Ghostubsters Wii. A movie tie in that doesn’t suck balls….

Games that are spawned from movies nearly always suck balls. With the exception of Goldeneye, Lego Indiana Jones / Batman / Star Wars, The Godfather, Hannah Montana Sing IT and The Seventh Seal : Magical Journey RPG. Ok, those last two don’t count. I made the Seal one up, could you tell? But no, they more often than not suck. And also reek of bad graphics, poor gameplay, woeful visuals and a general air of “let’s squeeze this cash cow until her udders explode, and I can pay to hide my several illegitmate children.”

Ghostbusters The Game was announced some time ago. I was excited from the get go, as I am a huge fan of the films, tv series and even the books that accompanied the TV series. But on the other hand, I was apprehensive. It had a lot to live up to. Those fears were alleviated when I found out that Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd were to pen the script for the game, and all the actors were to reprise their roles within the game.

The game plays out from the persepctive of a new recruit to the Ghostbusters family. (That’s you). You get thrown in to the deep end straight away. The first mission is at the Sedgewick Hotel, where you have to recapture that pesky, but strangely endearing “spud” of ectoplasm, Slimer. Using the proton pack for the first time with the Wiimote, and then throwing a trap onto the ground gave me a giddy thrill. And the subsequent opening with the signature theme tune only further cemented the sheer joy you feel when playing this game.

All the familiar characters are here. There’s even a few clever nods to both films. A picture of Gozer lies dormant in the museum level. The script and actors are top notch. Some choice lines being Venkman’s, “No, I’m not going after the little spud. I’ve seen this one before,. I know how it ends. You go for it, rookie.” My personal favourite is a toss up between Egon’s explanation of where he gets the time to work out all the new equipment for the Busters. “I have devised a nice routine, whereby I sleep for fourteen minutes a day. Naturally, this leaves me a lot of time to work on equipment.” And my second favourite is Winston, upon entering the Confederate Southern Texas wing of the museum. “Of all the rooms in the museum, this one was not top of my list.”

Gripewise, I only have two. The length of the game is not terribly huge. If you bashed away for six hours solid, you’d complete the game. And there is no online play available. Not a huge problem for me, but the option would have been nice.

Overall, I would highly recommend the game. On the Wii, mind. I’ve seen screenshots and videos of the X Box and PS versions. They look somewhat clinical and cold, the cartoon approach on the Wii reimburses that sense of fun that is associated with The Ghostbusters. I laughed, I zapped some ghosts, I was a ghostbuster for a week, and haven’t had this much fun playing a game since I discovered the chainsaw in Scarface : The World Is Yours.

9 / 10