Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Something weird in game console? Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters!
ATARI Enlarge Image
A scene featuring Dr. Egon Spengler, voiced by Harold Ramis, is shown from Ghostbusters: The Video Game.
Movie comedies rarely lead to funny sequels. Take Ghostbusters, whose blockbuster success in 1984 led to Ghostbusters II five years later. Critics, fans and, reportedly, some of the cast felt let down by the result.
That hasn't stopped admirers of the original -- including a new generation of fans who weren't born when it came out -- from hoping for another sequel. And after all these years, original Ghostbuster Dan Aykroyd is saying a third feature film could begin shooting this year.
To whet your appetite, its developer, Terminal Reality, has accomplished something Hollywood hasn't been able to do in 20 years by reuniting the four core members of the cast: Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson.
OK, we're talking about computer-animated versions of the main characters, but the actors did return to provide their voices. Aykroyd and Ramis also helped with the script, and Ray Parker Jr.'s infectious theme song is heard throughout. The game is set two years after the events of Ghostbusters II, so the guys all look they way they would have in 1991. Once again, New York City is under siege by a wave of supernatural spirits -- some familiar (the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man), some new (a vicious sea captain who could have been lifted from Pirates of the Caribbean).
Ghostbusters is meant to feel like a movie, and it's very linear. If you're hoping to spend time exploring the Big Apple, you're out of luck. The animation, during both gameplay and storytelling sequences, is largely solid, although there are occasional lip-synching glitches.
The story is surprisingly clever, and there's nice banter among the 'Busters as they vacuum up Manhattan's wraiths. Murray's delivery is somewhat blasé, but the rest of the cast, including newcomer Alyssa Milano, dives enthusiastically into this nonsense.
Your character, simply called "Rookie," is a new recruit to the team, but Dr. Egon Spengler (Ramis) has outfitted you with all the latest ghost-hunting gear. Your main weapon is your proton pack, and it takes a while to get the hang of reeling in spirits with streams of light. You can also upgrade with tools like the "slime blower," and you get a nifty PKE (psychokinetic energy) meter that helps you hunt down haunted objects.
The proton pack certainly isn't your typical video-game weapon, but after a few battles it begins to feel natural. Still, the initial challenge of controlling it may scare off less adventurous gamers. More troubling are several extremely frustrating spikes in difficulty that will challenge even the most hardcore shooter fan. If you're mostly interested in the story, play Ghostbusters at its easiest setting.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game doesn't capture the magic of the original film. Still, unlike most movie tie-ins, it feels like an affectionate tribute rather than a cynical attempt to cash in.
-- The Associated Press
Top 10 game rentals
1. Infamous (PlayStation 3)
2. UFC: Undisputed (Xbox 360)
3. Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Xbox 360)
4. Ghostbusters: The Video Game (PlayStation 3)
5. Prototype (Xbox 360)
6. UFC: Undisputed (PlayStation 3)
7. Red Faction: Guerrilla (Xbox 360)
8. Prototype (PlayStation 3)
9. Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Nintendo Wii)
10. Punch Out (Nintendo Wii)
-- Rogers Video, week ending June 21
GAME REVIEW
Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Atari, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Rated T for teen
Two and a half stars out of five
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 25, 2009 E23
- Rate this

-
-
We want you to tell us what you think of our articles. If the story moves you, compels you to act or tells you something you didn’t know, mark it high. If you thought it was well written, do the same. If it doesn’t meet your standards, mark it accordingly.
You can also register and/or login to the site and join the conversation by leaving a comment.
Rate it yourself by rolling over the stars and clicking when you reach your desired rating. We want you to tell us what you think of our articles. If the story moves you, compels you to act or tells you something you didn’t know, mark it high.
The comment period for this story has ended.
Ads by Google
- Back to Top
- Return to Movies
-
Working in Winnipeg
A close-up look at the jobs people do and why they do them
-
Helping Haiti
Where to make donations
-
Open Secrets
Red River students mine government data banks
-
Ski with WFP
Register here to ski Asessippi with the Winnipeg Free Press
-
Random Acts of Kindness
Your encounters with goodness
Poll
Most Popular
- Murder charges against top CFB Trenton officer leave military community reeling
- No peace for dead girl's mom
- Should have been listening, Tiger
- Happy 111th birthday to oldest Manitoban
- Checking out sex show all part of journalist's job
- Patient died after fall from operating table
- No support for Winnipeg's 'Homeless Hero' in days before attack: stepdaughter
- Body found in Delta airplane wheel well after arriving in Tokyo from New York
- Bombers sue Aerosmith for cancelled concert
- Little boy left cold, crying outside locked daycare
- Little boy left cold, crying outside locked daycare
- Woman arrested in Faron Hall beating
- Pilot burnt plane as signal before walking to shore
- Storm warning issued
- Built-in text messages ruined life, says city man
- LaPolice named as Bomber head coach
- City streets very slippery; several vehicles involved in crashes
- 26 cats too many, woman told
- Car stolen at gunpoint recovered
- Police apologize for not looking into woman's complaint against gynecologist
- Guns N' Roses show a massive rock 'n' roll spectacle
- Extended family pulls together
- Two dead after crash on Bishop Grandin
- Water pressure drop caused by power outage: city
- Avoid Perimeter: RCMP
- Little boy left cold, crying outside locked daycare
- Winter storm warnings issued for Winnipeg, southern Manitoba
- Woman arrested in Faron Hall beating
- Pilot burnt plane as signal before walking to shore
- Cheap Vancouver rentals, if tiny's OK
- Take one downtown, fill it with people
- Larger garbage carts may become available
- No support for Winnipeg's 'Homeless Hero' in days before attack: stepdaughter
- Bad cocaine results in grave illness, hospitalization
- No peace for dead girl's mom
- More police cars for suburbs: committee
- Prominence proving costly to Hall: friend
- Got more trash? It'll cost you
- Trappers suing for $64M
- Checking out sex show all part of journalist's job
- 300 pounds of marijuana found in semi
- Little boy left cold, crying outside locked daycare
- LaPolice named as Bomber head coach
- Sick days spike during blizzard
- Woman arrested in Faron Hall beating
- 26 cats too many, woman told
- Car stolen at gunpoint recovered
- Zoning memorandums to cost sellers up to $180
- Shielding buyers, or 'cash grab'?
- Built-in text messages ruined life, says city man
- 300 pounds of marijuana found in semi
- Girl not a bully, shouldn't have been suspended, says mom
- Arrest tape kills auto-theft case
- Don't dock students for missing deadlines: NDP
- Alleged mobsters seek to stay
- Little boy left cold, crying outside locked daycare
- Two dead after crash on Bishop Grandin
- RCMP investigating after video shows police beating suspect
- U.S. fighter slams Canada's 'Third World' health system
- LaPolice named as Bomber head coach
- Happy 111th birthday to oldest Manitoban
- Iran playing its hand
- Patient died after fall from operating table
- Checking out sex show all part of journalist's job
- Steamy weekend
- Real-estate association's rules challenged by federal competition watchdog
- Soft drinks hike pancreatic cancer risk: study
- Jobs figures a bit too bright?
- Friendly credit union to open first city branch
- First female boss for Destination Winnipeg
- Little boy left cold, crying outside locked daycare
- LaPolice named as Bomber head coach
- Cat came back: 14 years later
- Manitoba Merv predicts an early spring
- Zoning memorandums to cost sellers up to $180
- 26 cats too many, woman told
- A super-lab to fight superbugs
- Hutterite biography to debut despite legal chill
- Rude rowdies ruin Earle concert
- Pilot burnt plane as signal before walking to shore
- 'Tough guys' wanted as film extras
- Nylons still smooth as silk
- Bath & Body Works coming to St. Vital
- Little boy left cold, crying outside locked daycare
- Two dead after crash on Bishop Grandin
- Cat came back: 14 years later
- Guns N' Roses show a massive rock 'n' roll spectacle
- Winnipeg desserts are a piece of cake
- LaPolice named as Bomber head coach
- VIDEO: A winter wonderland?
PREVIOUS

0 Comments