It came out 10 years ago in the last generation. And they return in a remastered version as recommended as criticized.
"Dogs and cats cohabiting … THE HYSTERY OF THE MASSES!", Peter Venkman
There are 80s movies that are not remembered, and they are meat of posts and compilation dedicated to archaeological work of series B and Z. But there are tapes that go beyond the celluloid and become something else. With just 2 tapes + a third on the way and a reboot school -remake honestly failed as was The Ghostbusters (but very good when it was serious) in 35 years, Ghostbusters is part of the Popular Culture since its very premiere, and formed a franchise that , like Nightmare before Christmas, it is still discovered by each new generation and generating year after year fans, merchandising and everything unimaginable. Because even if you don't like the cinema and you've never seen even the animated series, if you see its logo, you recognize it just like Batman or Mario Bros.
And now that we are heading towards the new film that will arrive in 2020, and with the original cast except who we already know (you are missing, Harold), in order to take advantage of the 35th anniversary of the saga we have a remastered version of which permission of the two Ghostbusters sets of LEGO Dimensions is the best IP-based video game: Ghostbusters The Videogame, which like the original is a comedy with unexpected scares, and a scary movie in which you laugh too.
Gozer the Gozerian
In 2009, facing the 25th Anniversary of Ghostbusters and just 20 years after the premiere of Ghostbusters II in theaters, Atari and Sony (the latter owner of the franchise) released a video game that took good grades but did not finish being appreciated everything as it was: an ode to the saga and a cathedral example of how a good Fanservice should be. The versions of the 6th Gen and laptops were content with a forced ‘cartoon’ looking version – they had no power for a downgrade port of the original – while PS3, Xbox 360 and PC had the ‘real deal’.
Programmed by Terminal Reality (Bloodrayne saga), Ghostbusters: The video game was a surprising adaptation of the license, since it was basically the third movie we never had. And the remastered version of the latter is the one that has reached us in the final stretch of 2019, in time for the 35th Anniversary and commissioned to the Saber Interactive studio – which has worked on the remasters of the first Halo, of the Master Chief Collection, of Switch versions of The Witcher 3, Vampyr and the recent Call of Cthulhu (although also in Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn) – and edited by Mad Dog Games.
For those who do not know, the script of the game is written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis – the original scriptwriters and therefore creators of the Ghostbusters universe -, and is a direct sequel to the second installment (that of Vigo the Carpathian). Set a couple of years later, the plot recovers elements of the first film, and in itself the great thing is that it constantly lives up to it, also expanding the lore of the saga. If you are a fan but you have never played, just tell you that the plot starts with an exhibition in the Gozer museum. From here, and with the 4 original actors putting the voice and image, the plot is a damn enjoyed in a Campaign of 8 levels divided into several chapters that you can play when you overcome them, just as if you chose the chapter in a movie in Bluray
This game that comes to PS4, Xbox One, PC and Switch is basically a remastering, so the Campaign and all its elements have not been touched. In this way we have a third-person shooter that works in the style of a Gears of War, although without a coverage system, in a linear development that lasts about 10-13 hours of play depending on if you want to go jerk, if you want to enjoy it or go slowly to find all the secrets – very funny, by the way, because you are growing the Virtual Tobin Spirits Guide that you carry.
"Yes, sir: it's a ball bouncer without balls"
The story cannot be put "but" some, because the constant level of detail about the franchise universe is incredible, revisiting the fairness of the nostalgia factor – the mochette hunting, the Marshmallow Man – but building on it. A sequel that expands the universe instead of recreating it again with nothing new with the success that it does not make you choose which of the original ghostbusters you want to be, but rather embodies a newbie who will live the adventure with them.
And the best: it has moments ‘spooky’, of tension, and you get the occasional scare, because the creators bet on becoming serious as the original film did – and because the original BSO of Elmer Bernstein continues to cuddle that it gives pleasure. Like Batman: Arkham Asylum, it is a game dedicated to fans, but created for any IP neophyte to enjoy without having seen anything else.
At the playable level, because it is called as it is called and based on what is based, the gameplay is 60% that ghost hunt that the title promises, although interspersed with scenes of exploration, research and occasional puzzles. Following a close look at your character, it's your turn to move the reticle like crazy and shoot to weaken a ghost, "hold it" with the proton loop when it's weak, and put it straight into the trap.
And to give it more variety, the study implements three more types of weapons and secondary shots in all, so not everything is to weaken and hunt, but also to please the trigger in a cut-off shotgun plan, proton UZI, or use green boogers to solve puzzles All this with a penalty in the form of overheating so you know when to stop and refresh the proton equipment. In fact there are even some moments of strange platforms.
"What a biscuit …"
Now the part that is not so good: With a shooter scheme in 3rd, the original version of Ghostbusters The Videogame already suffered from some sharpness in the controls and specific problems with the camera, and these have not been touched but left as is. It is true that the creators make you feel as if you carry one of the heavy proton equipment, and we buy that. But this is a video game, and things like the 180º emergency turn should be much smoother and less abrupt. It is also true that being so based on fighting, who is not a fan of the saga can end up very tired of hunting, weakening and catching ghosts again and again.
The worst negative point of the gameplay is the AI allied, which has not been retouched. The game is always to hunt in a group or couple – sometimes you go alone, although there are – and you go with one or several partners moved by the game. If one falls, you must go to his side and revive him with a button strike, and they will do the same for you. But their AI in combat can be defined with that term role of 'idiotic heroism', and they will be launched or put too close, especially with the Mid-bosses and Final Bosses (the fourth level is a torture for this very reason), with what will sometimes revive you more than shoot. And if you fall at that time, then you have been runny and it's time to load the game not because of you but because of the freaking allied AI – although as we say there are so many chapters per phase that this is not usually a problem in order to travel the same section. But of course, fuck a lot in a few words.
As we say, the Campaign has not been touched either at the history or gameplay level, but the problem with this game that we analyzed is that the Multiplayer has disappeared … The original title came with a multiplayer for 4 players very fun with several online modes , but problems in finding the original code of the multi have made it not come in the game. Apparently, Saber Interactive has not ruled out including it a posteriori, so perhaps it could arrive when the new film is released in 2020, although we may just get long and never see it.
"I LOVE THIS CITY!"
On a graphic level, Terminal Reality surprised with a graphic engine full of scenarios and destructible elements, but not 4 windows or a vase, but walls, ceilings, furniture and everything – just like the brutal and forgotten Stranglehold, by the way. 10 years later, the ‘engine’ chart shows the passage of time, although the demonstration of your muscle is how it continues to surprise the level of things to break.
The problem of the original was also that so much graphic ambition caused performance problems, and in fact the PS3 version was a bungling in sub-even resolution below Xbox 360 that forced to launch a 1GB patch – it was 2009 – that solved something but Not everything I should. The current power is good for this Remastered, since we have a game at 50-60 almost constant frames that improves performance, although we continue to have specific drops. The lighting effects are spectacular, and the increase in resolution is noticeable – the hall of the Sedgewick hotel impresses even more – but also ‘they sing’ several textures here and there that already accuse the years.
However, although the work of graphic remastering could have been deeper, Ghostbusters looks better than ever in this version and it is certainly a leap compared to the original, although there is room for more. And for those who doubt in which console to catch it, you should know that in Nintendo Switch the resolution is lower, although on the other hand having this game in portable format is crazy.
As for the sound, we have the original sound effects, the terrifying original BSO – the use of Theremin is still bad – but this is where it hurts most without a doubt. The original had the 4 actors who embodied the ghostbusters, and Atari threw the house out the window in 2009 doubling the game into Spanish with the 4 Spanish actors who put the voices 25 years ago, in one of the best dubbing of the 7th Gen and video game in Spain. But in this remastered, that master speech has been lost … We only have dubbing in English, and although it is a joy and the game is located in Spanish texts, the whore is huge, especially given the quality of Spanish dubbing.
CONCLUSION
Created for fans but accessible to all, Ghostbusters The Videogame is the ultimate example of how a license should be adapted, taking advantage of everything it offers with quality. But while it is true that this game deserved better luck than the one that ran, this remastered, although it corrects graphics and performance problems, has lost along the way the multiplayer and its fabulous dubbing, and also has not made any adjustment in its face gameplay to polish it a bit above the original. Therefore, it stays in a campaign and point, without any extras and more to take advantage of the 35th Anniversary than anything else. Of course, the game is a total fanservice and the best game based on Ghostbusters, so if you are a fan it is a must have.
THE BEST
- Breaking Omnivagantes of the Class V and Sumerian gods is still hilarious
- The graphic, visual and performance improvements that allow recovering the enormous graphic design work that was done in the game
- It is the third movie in videogame format: the plot, the dialogues, the humor and Bill Murray in its purest form
- The moments when he gets serious, like all the third level and the lore he creates. Or that Sedgwick Hotel without light and full of entities …
- The sound work is 10, with the use of the distressing original BSO and the 4 main actors …
WORST
- … But we were left without the Spanish dubbing of 10 that I had, maximum whore.
- Goodbye also to the multiplayer, waiting for if they recover it or not
- That they have not taken advantage of the remaster to improve certain elements of the gameplay. To the visual to comply and period.
Okay
It meets the expectations of what a good game is, it has quality and does not present serious failures, although it lacks elements that could have led to higher levels.
