Ramblings of a Moron: Ghostbusters

Disclaimer

"Ramblings of a Moron" is a review series done by WSGF member Cynagen. While reviews from other sites focus on extensive play and detailed postmortem analysis, "Ramblings of a Moron" is a first impression "stream of consciousness" review. The grammar isn't perfect, and the prose can sometimes be disjointed, but these are the first impressions of a seasoned WSGF Insider. For more information, and for more Ramblings, see the complete list of Cynagen's offerings.

The Rambling

"I swear, this time it wasn't me." Some of the best words uttered in this awesome game for a classic movie. There's been a massive pulse of energy, unleashing many many ghosts, some very familiar (Stay Puft ring a bell?), and plenty of new ones to keep you guessing what may come out of the wall (or in some instances off of it) to get you.

Not only has the aforementioned pulse unleashed the large fluffy (not to mention tasty) beast once again, it's flooded the city's older buildings with a new batch of ghosts for you to shoot with your Proton Beam, slam around into things to weaken them, and then finally bag them in the trap. The concept simple, the execution, sometimes a little more difficult than you'd expect. It's not the controls, not by any means at all, it's those buggers, the ghosts. They will FIGHT you and your Proton beam to stay free to torment innocent New Yorkers. While repetitive, the gameplay is very enjoyable, and the story well compliments the feel of the movie. It also helps to bring back the ORIGINAL CAST of the Ghostbusters crew to reprise their roles in the game.

Honestly, this is the paragraph where I outline the downfalls of the game, and it's been a little bit of hard pressed thinking to come up with a few detractors. First, the actual ghost hunting, it's all a very repetitive ordeal, use the scanner, find ghost energy in a room, shoot ghost, switch to holding beam, drag to trap, pull down into trap, viola. The music while very much inspired directly from the movie, becomes repetitive. There appears to only be one track for every type of event. Searching, found/attack/trapping, and the music direct from the movie, an ambient 'all clear' type. The music leaves little to no lasting impression other than "Oh, heard this plenty of times." You will eventually be able to tune out or turn off the music since you'll know exactly what's suppost to be playing at every stage of the map.

Other than the few minor setbacks, the game is overall a solid performer. I can see the replay value being very good, even for being a great game made from a classic movie. The jokes are fresh, the scenarios all new, there's plenty to enjoy here ignoring the detractors.

Graphics: 9/10 - They definitely make use of high end cards here.
Audio: 6/10 - The music is very Ghostbusters circa, but does get repetitive.
Action: 8/10 - The Search-Wrangle-Trap-Clear works well, but also is repetitive.
Re-playability: 8/10 - This game will be great to play through multiple times, you'll catch plenty you missed before if you're like most people and don't fully explore each level until after running through the game once or twice.
Value to Cost: 9/10 - Great game, great movie basis, great story, cool ghosts, your very own Proton pack, hehe.
Overall Rating: 80% - Repetitive action and music are the games biggest and seemingly only downfalls.
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