Ghostbusters

Written by Kyle Williams  on December 30, 2008

First Impressions: I still ain't afraid of no ghosts!

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I could have sworn that there was going to be a third Ghostbusters movie released in conjunction with the turn of the millennium. You know, the whole Уworld endingФ thing and all. But Hollywood disappointed us all and let the perfect opportunity slip away. Well, the game industry is trying to make up for this lost opportunity with one of the most anticipated titles of 2009, Ghostbusters: The Video Game.

With a release scheduled to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the film, Ghostbusters: The Video Game is essentially the sequel that we never got (whereas Ghostbusters 2 was the sequel that we did getЕ). Written by comedy veterans and original cast members Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, Ghostbusters is putting us into the role of a nameless intern in the Ghostbusters organization (hey, why learn the name of someone with a 15-minute life expectancy). And what do interns do? They do the jobs that no one else is willing to do, like test new equipment and take care of the dirty jobs.



A top down action game, Ghostbusters is going to use the flavor of the original movies to set it apart from the rest of the action mix. Do you remember the damage that the Proton Packs caused in the library at the beginning of the movie? It is going into the game. Do you remember the УwittyФ banter between the characters as they busted ghosts? It is going into the game, too. Essentially, Ghostbusters is being crafted as an extension of the movies. When it is successful it will change the way that people make licensed games.

Of course, Proton Packs won't be the only tool available to you in your quest to rid New York of poltergeists. As the intern, you will be testing out all of the new toys that the Ghostbusters are developing. Different add-ons to the Proton Pack, a Slime Gun (not dissimilar to the one from Ghostbusters 2), and other ghost catching tools will become available as you progress through the game's 10-plus hour campaign.

In addition to the single-player story, Ghostbusters is going to sport a cooperative multiplayer mode. While details are still scarce, videogamer.com reported that, УOne dev suggested that it will be not entirely dissimilar to Gears of War 2's Horde mode.Ф Only time will tell how this will translate into gameplay but I am optimistic that we will be looking at some pretty extensive replay value.

The DS version of Ghostbusters: The Video Game is taking a slightly different direction with its gameplay. IGN describes this portable version of the game, with its combination of top-down shooting, resource management and development, and driving the Ecto-1, as X-Com light. It will have its own story, different from the consoles and will take advantage of the DS' touch-screen controls.