Customer Reviews

Ghosthunter

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

My first impression on playing this game was, 'Wow this is ambitious.' My second impression was 'Jeez these are some cool looking ghosts!' Not only the models, which are great, but the various translucent and glowy effects that are applied to them, truly look spectacular. The grenade's capture effect in particular is just absolutely amazing to watch - a really remarkable piece of real-time programming.

The game's hero, Lazarus just looks fantastic - certainly one of the best looking characters I've seen in a game, right up to scratch with most of the Japanese artists, and that's a very rare thing I think. (Most western built games characters still look really clunky to me.) Astral looks really good too, very tastefully designed, costumed and modelled.

The attention to detail in the environments was the next thing that really got me - the environments are so dense, with so many nice touches - the long blades of grass waving gently in the breeze, the 'angled' glow on the clouded sky, ripples in the water, and shafts of light, it just goes on and on...

I found the controls quite intuitive after a short learning period, and all the weapons are well designed and complement each other in different situations. The ghost capture grenade for example can also be used to retrieve energy, and I love the implementation of the sniper rifle even more, it's right up there with HALO for sheer feel of handling and good old fashioned sniping fun. In fact the whole combat mode and the way it switches out with the regular free roaming mode kind of feels like you're playing a first-person shooter in third person perspective.

Overall a very impressive product and very worth of inclusion in anyone's collection. It's really everything you could want from a modern story-based game. It's fun, it's challenging and it's action-packed. A very solid Five Stars.

This is a fun game that I put aside for a while and came back too. It's not really my kind of game, but I thought the quality is high enough that I continued playing it and finishing it. Initially I was disappointed with it because I'm more a fan of the "survival/horror" genre, and this one is more like a shooter with ghosts as your targets instead of flesh and blood enemies. Not that original really. It is what it is. The superntaural twist made it fun at times, but it wasn't scary in the least, and at times I turned it off, tired of just shooting at stuff. Still, the graphics and control are better than average. A safe bet for just about anyone.

I haven't gone through all the reviews but would like to share some impressions. First and formost, although you are hunting ghosts, and through some creepy places to boot, this isn't meant to be a tingly frightfest in the manner of Silent Hill or Eternal Darkness (my personal fav).

I love 3rd person shooters, and Ghosthunter is a nice variation on the theme. You must hunt down and shoot down various kinds of ghosts, as the name suggests, but it's much better than just a run-around-shootemup.

The backstory is pretty interesting, for once, and the many environments are nicely done. There's higher-than-average puzzle solving to be done, but they're usually pretty straightforward and there's little need in resorting to a walkthrough. So, this isn't a BANG BANG NEXT LEVEL kind of game. You have to walk around and explore between ghost fights.

There are several weapons at your disposal. Suspension of disbelief is required to accept that your pistol and shotgun would hurt a ghost, but the energy weapons are more fun to use anyway. You'll need that shotgun, though, for the tougher beasts.

You have a frisbee-like device for capturing ghosts, and the (spoiler alert!) best fighting practice seems to be throwing the disk at them, which temporarily incapacitates some, but not all, ghosts, and fire away until they've been weakened enough for capture.

The ghost types are varied, and this isn't a gory, bloody game, so it's probably OK for kids. As a matter of fact, since it's ghosts you're shooting, there isn't any blood, period. A nice change of pace.

Other reviewers are right in critizing the battle mode. It is slightly annoying that your character moves more slowly when aiming. On the other hand, it's far from a showstopper and I really didn't mind it all that much. Many other games are just as guilty of letting you move too fast, making precise aiming a pain.

Overall, this is a great 3rd person shooter for those looking for something a little different. Worth a buy and, given a month or two, a replay.

I wouldn't have minded a better ending to this great game. It is about a man called Lazurus Jones who accidently lets lose the Ghosts from the Ghost Array and must go through different worlds and collect them back again.

I would have prefered more freedom and more chances to go back to the Array and see what Ghosts you have caught but you can't. Maybe a few more guns?

The graphics are great and the stroyline is really good too. A really good collector's game.

This game is greatly made. It's relistice and greatly annimated. It very scarey and fun. The only thing I don't like sometimes the ghosts take the ghost disk and they throw it back at you. Overall this game is one of my top favorites. I hope they come out with a second game.

Ghosthunter has amazing graphics. I give it 5 stars because it's an original. Where it's lacking is the erratic camera that you can manipulate with one of the L buttons, but which still is way off. As I said though the graphics are amazing rich detailed enviroments and characters brought to life with a decent array of voice talent! As another person mentioned I too found the controls a bit to get used to. But I couldn't get over the look of this game. The cutscenes are excellent.
If they took this game back to the drawing board with some normal folks to give them some opinions on what the game actually comes across as it would be amazing!

I hope they take this game back to the drawing board and refine the mistakes, but still it's an enjoyable game once you get used to it. If you frustate easily this isn't the game for you, but if you have the patience of a saint go for it:)

I cannot believe how amazing this game is!!! Sure, I'm totally behind the times, as this game is several years old, but WOW!!! The graphics continually astound me, the handling is superb, and the concepts are awesome!!! Maybe I should have finished the game before I wrote this review, but after playing for 12 hours, I have to say it was totally ahead if its time and belongs in the Greatest Hits series!!!