We came. We saw. We kicked its ass.



The good news is that, apart from Rick Moranis and Sigourney Weaver, the whole original cast is back in this direct sequel to Ghostbusters 2. You'll be happy to hear Bill Murray, Harold Ramis, Dan Akroyd, Ernie Hudson and the others. They all play as well as you'd expect them to though I find Murray to be a bit too nonchalant to my liking. Other than that, the voice acting is solid and it really brings you back in time, back when you were a kid watching the movie.

The music score is also the original soundtrack and I'm sure those of you who own both the VHS and the DVD of the 2 films - you know, those of you who have never missed a rerun on TV - will be thrilled when hearing Ray Parker Jr. in the introduction of the game. You'll even get to hear the song during the few loading screens - when you load or reload a game for example - but, provided you install the game on your hard drive, they won't be too long hopefully.



Technically, the game is OK overall. The character models are close enough from their real-life counterparts, the facial expressions are even quite good - although the characters' faces seem a bit doll-like and cartoony somehow. The special effects are well done, the physics engine does its job, no really, this is so not your typical licensed game which transforms your standard playthrough into a nightmarish Terminator-like experience. So the game may not be the eighth wonder of the world but the familiar places you visit are easy enough to recognize to make you feel at home. It is however worth mentioning that the framerate is unfortunately far from being smooth. One last thing about the tearing issues you might notice: because of the capture it is a lot more noticeable than in the actual game so, no worries.

As for the gameplay, it isn't bad at all and the game is actually pretty fun to play. It's a kind of mix between a third person shooter and a ghost fishing game. You can really feel that capturing ghosts requires some strength and you will even have a hard time trapping them when you're in hard mode. It is possible to upgrade your gear thanks to the money you make and there are also some puzzles that break the monotony of all the shooting and capturing. Let's face it though, the game can get a bit repetitive at times but that's probably because the developers wanted to respect the movies so bad they didn't dare add some sequences that might have felt out of place.



In a nutshell, my first impression of the game is that fans will certainly have a good time because the game will bring back memories of their childhood. There's nothing particularly original so to speak but spending a few hours with Venkman, Stantz and Spengler is kind of priceless, don't you think? So, if you're looking for a fun summer ride and you like the franchise, you know who you gonna call, don't you?

I'll be adding some more videos ASAP - including one from the multiplayer mode if possible - so stay tuned.