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Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Bustin' ghosts on the Wii makes me feel good.
July 1, 2009 | 12:17 PM PSTby: Jeff Rivera
Kombo's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What The Game's About
Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II told the story of a group of down-on-their-luck paranormal scientists that discover a way to detect, identify, and capture ghosts. Over time their fame and popularity grew and they became heroes in New York City as they kicked some paranormal butt and saved the city from would-be world destroyers. In Ghostbusters for the Wii, the storyline picks up just a few short years after the events of Ghostbusters II, and the Ghostbusters team is taking on a new recruit to help them the continued threats from ghosts and the higher powers they serve. You'll take control of this new recruit as the events of the game play out, which are actually considered official canon in the Ghostbusters storyline.
What's Hot
Ghostbusters is a license that you can't take lightly, despite its comedic and lighthearted premise. Fans of the series are passionate about the characters, so it was important that Red Fly Studio do all that they could to stay faithful to the source material. Well, having the original actors back to do the voice work for the game, going with an art style that is right at home in the Ghostbusters world, and implementing music and sound effects that immediately trigger nostalgic feelings all work to make Ghostbusters on the Wii feel genuine.
The gameplay is also a strong point for the game. If you're familiar with Metroid Prime 3's controls on the Wii, the aiming and camera controls are something you should feel at home with. Basically, the game allows you to move the aiming reticule around with the Wii's pointer functionality and as you approach the edges of the screen the camera will pan in that direction. It works well and makes busting ghosts feel natural and smooth. Occasionally you might send your screen spinning unintentionally due to a lazy hand, but you'll learn to mind the reticule well over time. You can argue all day whether or not twin sticks are better or worse than the Wii remote/nunchuck setup, but the bottom line is that the Wii's controls work very well here.
One of the biggest reasons why Ghostbusters has been so popular over the years is that the series has been known for good humor and witty dialogue. Thankfully the game keeps pace with the films, and several moments throughout the game will provide some good laughs. A good example of this is the fact that the game encourages you to be destructive, as the city will be on the hook for picking up the repair bills. Your proton packs can make a mess of rooms quickly.
What's Not
Ghostbusters isn't without its faults. As fun as it is busting ghosts, at times the sort of mini-game that you have to play to weaken the ghost for trapping is a little tiresome. Shaking them around would have been sufficient, but instead you have to play through a sort of quick-time event before being able to lay the trap down. The controls work well here, but a bit more simplicity in the action itself would have been more appreciated.
The cartoony visuals work quite well on the Wii, but at times there is a distinct lack of polish. At times textures can look blurry or overly simple and the framerate does dip from time to time (especially when playing with a buddy). They aren't huge issues, but it seems like a bit more optimization to the graphical engine would have really would have helped out. It's debatable whether or not the cartoon style is a better decision than a more realistic look, but that's going to be a matter of taste rather than an evaluation that can be made objectively.
This is a minor complaint, but it does distract you when it pops up. At times the lip sync in the game will be a little off, kind of like a poorly dubbed film. When this occurs, you immediately start looking at the discrepancy between the character's mouth and the sound. This sort of presentation misstep is typically a sign of a product that ran out of polishing time and needed to ship to hit a deadline. While this might be the case, luckily the rest of the game, especially the gameplay, doesn't feel too rushed. I guess you can easily overlook some lip sync issues if the gameplay is solid.
Final Word
While it's become obvious that Ghostbusters fans would love to see a third film, this game is what stands in its place. The Wii version of Ghostbusters is a lot of fun, and it holds up well against both the PS3 and 360 versions of the game. It was commendable of Red Fly Studio to make the Wii version a unique product, focusing more in on the system's strengths and capabilities rather than just porting down from another version. Ghostbusters fans should be quite pleased with the overall outcome of the game as it does a good job remaining faithful to the franchise and in continuing the overall storyline of the series.
What The Game's About
Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II told the story of a group of down-on-their-luck paranormal scientists that discover a way to detect, identify, and capture ghosts. Over time their fame and popularity grew and they became heroes in New York City as they kicked some paranormal butt and saved the city from would-be world destroyers. In Ghostbusters for the Wii, the storyline picks up just a few short years after the events of Ghostbusters II, and the Ghostbusters team is taking on a new recruit to help them the continued threats from ghosts and the higher powers they serve. You'll take control of this new recruit as the events of the game play out, which are actually considered official canon in the Ghostbusters storyline.
What's Hot
Ghostbusters is a license that you can't take lightly, despite its comedic and lighthearted premise. Fans of the series are passionate about the characters, so it was important that Red Fly Studio do all that they could to stay faithful to the source material. Well, having the original actors back to do the voice work for the game, going with an art style that is right at home in the Ghostbusters world, and implementing music and sound effects that immediately trigger nostalgic feelings all work to make Ghostbusters on the Wii feel genuine.
The gameplay is also a strong point for the game. If you're familiar with Metroid Prime 3's controls on the Wii, the aiming and camera controls are something you should feel at home with. Basically, the game allows you to move the aiming reticule around with the Wii's pointer functionality and as you approach the edges of the screen the camera will pan in that direction. It works well and makes busting ghosts feel natural and smooth. Occasionally you might send your screen spinning unintentionally due to a lazy hand, but you'll learn to mind the reticule well over time. You can argue all day whether or not twin sticks are better or worse than the Wii remote/nunchuck setup, but the bottom line is that the Wii's controls work very well here.
One of the biggest reasons why Ghostbusters has been so popular over the years is that the series has been known for good humor and witty dialogue. Thankfully the game keeps pace with the films, and several moments throughout the game will provide some good laughs. A good example of this is the fact that the game encourages you to be destructive, as the city will be on the hook for picking up the repair bills. Your proton packs can make a mess of rooms quickly.
What's Not
Ghostbusters isn't without its faults. As fun as it is busting ghosts, at times the sort of mini-game that you have to play to weaken the ghost for trapping is a little tiresome. Shaking them around would have been sufficient, but instead you have to play through a sort of quick-time event before being able to lay the trap down. The controls work well here, but a bit more simplicity in the action itself would have been more appreciated.
The cartoony visuals work quite well on the Wii, but at times there is a distinct lack of polish. At times textures can look blurry or overly simple and the framerate does dip from time to time (especially when playing with a buddy). They aren't huge issues, but it seems like a bit more optimization to the graphical engine would have really would have helped out. It's debatable whether or not the cartoon style is a better decision than a more realistic look, but that's going to be a matter of taste rather than an evaluation that can be made objectively.
This is a minor complaint, but it does distract you when it pops up. At times the lip sync in the game will be a little off, kind of like a poorly dubbed film. When this occurs, you immediately start looking at the discrepancy between the character's mouth and the sound. This sort of presentation misstep is typically a sign of a product that ran out of polishing time and needed to ship to hit a deadline. While this might be the case, luckily the rest of the game, especially the gameplay, doesn't feel too rushed. I guess you can easily overlook some lip sync issues if the gameplay is solid.
Final Word
While it's become obvious that Ghostbusters fans would love to see a third film, this game is what stands in its place. The Wii version of Ghostbusters is a lot of fun, and it holds up well against both the PS3 and 360 versions of the game. It was commendable of Red Fly Studio to make the Wii version a unique product, focusing more in on the system's strengths and capabilities rather than just porting down from another version. Ghostbusters fans should be quite pleased with the overall outcome of the game as it does a good job remaining faithful to the franchise and in continuing the overall storyline of the series.
February 8, 2010
