Ghostbusters The Videogame Remastered review

The events of Ghostbusters the Videogame takes place two years after Ghostbusters II. Around Thanksgiving 1991, a supernatural energy pulse emanates from the Gozer exhibit at the Museum of Natural History engulfing New York City in supernatural activities. As a new, mute, recruit, it’s up to players, along with the four original Ghostbusters members (Peter Venkman, Ray Stanz, Egon Spengler and Winston Zeddemore) to hunt down ghosts all over town and put an end to the supernatural activities.

Ghostbusters the Videogame is a third person shooters where players need to hunt down and capture spectral beings; if you have seen the Ghostbusters movie, it’s the same but in gaming form. Combat can feel a bit tricky at first. You need to weaken the ghost by shooting them with your (upgradable) Proton Pack. Once their lifebar is about 3/4’s of the way down, you’ll be able to use a capture the ghost in their stream. You’ll then need to throw a trap on the floor and fight with the ghost to bring it into the trap; if you find the spectral a bit uncooperative, you can slam them on the ground or walls with the RT trigger; that’ll stagger and daze them, giving you a bit of free time to drag them into the trap. Most of them will require a bit of struggle before capturing them, but there’s also a few, smaller, enemies where firing a few shot of streams will take care of them.

Considering you have a nuclear powered weapon on your back, you cannot shoot proton beams willy-nilly. After some time of continuous firing, your Proton pack will overheat thus rendering your weapon useless for a few seconds. You can cool it down the RB button in order to accelerate the process. Some attacks, like the Proton Burst, will overheat after one shot; it is powerful, but leaves you vulnerable to attacks. Thankfully, new attachment become available as you progress through the game such as a sticky shot (which allows you to solve puzzles) and a freeze ray that….well…will temporarily freeze quicker ghosts. As you work through jobs saving New York, you’ll earn money which can be used to upgrade the different Proton pack types. For example you can increase the speed in which your pack cools down or buy a skill which allows you to slam dunk ghosts into traps.

The enemy variety is pretty decent; ranging from cronies that can be killed by a few bursts of the Proton Stream to bigger and badder bosses, they’ll always keep you on your toes. Bosses will also require a bit more strategy than simply firing at them. Sometimes you’ll need to destroy protective items or use the Slime ray to wash off the protective dark ooze.

To help you through levels, whether it be to find your way or analyze spectral beings, players can use the P.K.E.: Psychokinetic Energy Meter. The P.K.E. has three different color of lines depending on what you’re doing. If you’re trying to find your way, the lines will the green, red lines indicate a ghost nearby while the blue one will indicate an artifact nearby.

In order to prolong the fun, each level has a few collectibles to find. First off are water fountains where you can stop for a few seconds and re-hydrate yourself. Then there’s Artifacts spread throughout the game which can be found thanks to the PKE. When near an artifact, the game will suggest that you use the PKE; if you see blue lines, it means you’re near one; if it’s green or red, it’s no-bueno.

My main problem with this game is the replay value; there’s none. Unless you’re a completionists that needs all achievements or want to tackle harder difficulty settings, once you’re done with the story, there’s nothing else to keep yourself busy. While the original PS3/Xbox 360 versions had multiplayer which let players go through various story missions with up to three players, this mode was not included in the remastered version, which is unfortunate considering today’s more robust and solid online infrastructure.

The game’s presentation is easily one of most solid feature of the game. Thanks to a fresh coat of HD paint, the game looks fine; Ghostbusters the Videogame features the likeness and original cast of the first two movies as Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson reprise their respectively role of Peter, Ray, Ego and Winston. While the main cast of characters have their likeness well rendered in-game, some additional NPCs such as the mayor or news reporter does look mediocre at best. They also added a bit of more comical flair to some of the characters’ faces during weird or funny events. The game’s audio is solid as the voiceover work of our 4 protagonists is on point; despite Bill Murray’s performance sometime sounding a bit phoned in and with the same score from the movies, it’s as close as we’ll get to a third movie with the original crew (while GB3 has been approved for a Summer 2020 release with the original cast, unfortunately, Harold Remis, a.k.a. Egon, passed away in 2014).

So the question is: Is Ghostbusters The Videogame Remastered worth the investment? Absolutely. While this is kind of a love letter to long time Ghostbusters fan, it’s also a competent shooter for fans of the genre. The intricacies to hunt down ghosts brings a bit of variety to the genre compared to most shooters where you simply run and gun. As much as I’ve enjoyed the game, with the removal of multiplayer and lack of additional modes, it’s a missed opportunity to improve an already enjoyable experience. Thanks to its budget pricing, it’s definitely worth investing in.