Here it is, my long awaited, long winded thoughts on the entirety of Ghostbusters: The Video Game for the XBox 360. Where is my review of the Wii? Well I didn't finish it (yet!). Wii became really tedious a few times (try finding the outline of that door in the spider part of the hotel, that's where I gave up) and the action was so stop and go with collecting items that it was really hard to play for more than an hour or two at a time. Sad, because I loved the animations and little touches throughout. But did they really need to practically PAUSE the game every time you found one of 9 hidden items in a short little level? Totally took me out of the reality. I will finish it eventually, when I get bored on a future day.
Starting Up the 360: My excitement for this game was through the roof (obviously) as I started it up late June 16th. Then my X-Box made me suffer through a excruciatingly long update AND forced me to make an avatar. The process was grueling. I wanted to bust so badly! At last my rushed avatar was created and I moved on to the game... and it's six or seven opening screens. So many studios and production houses, it was ridiculous! But no matter, I had a game to get to.
The Opening Sequence: Man alive, here we go! By the time I was playing this, I had seen the opening sequence leaked months and months before. One thing I wish they did was just take their time and let some suspense build. The sequence with the two security guards is so rushed, and we hardly get a sense for what the characters are like. The wii version of this is actually a little better in my opinion (and the dialogue in general for the wii). I kept the subtitles on for the game, which came in handy when there was a LOT of action on screen and Murray was muttering his one liners. I also like to read the text and keep the actual animations in my peripheral vision, so I didn't scrutinize their odd facial expressions.
The Firehouse: Opening in the firehouse is awkward. We really don't get a good shot of the rookie and Janine starts the whole shebang off with some really terrible delivery on a phone call. Come on Annie Potts, I know you can do better than that. That's followed by a sleepy first encounter with the Ghostbusters as they realize the rookie has arrived. The comedic timing for the editing of these lines was really a let down, something that the Wii cutscenes excelled at but the 360 dropped the ball on. Then things picked up, a wave surge of paranormal activity got the guys talking technical jargon. Here they let you roam free, hoping that you will find your way to the basement where Slimer had escaped to. I wanted nothing more than to just explore everything in the firehouse right away... so it was a huge disappointment to keep getting pinged by Ray and the crew to come downstairs. Sigh. Fine. I'll go see about Slimer.
Basement: The basement scene is where the game really starts to get good. You accidentally zap the containment unit, letting a ghost escape... a nasty one too... and then get to explore the never-before-seen subbasement of the Ghostbusters firehouse (a lot of real estate for a New York City plot of land!). Part of me wanted to believe that this is the area we see in the Real Ghostbusters where the bigger containment unit is kept. Anybody think the same? The first time I played through this level, I got really confused about the containment streams. Ray let me know that I could manually select a containment stream at any time, so I thought that you had to manually select it whenever you bust a ghost. This lead to a lot of trouble later on in the hotel... I really wish someone had shouted "hey if you shoot the ghost long enough, it will automatically turn into a capture stream!!!". With the sloth in the trap (Slimer = gluttony, Sloth = well.. sloth, beauty queen ghosts = vanity... catch any more?), Slimer escapes and we need to go to the hotel. They put you in front of the Ecto-1, giving you the option to ride out to the hotel or explore the firehouse. At last! I was so giddy to explore the firehouse that I accidentally pressed a button and we were on our way to the hotel. Damn it! I wanted to go back but the save system was ridiculously complicated. It stated that if I quit I would lose any unsaved progress. What? Ok, I'm gonna keep playing.
Hotel: So Slimer got away and here we are at the hotel. We meet Ilyssa, who's opening delivery is harsh and just unenjoyable. Compare this with the Wii and once again, Redfly nailed it better. First thing we do is go upstairs to relive some of the best moments in Ghostbusters. Egon's line "new people die everyday" turns out to be one of the best in the game. We go up and down stairs, back and forth through halls. Theres a weird elevator scene where Venkman's dialogue makes no sense. Finally, after busting some bell hops, we get to go one on one with Venkman and hunt Slimer down by cutting through a creepy kitchen. The kitchen's haunted items and creepy whispers amazed me and I learned how to move objects with the capture stream (a far underused tool in the game that could have been fun to play with. The Wii version does better in this respect). When we got to the ballroom, slimer awaited and we busted him good. Did anyone else pick up a STRONG PKE reading behind the bar and find absolutely nothing?
The Galley: Then things got weird. With Slimer gone, the whole hotel went topsy turvy with a cool new fisherman ghost on the loose. Candelabras became sentient, water filled the halls and I was on my own for the first time... no wise cracking Ghostbusters to set the mood. This was going to make or break the game. It took me WAY too long to figure out that I had to run in order to get over mounds of reef, otherwise this level was easy enough. The boss was just pure madness. He's fast, you're dodging, its a small area and crap is flying everywhere. Not super enjoyable but not bad... the big barreling boss targets solely you, so get ready to be angry at your lucky fellow Ghostbusters.
Streets: Winston makes his patented late appearance once you hit the streets due to Stay Puft sighting. They always delay his entrance, don't they... this time he had opera tickets. I wonder who Winston's beau is? The streets of Manhattan are a part I remember well... mostly because I had to replay them more than any other part of the game. I'll admit, this area almost broke me. I started on medium difficulty (because I consider myself an ok gamer and a swell Ghostbuster), which was fine to start... but once you hit the streets, you had better spend 60% of your time reviving your friends or face game over. Getting to about the laundromat every time, the incessant whales of "little help here" were too much to bear. After over an hour I quit. And I restarted the entire game. On easy. Best decision ever, from then forth the game was the perfect difficulty, where I didn't have to worry about reviving every 30 seconds. The gargoyles were right in line with the Ghostbusters ghosts of past, though they didn't really need to be on fire. The Fat opera ladies were very fun, though I wish they didn't all look the same. Seems like lazy duplicating of a boss. I can see that for minions, and this happens all the time in games, but it doesn't mean I need to like it! The black slime addition to GB lore was also really cool, especially the ability for ghosts to use them as portals. Also, the super slammer was incredible satisfying to use. I am just happy that the junk on top of the ectomobile got any explanation or use at all.
Times Square: A cool level, I had fun making a break for it with Ray, and it's fun battling Stay Puft from the ground up for once. The office building was fairly uneventful, I preferred the Wii version of this level where there was a video game twist. That was fun!
Stay Puft: The roof has some great ghosts, and the sky is really fun with it's heat lightning. The Stay Puft battle was fine, though those marshmallow shaped critters were a little outside the Ghostbusters world in my opinion. Unless they were part of the commercials Ray watched, they feel strangely designed. I much preferred the marshmallow dogs we see earlier. We defeat Stay Puft, which feels cheap considering the 1st movie's ending took crossing the streams, but later we find out that the Traveler was way weakened without the mandala in full effect.
Firehouse: FINALLY we come back to the firehouse after what I consider 5 or so chapters of the game. First, to Vigo! I wanted to hear everything he had to say. Unfortunately, he was placed RIGHT NEXT to Janine, who answered the phone every 45 seconds! So while I'm trying to hear my sweet Vigo lines, the other endless yapper of the Ghostbuster movies is blabbing on and on. A real battle of the mouths. I wanted to have the goggles in the firehouse so I could get a first person look at everythinf in there. It took a lot of time and angling to inspect the fun stuff hidden around. From children thanking the Ghostbusters, to a note from Louis at his desk saying that he was feeling sick and going to take the rest of the day off, the details were awesome. My favorites by far were the Real Ghostbusters shout outs... though every interview before the game was released said they were going to ignore that part of the lore, we got an exact replica of the Real Ghostbusters PKE meter and a table on the second floor set up to look like where Winston's hamburger gets devoured by Slimer during the Real Ghostbusters theme song! Now that is some fan love. Anyone else notice how it's always twilight out at the firehouse? It works well actually, as they stop in either after a long night or after a long day.
Library: My favorite level! Allow me to gush! But first... did anyone else see the exhibit on the second floor at the library? It spoke of Azetlor, the Collector, and had this sweet picture of a worm like demon creature (book worm, get it?). Now this seemed like a perfect addition to the Ghostbusters lore, and it was... we go through the level learning of Elanor Twitty's Gozer codex and what Azeltor had to do with the book... then at the end... the boss was a huge disappointment. Hardly a creature at all, just a mass of books and pointy stuff. What happened to that drawing from the first room of the library??? What great foreshadowing that would have been! That is a small complaint though, considering the pacing and dialogue in this level was unparalleled. The children's library alone made this game worth the price of admission for me. From the whispers to the possessed panda, the markings on the wall and the lights, this level was a win for everybody. Upside down rooms, cold air, lots of lighting tricks, scares, darkness, creatures, stacked books, walkie talkies, portals, flocks of books... win win win win win.
Firehouse: Ok so the Library feels fairly wedged in the story, considering they go to bust Twitty merely because Ray wants revenge. It does serve as the first mandala in the end, but the busters get pretty distracted from the museum thing. Peck returns with the mayor to get the story back on track. The mayor was a bit over the top for my tastes. At least they got rid of his top hat in the museum level, he definitely had one on in an early trailer.
Museum: Loved the museum level, though I was a little sad that only the Wii version got a dinosaur, mostly because the Aztec stuff in the museum was a bit blah (guys with sheilds? Lame). Ghostbusters and museums just make sense. Lots of history, lots of dead things, lots of cool ghosts. They've visited Museums in the TV show, in the Scholly Fisch book and now in the official lore. From the rain outside coming indoors, to spirits trapped in boxes and the use of the slime gun to unposses, this level was full of ideas that really fit the bill. Can I just mention how hilarious it is when the Ghostbusters start slipping you more and more obvious hints at how to crack a puzzle? In addition, cleaning up black slime became an obsession of mine and I would go nuts when I couldn't clean a patch no matter how long I slimed. The Gozerian lore sound files hidden in the last Egyptian hallway was particularly cool, referencing how Gozer was at war with another God,
Tiamat. Did anyone else think that this was going to be a great foreshadow to some ending where another God emerges? I hoped so. No such case though, all of the information was unused. Weird. Ok, so Peck gets possessed. The Ghostbusters slime him and oust the ghosts from everyone. Then later he has a PKE spike again because he is possessed? Peter also vows to get the skinny on Peck and leaves the crew for the hotel retread level. What happened here? We never find out and it turns out to be the biggest plot hole of the entire story, something very sloppy considering the millions of bucks put into the game.
Under the Streets: A cool series of tunnels that really helped tie the lore of the first movie together. Looks like Shandor had backup plans if the super antenna at 55 Central Park didn't channel enough Ghost power. The tunnel system feeding energy to a central point feels like a retread of Ghostbusters II a little bit, but that connection comes to light in the next level. I dug Shandor's society member as a villain. He was well designed. I could have used the Thanksgiving parade scene after this, a big funny float boss would have been so original and a fantastic use of big New York City events meet the GBs.
Back to the Hotel: I thought this area was going to feel very added on last second, but they found a lot of ways to make keep the hotel's second visit interesting. Had a blast cleaning the coat room, and the lighting and construction was a great way to revisit the level but make it creepier. The harmless ghost remnants floating around, visible only at certain angles was chilling. Freaked my girlfriend out good. Then the Spider Witch story was a nice little side mission, the best part being the warped, webby hallways of the 13th floor. As ghost world meshes with real world and the Spider Witch (Terrible nickname by the way, just call her the black widow! Duh!) comes to look like... a spider. Sigh. Every video game ever has a spider boss. I didn't like the design very much, didn't think it fit in line with the past creatures of the Ghostbusters world. I would have rather had her be a little see-through and fly. Best part of this level is the one-on-one time with Egon. I love how they give you a little time with each character, probably saved a lot on programming AI and planning dialogue, while at the same time serving as a focused conversation with some of the coolest people ever.
The Island: So without a lot of exposition at all we find ourselves on a boat. Story fail. Could have really used a phone call at the firehouse where we find out an island has risen up in the Hudson. Ignoring that, the level is pretty rad... The mazes are fun to burn down, even if the slime tether puzzles are a bit convoluted. The basement alone was perhaps the creepiest part of the game, especially one whispered line where the ghosts plot to attack at "the intersection". Goosebumps! The puzzle with the underground slime lake caused me to look at a strategy guide for the first and last time, those weights were way too hidden, I blasted every pillar and barrel in the room before googling my way out. Later I lost Winston at one point after saving him and had to restart. Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait. Did they just tie the events of Ghostbusters 2 to Ghostbusters 1!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? INCREDIBLE! Somewhere in all this they explain that the slime was being pumped from Shandor's island into tunnels. So slime channeling and ghost channeling in tunnels is all the work of Ivo. And the slime! Colors of it, vats of it, rivers and pools of it! What an idea! I love this game! Meanwhile the medium sized sloar boss is cool, if not mostly unexplained. It's also pretty easy considering how late in the game it is.
Firehouse: Ok, I went through the firehouse thoroughly every time. Popped toasters, found the end screen to the NES Ghostbusters game, everything. Then, on the last time I found the answering machine. Damn! Apparently I missed new messages on several occasions. Are these available online somewhere? Also, the machine was not subtitled, I could have used it on a few muddled deliveries.
Central Park: The story comes to a head in another fantastic level. They don't stop the action, laughs or scares. I peeked at the guide and knew how to kill the cherubs ahead of time, so no sweat. Hey, by the way, weren't we promised the Scoleri Brothers at some point in this game? Apparently the containment unit is once again expelled, they could have made an appearance here. Ah well, maybe the sequel. The spiraling tower in the distance was a great effect and clobbering big beasties in graveyards and mausoleums with Ray was a highlight of the game.
The Final Boss: What. A. Let down. I'm sorry, but the mayor/Shandor can choose ANY form to become... and he becomes... some Zues looking dude? I get his obsession with becoming a God, but this is GHOSTBUSTERS. Our grand finales usually have Marshmallow men, Statues of Liberty, hell hounds, hot chicks and giant ugly heads. And we get some statue guy. They should have either gone super scary or super funny with this last big spectacle. Instead they did neither and the story hurt because of it.
The End: A little tacked on, the awkward romance between Peter and Ilyssa comes to an end and they get slimed. Leaves a lot to be desired, particularly a good one liner, please.
Credits: Ryan French, the face of the rookie Ghostbuster was hardly billed! Just a special thanks, deep within the credits. Lame, he got gypped! Also, the credits area is where I could have used one new Ghostbusters song from a new artist. Don't tell me Gnarls Barkley or someone wouldn't LOVE to make a new GB song. It could have been a hit!
Co-op: I can't sink the money into X-Box live every month right now and I desperately want to try the multiplayer levels. Unfortunately, there are no split screen co-op missions, so while I have two controllers and those extra levels are designed for many players, I can't even access them. Lame! I understand why they didn't go co-op for the campaign, I got the most fun out of blasting objects by myself (and on wii got way jealous when others destroyed fun scenery before me). Plus the story's cutscenes just make more sense with one rookie, face it... 6 Ghostbusters is a LOT.
Overall: I get the feeling that the voice director didn't push Murray to give loud, big deliveries. I could have used tighter editing, plot holes filled and a final boss make over. Then again, using the original score was SICK! The mixing on it was rad too. The equipment upgrades all fit the pseudo-science incredibly well... and when you've got so many elements at play, having the hundreds of details put into this game that were amazingly dead on can't be forgotten. Just consider the back story to every ghost and scanned item, some of them were brilliant! When Ghostbusters: The Video Game was bad... it was sloppy. When it was good... it was marvelous. Here I think we can all agree that the good outweighs the bad. Heck, talking about it, I really want to play it right now! In the end, no matter what a super nerd might pick apart, it is a ton of fun. How many games can offer so many moments of pure unrefined joy like this?
There you are. 3,514 words on the Ghostbusters Video Game. Hope you're happy, Christian and CTD669 :D
Harold Ramis talked to MovieWeb about Ghostbusters 3, and the results were a bit different than we've been hearing all summer. In a good way. Gone are the cautious warnings that come with every interview that this movie is waiting on the right script. No, this interview reads as if the film has been greenlit. But movieweb doesn't ask whether or not it is greenlit, they assert that it already is a go, without a correction from Harold Ramis.
More word that Ghostbusters 3 things are happening, Harold Ramis visited LA this week for a meeting concerning the sequel. Everybody chant it now... greenlight, greenlight, greenlight..
A good friend of mine has offered an amazing Ghostbusters t-shirt for sale. The bonus here is, it's actually a decent design, setting it apart from a lot of thrown together Ghostbusters T-Shirts that flooded the internet with the release of the video game. Wrought with really cool, yet subtle Ghostbusters references, wearing the Gozerian Society t-shirt will render you too Zuul for school!
Starting Up the 360: My excitement for this game was through the roof (obviously) as I started it up late June 16th. Then my X-Box made me suffer through a excruciatingly long update AND forced me to make an avatar. The process was grueling. I wanted to bust so badly! At last my rushed avatar was created and I moved on to the game... and it's six or seven opening screens. So many studios and production houses, it was ridiculous! But no matter, I had a game to get to.
The Opening Sequence: Man alive, here we go! By the time I was playing this, I had seen the opening sequence leaked months and months before. One thing I wish they did was just take their time and let some suspense build. The sequence with the two security guards is so rushed, and we hardly get a sense for what the characters are like. The wii version of this is actually a little better in my opinion (and the dialogue in general for the wii). I kept the subtitles on for the game, which came in handy when there was a LOT of action on screen and Murray was muttering his one liners. I also like to read the text and keep the actual animations in my peripheral vision, so I didn't scrutinize their odd facial expressions.
The Firehouse: Opening in the firehouse is awkward. We really don't get a good shot of the rookie and Janine starts the whole shebang off with some really terrible delivery on a phone call. Come on Annie Potts, I know you can do better than that. That's followed by a sleepy first encounter with the Ghostbusters as they realize the rookie has arrived. The comedic timing for the editing of these lines was really a let down, something that the Wii cutscenes excelled at but the 360 dropped the ball on. Then things picked up, a wave surge of paranormal activity got the guys talking technical jargon. Here they let you roam free, hoping that you will find your way to the basement where Slimer had escaped to. I wanted nothing more than to just explore everything in the firehouse right away... so it was a huge disappointment to keep getting pinged by Ray and the crew to come downstairs. Sigh. Fine. I'll go see about Slimer.
Basement: The basement scene is where the game really starts to get good. You accidentally zap the containment unit, letting a ghost escape... a nasty one too... and then get to explore the never-before-seen subbasement of the Ghostbusters firehouse (a lot of real estate for a New York City plot of land!). Part of me wanted to believe that this is the area we see in the Real Ghostbusters where the bigger containment unit is kept. Anybody think the same? The first time I played through this level, I got really confused about the containment streams. Ray let me know that I could manually select a containment stream at any time, so I thought that you had to manually select it whenever you bust a ghost. This lead to a lot of trouble later on in the hotel... I really wish someone had shouted "hey if you shoot the ghost long enough, it will automatically turn into a capture stream!!!". With the sloth in the trap (Slimer = gluttony, Sloth = well.. sloth, beauty queen ghosts = vanity... catch any more?), Slimer escapes and we need to go to the hotel. They put you in front of the Ecto-1, giving you the option to ride out to the hotel or explore the firehouse. At last! I was so giddy to explore the firehouse that I accidentally pressed a button and we were on our way to the hotel. Damn it! I wanted to go back but the save system was ridiculously complicated. It stated that if I quit I would lose any unsaved progress. What? Ok, I'm gonna keep playing.
Hotel: So Slimer got away and here we are at the hotel. We meet Ilyssa, who's opening delivery is harsh and just unenjoyable. Compare this with the Wii and once again, Redfly nailed it better. First thing we do is go upstairs to relive some of the best moments in Ghostbusters. Egon's line "new people die everyday" turns out to be one of the best in the game. We go up and down stairs, back and forth through halls. Theres a weird elevator scene where Venkman's dialogue makes no sense. Finally, after busting some bell hops, we get to go one on one with Venkman and hunt Slimer down by cutting through a creepy kitchen. The kitchen's haunted items and creepy whispers amazed me and I learned how to move objects with the capture stream (a far underused tool in the game that could have been fun to play with. The Wii version does better in this respect). When we got to the ballroom, slimer awaited and we busted him good. Did anyone else pick up a STRONG PKE reading behind the bar and find absolutely nothing?
Streets: Winston makes his patented late appearance once you hit the streets due to Stay Puft sighting. They always delay his entrance, don't they... this time he had opera tickets. I wonder who Winston's beau is? The streets of Manhattan are a part I remember well... mostly because I had to replay them more than any other part of the game. I'll admit, this area almost broke me. I started on medium difficulty (because I consider myself an ok gamer and a swell Ghostbuster), which was fine to start... but once you hit the streets, you had better spend 60% of your time reviving your friends or face game over. Getting to about the laundromat every time, the incessant whales of "little help here" were too much to bear. After over an hour I quit. And I restarted the entire game. On easy. Best decision ever, from then forth the game was the perfect difficulty, where I didn't have to worry about reviving every 30 seconds. The gargoyles were right in line with the Ghostbusters ghosts of past, though they didn't really need to be on fire. The Fat opera ladies were very fun, though I wish they didn't all look the same. Seems like lazy duplicating of a boss. I can see that for minions, and this happens all the time in games, but it doesn't mean I need to like it! The black slime addition to GB lore was also really cool, especially the ability for ghosts to use them as portals. Also, the super slammer was incredible satisfying to use. I am just happy that the junk on top of the ectomobile got any explanation or use at all.
Stay Puft: The roof has some great ghosts, and the sky is really fun with it's heat lightning. The Stay Puft battle was fine, though those marshmallow shaped critters were a little outside the Ghostbusters world in my opinion. Unless they were part of the commercials Ray watched, they feel strangely designed. I much preferred the marshmallow dogs we see earlier. We defeat Stay Puft, which feels cheap considering the 1st movie's ending took crossing the streams, but later we find out that the Traveler was way weakened without the mandala in full effect.
Firehouse: FINALLY we come back to the firehouse after what I consider 5 or so chapters of the game. First, to Vigo! I wanted to hear everything he had to say. Unfortunately, he was placed RIGHT NEXT to Janine, who answered the phone every 45 seconds! So while I'm trying to hear my sweet Vigo lines, the other endless yapper of the Ghostbuster movies is blabbing on and on. A real battle of the mouths. I wanted to have the goggles in the firehouse so I could get a first person look at everythinf in there. It took a lot of time and angling to inspect the fun stuff hidden around. From children thanking the Ghostbusters, to a note from Louis at his desk saying that he was feeling sick and going to take the rest of the day off, the details were awesome. My favorites by far were the Real Ghostbusters shout outs... though every interview before the game was released said they were going to ignore that part of the lore, we got an exact replica of the Real Ghostbusters PKE meter and a table on the second floor set up to look like where Winston's hamburger gets devoured by Slimer during the Real Ghostbusters theme song! Now that is some fan love. Anyone else notice how it's always twilight out at the firehouse? It works well actually, as they stop in either after a long night or after a long day.
Library: My favorite level! Allow me to gush! But first... did anyone else see the exhibit on the second floor at the library? It spoke of Azetlor, the Collector, and had this sweet picture of a worm like demon creature (book worm, get it?). Now this seemed like a perfect addition to the Ghostbusters lore, and it was... we go through the level learning of Elanor Twitty's Gozer codex and what Azeltor had to do with the book... then at the end... the boss was a huge disappointment. Hardly a creature at all, just a mass of books and pointy stuff. What happened to that drawing from the first room of the library??? What great foreshadowing that would have been! That is a small complaint though, considering the pacing and dialogue in this level was unparalleled. The children's library alone made this game worth the price of admission for me. From the whispers to the possessed panda, the markings on the wall and the lights, this level was a win for everybody. Upside down rooms, cold air, lots of lighting tricks, scares, darkness, creatures, stacked books, walkie talkies, portals, flocks of books... win win win win win.
Museum: Loved the museum level, though I was a little sad that only the Wii version got a dinosaur, mostly because the Aztec stuff in the museum was a bit blah (guys with sheilds? Lame). Ghostbusters and museums just make sense. Lots of history, lots of dead things, lots of cool ghosts. They've visited Museums in the TV show, in the Scholly Fisch book and now in the official lore. From the rain outside coming indoors, to spirits trapped in boxes and the use of the slime gun to unposses, this level was full of ideas that really fit the bill. Can I just mention how hilarious it is when the Ghostbusters start slipping you more and more obvious hints at how to crack a puzzle? In addition, cleaning up black slime became an obsession of mine and I would go nuts when I couldn't clean a patch no matter how long I slimed. The Gozerian lore sound files hidden in the last Egyptian hallway was particularly cool, referencing how Gozer was at war with another God, Tiamat. Did anyone else think that this was going to be a great foreshadow to some ending where another God emerges? I hoped so. No such case though, all of the information was unused. Weird. Ok, so Peck gets possessed. The Ghostbusters slime him and oust the ghosts from everyone. Then later he has a PKE spike again because he is possessed? Peter also vows to get the skinny on Peck and leaves the crew for the hotel retread level. What happened here? We never find out and it turns out to be the biggest plot hole of the entire story, something very sloppy considering the millions of bucks put into the game.
Under the Streets: A cool series of tunnels that really helped tie the lore of the first movie together. Looks like Shandor had backup plans if the super antenna at 55 Central Park didn't channel enough Ghost power. The tunnel system feeding energy to a central point feels like a retread of Ghostbusters II a little bit, but that connection comes to light in the next level. I dug Shandor's society member as a villain. He was well designed. I could have used the Thanksgiving parade scene after this, a big funny float boss would have been so original and a fantastic use of big New York City events meet the GBs.
Back to the Hotel: I thought this area was going to feel very added on last second, but they found a lot of ways to make keep the hotel's second visit interesting. Had a blast cleaning the coat room, and the lighting and construction was a great way to revisit the level but make it creepier. The harmless ghost remnants floating around, visible only at certain angles was chilling. Freaked my girlfriend out good. Then the Spider Witch story was a nice little side mission, the best part being the warped, webby hallways of the 13th floor. As ghost world meshes with real world and the Spider Witch (Terrible nickname by the way, just call her the black widow! Duh!) comes to look like... a spider. Sigh. Every video game ever has a spider boss. I didn't like the design very much, didn't think it fit in line with the past creatures of the Ghostbusters world. I would have rather had her be a little see-through and fly. Best part of this level is the one-on-one time with Egon. I love how they give you a little time with each character, probably saved a lot on programming AI and planning dialogue, while at the same time serving as a focused conversation with some of the coolest people ever.
The Island: So without a lot of exposition at all we find ourselves on a boat. Story fail. Could have really used a phone call at the firehouse where we find out an island has risen up in the Hudson. Ignoring that, the level is pretty rad... The mazes are fun to burn down, even if the slime tether puzzles are a bit convoluted. The basement alone was perhaps the creepiest part of the game, especially one whispered line where the ghosts plot to attack at "the intersection". Goosebumps! The puzzle with the underground slime lake caused me to look at a strategy guide for the first and last time, those weights were way too hidden, I blasted every pillar and barrel in the room before googling my way out. Later I lost Winston at one point after saving him and had to restart. Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait. Did they just tie the events of Ghostbusters 2 to Ghostbusters 1!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? INCREDIBLE! Somewhere in all this they explain that the slime was being pumped from Shandor's island into tunnels. So slime channeling and ghost channeling in tunnels is all the work of Ivo. And the slime! Colors of it, vats of it, rivers and pools of it! What an idea! I love this game! Meanwhile the medium sized sloar boss is cool, if not mostly unexplained. It's also pretty easy considering how late in the game it is.
Central Park: The story comes to a head in another fantastic level. They don't stop the action, laughs or scares. I peeked at the guide and knew how to kill the cherubs ahead of time, so no sweat. Hey, by the way, weren't we promised the Scoleri Brothers at some point in this game? Apparently the containment unit is once again expelled, they could have made an appearance here. Ah well, maybe the sequel. The spiraling tower in the distance was a great effect and clobbering big beasties in graveyards and mausoleums with Ray was a highlight of the game.
The Final Boss: What. A. Let down. I'm sorry, but the mayor/Shandor can choose ANY form to become... and he becomes... some Zues looking dude? I get his obsession with becoming a God, but this is GHOSTBUSTERS. Our grand finales usually have Marshmallow men, Statues of Liberty, hell hounds, hot chicks and giant ugly heads. And we get some statue guy. They should have either gone super scary or super funny with this last big spectacle. Instead they did neither and the story hurt because of it.
Credits: Ryan French, the face of the rookie Ghostbuster was hardly billed! Just a special thanks, deep within the credits. Lame, he got gypped! Also, the credits area is where I could have used one new Ghostbusters song from a new artist. Don't tell me Gnarls Barkley or someone wouldn't LOVE to make a new GB song. It could have been a hit!
