Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Ghostbusters: The Video Game, based on the smash hit motion picture franchise and featuring a completely new story, is coming to six game systems in 2009. Coinciding with the 25th anniversary celebration of the film’s original theatrical release, the game reunites original cast members to recapture the unique blend of humour and fright that established Ghostbusters as a pop culture sensation. Remember, don’t cross the streams. It could end all life as we know it! Familia (more…)
Tagged with: 25th Anniversary • Anniversary Celebration • Cast Members • Franchise • Game • Game Systems • Ghostbusters • Humour • Motion Picture • Original Cast • Pop Culture • Sensation • Streams • T Cross • Theatrical Release • Video • Video Game
Filed under: Wii Game Reviews
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Fun Game
It would have been better as a multi-player game, but my kids are having a lot of fun with it. And now they would like to see the Ghost Busters Movie.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game for the Wii, is a great game in its own right. Unique in that it’s not like the more graphically intense PS3 and Xbox 360 versions but still will have the same Ghostbusters (Widescreen Edition) familiarity from start to finish. As long as you can mentally get past the more cartoonish look of the game over the others, you really can’t go wrong here.
The game itself takes place 2 years after the events of the movie Ghostbusters 2 (Widescreen Edition), where you are a new recruit that the four regular Ghostbusters (Peter, Egon, Ray and Winston) are training due to increased business in the city as far as ghost hunting goes. And of course that is where we the player come in as we take on the role of said recruit. We get to follow along with our favorite ghostbusters as they visit some familiar haunts from the two movies as well as face some familiar old ghouls and ghosts and monsters like Slimer and Stay Puft to name a few.
The best part of the game is that it truly will put you right into the Ghostbusters situation as if you were part of the movie. You jump right into the swing of things. You and your proton pack ready to go , traps a ready as well and you just fire away able to hit anything and everything. And I mean anything. If your proton beams hit something, it most likely will cause it to break and explode before your eyes.
All the original voice talents return, even Janine the secretary doing her usual unemotional banter. The rest of the guys sounding great even 25 years later. The references and nods to the movies also are another nice touch. It truly is a Ghostbusters fan dream game no matter which version you get. Whether its using the slime gun from the second movie or the Ghostbusters theme playing along a you speed off in Ecto 1, they really seem to put this game right into the Ghostbusters universe as if it were truly the third movie of the series.
The only real downsides to the game are that the game is short. You can get through it in a good 10 hours straight and not feel like you ever have to play it again. Which is a shame as it’s a fun adventure that hopefully most will want to do again. The ability to play with another person in co op play will add some more life to the game but that too is lacking as its the same missions whether you do it solo or dual. Also the graphics may bother some and if you do have an option you may want to get it for one of the other systems if you want the more realistic look and feel to the game. But this really wasn’t a problem for me and I enjoyed the animated style greatly. Seemed to fit in well for a Wii game. Lastly the controls will take some getting used to. It is an exact movement type of game. So if you are facing to the side everything is the side, you look forward its forward .. etc. It’s not first person but your controls are directly based on where you position the wii remote. So that will take some getting used to as you play through.
But the pros outweigh the cons by huge margins as far as this game goes. Once you turn it on you will think your wii remote and nunchuck are a proton pack and trap. The way they implement the use of it is nice too. Rolling the nunchuck out as if it were a trap and slamming the ghost towards it with the remote. It really was a nice way to use the Wii’s unique controls to it’s best without over doing it like some games do.
As far as extras go.. there really isn’t too many. The only real thing is using the EKG meter to scan every ghost and ghost related item you come near and having to find a page from a book related to it to unlock various things. The more of each you match up the more you can unlock. That I suppose will keep you playing a bit longer but that stuff too is easy to get and won’t take players too long to get everything in due time.
No the real charm of the game is just the whole Ghostbusters experience. If you ever wanted to feel like you were part of the team busting ghosts and racing through Manhattan and blasting everything in sight.. well have I got the game for you. I really enjoyed this and think it is just as good as the other versions of the game. The story will be for the most part exactly the same as is the voice acting. If you have a Wii and weren’t sure on how good this is, its worth it. It’s a lot of fun and you won’t be disappointed.
25 years later, they are still the ones to call and hopefully they will be called to service many times more after this. This is one adventure that ends too fast but is a fun trip from start to finish.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Locks up and too few save points
The game is fun but with buggy lockups in the cemetery and too few save points it’s not worth the effort. Three times it has locked up and my effort is lost.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Love Letter To Ghostbusters Fans
Lets get this out of the way early: your enjoyment of this game will be directly related to how much you enjoy the movie Ghostbusters.
I’ve never written a review on here but I was motivated to by all the negative mainstream reviews surrounding the Wii version of this game. This is not going to be wordy so I will cut to the chase.
I own both the 360 and Wii versions of this game. The 360 game is, hands down, the better version. The graphics are better, the sound effects are better, the level and enemy design is better, and it really does give you the feeling you are a part of the third movie.
So, with that being said, why am I still so high on the Wii version? Simply this: After the “wow” factor of the 360 one (and I played that first), I’m actually having more fun playing the Wii version. Two things really stick out about it: The animation and the controls.
Yes, they look like cartoon caricatures. But the way they are animated is amusing and fun. But it is the controls that make this game. You really feel like you are busting when you have to point the wiimote at the ghost, then pull them in the direction indicated by the onscreen arrows, and then finally into the trap. The actualy trapping of the ghost works better in this version. While the 360 version sounds and looks better, the Wii vision really makes you feel like you’re busting ghosts.
So my advice to you, if you own both systems, is to play the 360 one first to enjoy the story and the feeling of being part of a movie. Then pop in the Wii version to really feel like you’re ghostbusting.
And of course, if you only own the Wii, if you are a GB fan it is a no-brainer!!
Ghostbusters is not a great game, but it is pretty darn good. I would best describe it as a “guilty pleasure game.” The game is supposed to be a 3rd movie in the series, of sorts, much like the 360 versions. I have also played a few parts of the 360 version and have watched my roommate play it for several hours. Both versions of the game are full of fan-service collectibles, gadgets, and dialogue. Familiar faces and places are present throughout the game. Just a bit of a disclaimer: Parts of my review will directly compare and contrast my opinions and observations between the two different versions of the game, so this review isn’t purely about the Wii version.
PROS:
+++ Great aiming controls
+++ Decent story with classic Ghostbusters humor
+++ Fun game engine that allows for a lot of destruction
+++ Functional and responsive pointer and motion controls that don’t feel gimmicky
CONS:
— Love it or hate it graphics
— Frequent interruptions from pickups and cutscenes
— Ghost capturing mini-game kills the flow and takes too long
— Some awkward and uncomfortable placement of some of the controls
— Very linear gameplay. Almost no exploration is required to complete the game.
PRESENTATION: The menus and game interface are decent, but I honestly feel that the 360/PS3 versions have better menu controls. It’s a picky complaint, but the Wii version’s menus seem to get in the way of things. Lip syncing for voices is also kind of off at times. One thing I do prefer about the Wii version over the 360 version is the on-screen HUD that shows your health and heat meter. In the 360, the meters are displayed on your character’s pack, much like how health and stasis were handled in Dead Space. Unfortunately, I don’t think it was handled as well in Ghostbusters, so I tend to prefer the Wii’s on-screen HUD even though it is less immersive. The Wii presentation really falters when you pick up collectibles or scan ghosts because the game pauses all of the action and suddenly shifts to a very plain information screen detailing what you just picked up. Really kills the flow of the game with that many interruptions. Additionally, there are cut scenes all over the place, which also seem to kill the pace and interrupt the flow.
STORY: Decent and basically what fans of the Ghostbusters franchise would expect. Probably my biggest complaint in the story category is that the voice acting frequently feels flat and boring. As in “Ok… I finished reading my lines. Where do I pick up my paycheck?” The script isn’t bad, but it isn’t great either. Your own character is nothing but a rookie who has absolutely no dialogue role in the game. You’re basically a grunt soldier against the forces of the paranormal sent forth and support the story, which actually works well. Any problems the story has now would have probably been worse if the new rookie character was given a voice, and for that I am thankful.
GAMEPLAY: Basically you use your proton pack and zap the unliving crap out of anything and everything. Ghosts, environment, etc… nearly everything except the buildings themselves can be blown up, broken, or burnt to a crisp. It is kind of cathartic in a way. The game encourages you to be as destructive as possible, which is a nice touch. One major criticism I have of the gameplay is the capture mini-game that you have to do with almost all of the ghosties that you trap. Once you’ve weakened a ghost sufficiently, you can grab it with your capture beam. Once you have grabbed the ghost, you have to slam the ghost into walls and objects when an onscreen indicator pops up. Although the motion controls for this work ok, it really slows the pace of the game down because it seems that the magic number of slams required is usually between 3 and 7 slams. One or two would have been cool, but requiring that much waiting and slamming on most enemies is kind of annoying. The Xbox and PS3 have a similar mechanism in the game as well, but those two platforms allow you to slam the ghosts at your own pace, which feels more natural and makes the game flow better.
CONTROLS: Solid with a few minor issues. For the most part, I prefer the Wii controls. Both my roommate and I agree that the aiming controls for the 360 and PS3 are a little too finicky. On the other hand, the Wii pointer controls are very smooth and very precise, which is nice. Unfortunately, the pointer controls introduce a few other issues that kind of annoy and irritate me. Switching to the PK meter requires pushing the top button of the d-pad. That isn’t too bad, but if you have an unsteady hand or really small hands, shifting your hand position tends to shift your pointer position which can send the camera spinning and rotating while you try to switch equipment. Motion controls usually don’t interfere with the gameplay either, although there is one particularly frustrating puzzle on the last level that the controls did nothing but cause problems because you are required to swing the remote, but when you do, your camera position gets really messed up. Very, very, very annoying. For the most part though, the game’s controls are very solid for all systems.
REPLAY VALUE: This game is pretty darn short. Most people should probably be able to beat it in a few short sittings, probably about 6-9 hours. Once you’ve unlocked everything, I can’t think of why I’d come back and play this game. The Xbox 360 version at least has a good number of achievements to shoot for, but the Wii doesn’t have that. Multi-player co-op adds some extra replay value, but not that much extra.
MULTI-PLAYER: The co-op multi-player is decent, but no where near as smooth as the single player mode.
GRAPHICS: Decent to very good, depending on your opinion of the art style. Some people will really hate the cartoony style used in the Wii version. I personally liked it, but I grew up watching the Ghostbusters cartoon when I was a child, so I have a bit of a soft spot for that type of style. The level of detail is no where near as high in the Wii version, but I was impressed at the amount of environmental damage I was allowed to inflict. While not as pretty as the 360/PS3 graphics, the Wii version’s graphics are more than good enough. I will say that I feel like the Wii version plays with a slightly smoother framerate (except on the last level) than the 360 version, especially when turning around very quickly. It’s a very minor difference at best though.
Overall, I have enjoyed this game, but I would only recommend it as a rental unless you are a hardcore Ghostbusters fan and big into collecting Ghostbusters stuff. The short gameplay length and limited replay value really put a damper on my recommendation of a full-price purchase. If you have a 360/PS3, I would honestly recommend going for one of those other two versions instead of the Wii version. The differences between the two versions, except for graphics, are fairly minor in terms of fun and overall quality, but the 360/PS3 versions edge out the Wii version.
[Edit: Added comment in controls section about the frustrating puzzle on the last level.]
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun Game!
We like the mood of the game – it followed the movie for a bit…and then kinda went a different direction to capture more ghosts…
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who you gonna call?
‘Ghostbusters: The Video Game’ is a lot of fun. Are the graphics as good as the Xbox 360? Of course not… nowhere near. BUT… for a Wii game, the graphics are great!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great movie on a wonderful game!!
This is a great game that really does beat the original nes version!! It is like you are playing a great part in a very awesome movie!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly Fun
I bought this game for my son (age 7) a little over a week ago. In his own words, “I love this game. It is really fun when you’re busting ghost with all types of shooters.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Characters and voices are right on
Game is interesting until a certain point and then it got frustrating. I was playing it every night but got to one area and couldn’t get any farther so I quit playing it.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Game
I have enjoyed this game so far, it keeps me moving as most of the wii games do. My Children have also enjoyed playing this game!
3.0 out of 5 stars
ghostbusters wii review
fun game. a little too short. lacks multiplayer online capabilities which would bolster replayability. returned after playing.