The long-awaited remaster of Ghostbusters: The Video Game continues to prove that licensed games can be absolutely fantastic, even with some aged visuals and difficulty. From the hilarious writing and performances to the viscerally true-to-form ghost-busting gameplay, Ghostbusters Remastered is a brilliant and genuinely great love-letter to franchise fans and gamers alike.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered
Developer: Terminal Reality and Saber Interactive Incorporated
Price: $40
Platform: PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC
MonsterVine was supplied with a PS4 code for review.
Ghostbusters is one of my top five favorite films ever. It’s infinitely quotable, near-perfectly written, and full of creativity in all forms. As such, I’m incredibly critical of its derivative works, from its television shows to its sequel and reboot. Even with this intense scrutiny, I loved almost every second of Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered, and I was impressed at how well it’s held-up since I last played it. It has a couple of warts due to its age (having originally released in 2009), but I really can’t recommend it enough. Though it may seem like a weighty claim, Ghostbusters: The Video Game feels like the Ghostbusters 3 many fans always wanted.
The plot takes place in 1991, two years after Ghostbusters II. The Ghostbusters are gainfully employed, well-known, and largely beloved by New York City. With business booming, the team decides to take on a new rookie Ghostbuster (who you play as). They don’t have long to show the rookie the ropes though, as a mysterious psychokinetic pulse shakes New York. With the possibility of Gozer returning on the horizon, the Ghostbusters battle poltergeists throughout libraries, museums, and mausoleums as they attempt to discover who’s behind this ghostly threat. It feels like the perfect continuation of the first two films, with the same sardonic tone and creative muscle as both movies. This makes sense, as the story was written by Dan Akroyd and the legendary late Harold Ramis, both of whom truly nailed the game’s writing.
“[…] I’ll simply say this: it plays exactly how you would want a Ghostbusters game to play, and it holds up perfectly from its original release.”
I need to talk about the characters specifically, as they’re all modeled after and voiced by the original crew. Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson return in all their glory, and they sound almost identical to how they did in the past (with Murray sounding just a bit older). Annie Potts even came back as Janine, making one of the most entertaining parts of the hub her work area, simply because it gives you the chance to listen to her incredible sass. Every single character feels ripped directly from the films, with the original characters feeling as though they would fit right into those same movies. This kind of tonal accuracy is rare, and though they may look a bit rougher visually (despite the Remaster’s valiant efforts), you instantly feel like you’re playing with the Ghostbusters, exactly as you remember them.
The gameplay of Ghostbusters is exactly what you would want from an action-based Ghostbusters game. From a third-person perspective, you explore various locations and battle ghosts using your proton pack. The proton pack works like a laser-gun in a third-person shooter, as you aim and fire at ghosts to weaken them while occasionally venting the machine to avoid overheating. Then, once they’re weak, you can grab the ghost with the beam and slam them around, before dragging them into a ghost trap. It’s hard to adequately describe just how wonderful it feels to slam around a ghost or shoot at the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, so I’ll simply say this: it plays exactly how you would want a Ghostbusters game to play, and it holds up perfectly from its original release.
There are a few unlockable beam types that perform entirely different functions, such as a stasis beam that freezes ghosts, and a slime projector that can spray slime or make a tether. No two beams feel the same, but they all have uses that pop-up throughout the entirety of the game. These upgrades are also introduced rather organically into the story and lore of the game, which further adds to the feeling of immersion and tonal consistency that Ghostbusters Remastered so effortlessly pulls off.
The difficulty does feel a bit off in some places, as you’ll have to deal with a ton of ghosts that knock you down, sending you back to a fairly distant checkpoint. Sometimes your A.I. teammates will be prompt in reviving you, while at other times, they’ll essentially leave you for dead and get knocked down themselves, making you replay the section again. It’s frustrating when this occurs, but it isn’t frequent enough to feel game-breaking.
“Going through themed haunted sections of a history museum or through a fragmented castle that is half-enveloped by the Ghost World is a grand combination of spooky and thrilling, with plenty of visual humor to further supplement the tone.“
The attention to detail throughout every aspect of the game is remarkable as well. Scanning ghosts adds an entire biography about even the most minor enemies to Tobin’s Spirit Guide, which is itself a reference to the Ghostbusters comic books. Vigo the Carpathian’s portrait scowls away in the corner of the fire-house, where he’ll say all sorts of hilarious and awful things. Louis Tully’s desk explains his absence with an in-character sick note. There’s even a small reference to the fan-film Freddy vs Ghostbusters of all things, which goes to show just how passionate about the Ghostbusters the game’s developers are.
The visuals are the most notably dated part of Ghostbusters Remastered, though the pre-rendered cutscenes still hold up quite well. The faces can dip into the uncanny valley a bit, and cutscenes can feel a bit stiff, but the colorful ghosts and lively environments hold up beautifully. Going through themed haunted sections of a history museum or through a fragmented castle that is half-enveloped by the Ghost World is a grand combination of spooky and thrilling, with plenty of visual humor to further supplement the tone. The use of the film’s music is obviously perfect, while the original tracks are quite memorable by their own right.
The Final Word
Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered is a faithful re-release of one of the best-licensed games ever made. Though some visuals and difficulty curves are a bit rough by today’s standards, the incredible writing, incredibly fun gameplay, and ridiculous attention to detail are more than enough to make Ghostbusters Remastered an easy recommendation.
MonsterVine Review Score: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
