Ghostbusters on the 360 Review

So I picked up my copy of Ghostbusters on the Xbox 360 yesterday. I havent completely finished the game but I have played enough to get a good feel for the game without potentially spoiling anything.


When you start the game you are introduced as a new ghostbusters recruit and you are instructed to try out some new equipment. Slimer escapes and that leads you to your tutorial on ghost busting.

The character models are spectacular. There are some animation sync issues with voices at times but only if you are looking for that kind of thing. The movements for the most part seem natural, when they arent you can tell its being used for comic effect. The voice acting doesnt even need to be talked about, its all the original actors back in their roles. The only exceptions are Rick Moranis and Sigourney Weaver who I believe are totally absent in this game. *sad face*

The controls take a few minutes to get used to as you have several different types of beams you can use with your proton pack. You have your proton beam, your capture beam, your stasis beam, your slime blower, your slime tether and a couple others that I cant remember right now, ill edit later.

Catching ghost is pretty straight forward, you wear them down with your proton pack, it then automatically changes to your capture beam which allows you to wrangle the ghost. It can be a little trick to get the ghost over a trap you have set down, it takes a lot of control stick tapping to get them in just the right position. You do have a Slam ability, normally it will just slam the ghost into the ground, or if you hold the control stick in a direction it slings the ghost in that direction.

Other ghosts arent captured, you just blow them up. These normally arent ghost but animated objects or possessed creatures. They blow up real nice.

The game isnt perfect though.

Right off, I would have liked to have been able to customize my characters appearance. The character model is somewhat generic, even just the hair color would have been acceptable. Instead you look like a mix between Ray and Peter, only skinnier.

Should you fail a mission, normally by getting pelted by small flying ghosts that can be a pain to aim at, the wait time to load your last checkpoint seems uneccessarily long. My average wait time for this was 30 seconds to a minute. At least you hear some good ghostbusters music and you are shown art for the proton pack as well as some game tips. Its still a long wait though.

Also some of the transitions from gameplay to cutscenes are somewhat abrupt, its a minor point but it kinda irked me.

There have been reports of screen tearing in the game, I havent noticed any graphical glitches in my copy so maybe it was the demo copies that had this problem.


Overall I would say this game is definately worth your time. Its fun, its funny, its actually scary, and you get to play as a freaking ghostbuster!

Yes I did say the game was scary. At times you have to wear your PKE helmet to locate ghosts and hidden items, its nightvision like with creepy sounds and beeps, then BAM a ghost busts out of a painting right in front of your face. The low lighting in building hallways also adds to the effect, narrow, flickering lights, skittering candlesticks....*shudder* Its not as scary as say, Silent Hill 2 or Fatal Frame: Crimson Butterfly, but there were a few hair raising moments.

Even if you arent a fan, this game is a decent FPS. There really arent any platform elements except for moving some items with your capture beam.

Graphics: 8/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Replay value: Depends on how much you like acheivements.
Overall: 8/10