This has to be one of the most anticipated titles in recent history. It feels like a ridiculous amount of time has passed since we saw early footage of this Ghostbusters game. For those who remember, that short video gave birth to a fountain of rumours and the best of the bunch had to be that the footage, which showed the characters “bull-rushing”, was actually an impressive mod for Gears of War. I am a huge fan of both films, adored The Real Ghostbusters animated series, and have fond memories of that old C64 game, so I was understandably excited at the prospect of strapping up that proton pack on this current generation of consoles. Delays are like kryptonite to fans but this is especially true when the item in question is from a beloved franchise we have been starved of for so long. A large section of the gaming community in Europe were then shocked to discover they’ll have to wait a little longer as Sony’s intervention resulted in a timed exclusive for their PS2 and PS3. What you really want to know is whether or not this game is worth waiting for and I hope this review will help you make that decision.

The character you play is known as “rookie” since Peter didn’t feel it was worth knowing your name after what happened to the last guy in your position. The game takes place in 1991, two years after the events in Ghostbusters II and, after what appears to be a relatively calm period in their careers, the Ghostbusters respond to cases of intense paranormal activity. If you make an effort to search each area for the hidden cursed items the game should weigh in at around the ten hour mark. I would have preferred the game to last a little longer but this is pretty much standard length for this type of action game. I am happy that the story moves along at a nice pace with action-packed ghostly encounters coming thick and fast. The all important ghost capturing is a process of damaging the target until its weak enough to drag into a carefully placed trap and I found this to be a lot of fun.

Ghostbusters is a cult classic and the task of recapturing its unique feel was always going to be a difficult task. The legitimacy of this game hinged on the creative talent and the developers were smart enough to settle for nothing less than the original team. The co-writers of the film, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, teamed up again to write this script and they also reprise their acting roles as Ray and Egon. Aykroyd and Ramis are joined by Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson who lend their voices to their characters Peter and Winston. For all intents and purposes, with the four Ghostbusters in place, the job was complete but it’s nice to see Annie Potts and William Atherton reprise their roles as Janine and “pencil neck” Peck. I’m a big fan of Sigourney Weaver and it’s a shame she didn’t show up as her character Dana while Rick Moranis doesn’t make an appearance due to his early retirement from acting. For those concerned about Peter’s libido, with the omission of Dana, fear not as he has a new interest in Ilyssa Selwyn who is voiced by the lovely Alyssa Milano.

The graphics for the most part are of a pretty high standard and this is especially true of the in-game characters who bear an uncanny resemblance to their film counterparts. The strong likeness to the film characters, combined with their genuine voices, really helps to suck you into the life of a Ghostbuster. It is clear that a lot of effort went into researching the buildings from the film as a few areas in the game, such as the Sedgewick Hotel, have been lovingly recreated and are instantly recognisable.

The familiar theme tune is sure to get you in the mood but I advise against leaving the game on the menu screen, or hover over the icon on your PS3 desktop, as there is a good chance the music will drive you insane after a while. As far as other sounds are concerned, besides the great voice acting, there wasn’t anything particularly impressive although the weapon noises were pretty good.

There is one major annoyance with this game and it’s the incredibly poor AI of your team-mates. For most of the game my fellow Ghostbusters were so ineffective when it came to actually busting ghosts that a more accurate title would have been “one Ghostbuster and some idiots”. I don’t like singling anyone out but as it happens Ray proved to be more incompetent than the others put together. Ray had a habit of throwing sound advice my way, such as avoid the enemy surrounding me, only to run off and have his ass handed to him. While I am on the subject I had a similar problem with Louis in Left 4 Dead, Ray and Louis, a pair of incompetent clowns. There is a boss battle near the end of the game in which the poor AI had me in hysterics. The battle turned into a process of – revive Egon, revive Ray, revive Peter, revive Winston, revive Ray, revive Ray again, forget Ray he’s an idiot, another Ghostbuster revived Ray, fine by me, Ray falls down again, I want to punch Ray in the face.

I would love to describe what the multiplayer has to offer but I attempted on many occasions and could not connect to a single game. The message of “disconnected – unable to connect, wrong map version” is something I am now well-versed in, tired of seeing, and never want to read again. A quick check on the Internet reveals that I am far from being the only person with this problem. This connectivity issue appears to be widespread and because of this I am confident it will soon be fixed. I must add that my failure to connect to online matches has not affected my rating of this game in any way.

Despite the obvious frustrations with the AI of my fellow Ghostbusters this game sent me into a childlike state as the fond memories I had as a child came flooding back. It’s been a long time since the last Ghostbusters and I can’t be alone in having enjoyed Bill Murray’s stand-out performance in Lost in Translation but feeling sad because I really wanted to see him as Peter Venkman again. Murray and the rest of the team are back in action, they are on top form, and it feels like they never went away. I for one think this game is worth waiting for and the issues I have with AI don’t detract too much from what is one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I’ve had in a while. I will leave you with one valuable piece of advice, when someone asks you if you’re a god, you say “YES!”.

9/10

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