Ghosthunter

by Namco

Product Features

• Roam free through macabre locales like a clandestine research lab, a sunken ship and a demon-infested swamp
• Sinister and phantasmagorical landscapes create a chilling, haunting atmosphere as you stalk & capture the spirits
• Choose your weapon - A wide range of earthly and paranormal weapons are yours, from pistols and shotguns to ghost lassos and spectral goggles
• Once you capture a phantom, you'll feed off its power -- They'll give you supernatural abilities and help summon other helpful spirits
• Innovative, player-guided puzzles and tense stealth sequences extend gameplay

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00020BV24
• Item Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: August 17, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,716 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Ghost Hunter takes cinematic terror to a new level on your PS2. Years ago, there was a terrible massacre at a Detroit-area high-school. When responding to a call at the now-abandoned building, a rookie finds a hidden research lab, and uncovers dark experiments involving ghosts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Looks Amazing! Stick with it, August 19, 2004

By 

A. Griffiths "Adrian" (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Ghosthunter (Video Game)

Due to some adverse publicity, I was preparing myself for Ghosthunter to be a disappointment, but after playing it, I would have to say that it is most definitely not. First of all, the game looks amazing. The first level is set in a haunted school and looks great, so I was already impressed, but things simply get better and better, as you progress through a swampland complete with a sinking ghost town, a haunted mansion with warping rooms, and a huge ship. The levels are massive, and with no loading times between areas, you seem to be roaming for miles at a time. Often, I was happy to stop and just look around at the stunning scenery like a tourist. Each level has been meticulously created by the game designers, and it really pays off. The game itself is a reworking of a standard theme: your character is an ordinary police officer who finds himself somehow appointed a ghost-hunter who has to travel through several locations and dimensions, fighting and capturing ghostly creatures. It's when you actually come to playing the game that some flaws become apparent. First of all the combat system can be incredibly frustrating. Lazarus can run around and explore areas very easily, but to fight and capture ghosts, you have to switch to aiming mode, in which his run suddenly slows to a hesitant crawl, so aiming at ghosts which are capable of flying all over the screen becomes a real chore. There's also a first person view for more accuracy, but in this you can't move at all, so you are nearly always open to taking damage as you aim at the rampaging spooks. The camera controls are similarly annoying, as although you can re-configure the camera movement to "reverse" for movement mode (by which I mean that moving the stick to the right swings the camera left, like swivelling a telescope on a pivot - my favourite), you are unable to do the same in battle mode, so unless you want wild confusion as your brain tries to juggle the two concepts at once, you are really only limited to one. This, along with the afore mentioned slowness of Lazarus in aiming mode, and the amount of weapon swapping that you will be doing during every fight, makes the battles pretty difficult, and I spent the whole first (short) level despairing and toying with getting a quick refund. However, things hotted up as soon as the action moved to the swamp, when you are able to use a sniper rifle and a shotgun. The action suddenly gets a dose of Splinter Cell type stealth, which added plenty of enjoyment for me. Further variety is added by an additional spectral character that you can play as at certain points when puzzles appear that Lazarus cannot otherwise solve.
In conclusion I would say that Ghost Hunter is a tough challenge, with plenty of puzzles to solve and a shortage of ammo and health pick ups. But not least of all, it is because you are hampered by a cumbersome method of combat, which means that any situation in which you face two or more enemies at once can be a nightmare. But keep trying and you will find that the designers have actually allowed for this by giving each situation a knack to discover such as a hiding place or a vantage point that can be found with a bit of perseverance, so by the midway point, I would guess that any player would be thoroughly addicted. Personally, once I was used to the mechanics of the game, I didn't want it to end, and there is so much to see on your journey through the game environments, including some truly bizarre imagery that just seems to be included for "freak-out" value, so I recommend it as a definite purchase.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Who Ya' Gonna' Call?, September 11, 2004

By 

C. Smith "otherthani" (NC, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Ghosthunter (Video Game)

At first glance at the gritty, creepy styled case of this game, one would think they were in for a few scares when playing GHOSTHUNTER. However, scares are virtually nonexistant. GHOSTHUNTER is a mix between the movies Disneys Haunted Mansion and Ghostbusters.... in 3rd person game format.

I must admit, when I first started playing, I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting at least a few frights, and perhaps a bit more action. See, Im not a big puzzle solver in games... they frustrate the crap out of me, and there are quite a few puzzles in this game. About 1/4 of the way through, I contemplated quitting the game altogether. However, because I spent 50 bucks on the title, I downloaded a walthru and let me tell you... Im glad I did.

The game definitly begings to pick up the pace throughout the next 3/4 of the game... and because I had the walthru (for when I got stuck) the frustration was (almost)gone. I say almost gone, because the controls can be difficult to pull off, especially when fighting two or three ghosts.

Despite my frustrations with being disappointed in the scare factor, the puzzles and the controls, this game still deserves 4 stars. It makes up for alot with and imaginative story (with a doosey of a surprising twist towards the end), beautiful graphics and enviornments, and some very imaginative ghosts. Many times fighting the ghosts off can be extremely fun too. I also feel that even though Im too moronic to solve some of the puzzles on my own, I understand that this could be a draw to some of you gamers out there.

This game is a must buy for everyone. Even the run and gun types like myself... just make sure you download the walkthru first.... and give the game a chance.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unique Game, Headache inducing Slowdown, August 19, 2004

By 

S. Hatfield (Golden Valley, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Ghosthunter (Video Game)

Being a huge fan of Primal and enticed by what the previews offered. I was eagerly looking forward to Ghosthunter, buying it the day it came out. While the enviroments and eniemies and level design are top class. The game is horribly marred by frustrating gameplay and controls and can be amazingly frustrating with slowdown and flickering that mars the otherwise jaw-dropping graphics.