expansion pack though without the participation of the original cast voice actors this may not be realized.

I bought this game on steam. From what I read in the other reviews, it is definitely the way to go. I downloaded on steam, no installation problems whatsoever. I have no tried the mouse and keyboard but this is obviously a console port so I use my xbox 360 controller to play it. I like the gameplay, shooting and trapping ghost is a lot of fun. Voice overs from the original cast is really nice. You probably not going to play these game through several times but for 30 bucks I think is worth a shot. Also, I know steam is still DRM but it is DRM done right.

Be wary of this title. I can't get this to run. After a lot of time searching blogs, message boards, f.a.q.'s, customer support sites etc. it seems that a lot of folks have the same or similar problems.

I have a gaming monster - i7, gtx260, 6mb of ram. My machine just crushes the recommended requirements for this game, but right at the opening, doink... nothing. I just get a blank screen, and an error message that nobody seems to know how to decipher.

The gaming reviews of this game are good... and come on, the original cast all lend their talents to the soundtrack, how cool is that? Just be warned, a lot of people are having trouble getting this program to run, and the manufacturer seems to have given up on fixing it.

First off, let me say that I've been a big fan of the Ghostbusters ever since I was a kid growing up in the 80's. I remember watching the movies on VHS, collecting the toys, and I had a coat with a Ghostbusters patch on the arm.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game acts as the third movie and was written by Dan Akryod and Harold Ramis. All of the original Ghostbusters reprise their roles here and lend their voices to the game, which makes for a very strong Ghostbusters experience. In the game, you play as a new nameless and speechless recruit whose joining the Ghostbusters team as a new equipment technician. It's your job to test out the new gear created by Egon so the real Ghostbusters don't get blown up.

As always, there's some major paranormal happenings going on in New York City, and it's up to the Ghostbusters to figure out what's going on and save the world. You'll come across familiar enemies such as Slimer and The Stay Puff Marshmallow man. The story is excellent and very well written. The game does a fine job of being spooky and humorous at the same time.

This is basically a third person shooter, with all your weapons integrated into your Proton Pack (which looks completely awesome and well detailed). You have your basic proton stream for wearing down ghosts and wrangling them into traps. As a secondary fire, you can fire a Boton Dart, which is basically a rocket of proton energy. This is the main weapon you'll be using in the game. The other best weapon is the slimmer. You shoot a stream of oozing green slime onto your foes to wear them down. The secondary fire on this weapon is actually used for puzzles, which is the Slime Tether. You attach one end to something and then shoot the other end of the slime to something else and it will bring the two objects together. The cool thing about this is that you can actually use the Slime Tether to trap ghosts in the ghost trap. You also have a shotgun like weapon with the secondary weapon being a stream that slows down and eventually freezes enemies. This was a fun weapon to use, especially against swarms of flying enemies or if you could get close to a ghost to quickly wear down its health. The fourth and final weapon shoots a machine gun like blast, but I never used this or it's secondary function, which I figured to be a rifle shot.

When you attack a ghost, you will see its health around the aiming cursor. When its health gets low enough, you can then capture the ghost and begin to wrangle it. In order to weaken it enough to get it into the trap that you will throw out, you have to slam the ghost into the environment. As the ghost is trying to escape, you simple pull it in the opposite direction to build up a slam meter. Once you have the slam meter filled up enough, you can then slam it into something and weaken it. When it's stunned, you throw out a trap that puts off a beacon of light so you know where it's at. You wrangle it over the trap, the trap automatically activates, and you just hold it in the ghost trap field until it gets sucked in.

The graphics in this game are defiantly great, but I never understood the high system requirements for the video card. I think you have to have a minimum of 512MB of Video RAM to play this. I have an Nvidia GeForce 8800GTX, and the game played fine. Although, as a warning, I must mention that the game would crash while loading a certain level until I upgraded my video card drivers. So be sure if you have an Nvidia graphics card that you have the latest drivers.

The sound quality in the game is also excellent, mainly thanks to the actors reprising their roles. Some of the sound effects can sound especially creepy too. There's one part where you're in the library from the first movie and you go into a children's reading room, and you can hear the ghostly voices of children. It will defiantly give you chills.

The game has three difficulty modes, and if you just want to experience the story without too much trouble, then Casual is the way to go. If you want more of a challenge while busting ghosts, then you can move up to one of the other two difficulties. So I think the game will appeal to the casual Ghostbuster fan as well as the more hardcore gamer Ghostbuster fan.

If you're a Ghostbuster fan, then you owe it to yourself to get this game. It tells a great story, has excellent graphics and sound, and really makes you feel like you're a real Ghostbuster. If you've never seen the movies, then you'll probably be lost with the story, so this is mainly a game for the fans.

On a side note, I bought this game from Steam, so I can't say anything about installation issues some people are having. Also, I find that playing with the keyboard and mouse works very well and I didn't need to use a controller.