Game Review - Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered

Game Review: Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered by Mad Dog Games
Score: +6/-1

Strap on your proton pack once again and join the Ghostbusters on the adventure with the voice and likeness of the original crew as you battle to save New York!

Authentic Ghostbusters Experience - The game features the voices and in-game likenesses of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson in an original story penned by the writers of the original films - Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis.

Unique Gameplay - Experience unique ghost hunting, wrangling and trapping with upgradeable weapons in widely destructible environments. Test the team's mettle with large scale boss fights.
Storyline Campaign - Play through a unique storyline as the player battles and captures ghosts - both well-loved and brand new - throughout New York.

I got Ghostbusters: The Video Game free through Epic Games, which gives away a remarkable number of games. They are not all shiny and popular but most are actually quite decent.

You might feel somewhat lost initially if you have never watched any of the Ghostbusters movies because it basically assumes you know all about it, at least the first movie. For players who did like Ghostbusters, the movie that turned ghost movies upside down for the mainstream, from spooky horror in the dark to action comedy in broad daylight, this game hits all the best qualities of the movie experience and lets you feel like a Ghostbuster.

- Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered doesn't have the same polished graphics as other action games in 2019 despite the remaster, so it probably doesn't get on the radar for most players. And even the character modelling feels a bit off in body proportions (though possibly acceptable in 2009 when the original version debuted). But if you can overlook these, you are in for a rather good gameplay experience and Ghostbusters style story.

+++ Characters from movie brought to life in every important way: Very good face models, frequent dialog and scenes highlighting how they act and talk, mannerisms true to the original movie -- with voiceovers by the original cast. This really helps immerse you in the Ghostbusters world and brings you back to the movie, yet in a new story. And that key Ghostbusters cast of kooky characters (even Janine the receptionist-- or maybe especially Janine) was in many ways more iconic of the Ghostbusters movie than all the spooks they encountered. It was absolutely important to bring them to life for the game and overall I feel they did a great job, especially with the dialog scenes and the banter throughout the game.

+ Action packed from the start. It's helpful that Ghostbusters was an action movie to begin with, but nevertheless the pacing of the story here is very good with smooth transition from one scene to the next. From the start you are thrust into the action, and even the tutorial for how to use your gear is very well done -- your apprenticeship as a rookie Ghostbuster is worked nicely into the story and smoothly into the action. 

+ Unlike some game adaptations, there is also not an excessive amount of "killing" involved. It is not uncommon for games to end up focussing too much on combat and throwing an implausible amount of enemies at you, especially when compared to the original franchise. Here, there's more quality than quantity, with the combat capturing the chaos and collateral damage of a ghost capture and making you feel like you're in a Ghostbusters movie, where they don't get get bogged down with cannon fodder to shoot through. The game doesn't forget it's also trying to tell you a great story.

+ You are taken through interesting locations, encounter interesting enemies that are tied to the story and that have interesting mechanics that make use of the slowly increasing arsenal of gear strongly based on the Ghostbusters movies.

Overall, how the game turned out is a real winner for anyone nostalgic for the original Ghostbusters movie. If you are a fan of this overlooked franchise, I highly recommend you take a close look at this title.