Warning: This game contains a few spoilers relating to the first part of the game! While I’ve tried to limite the amount of spoilers, some were bound to happen, in order to explain the game properly. If you don’t want to have part of the opening stages of the game spoiled for you, then you’re advised not to click through to continue.

As a handful of you may already know (be it through my Twitter or me ranting and raving about it on IRC), I got Ghostbusters for the PS3. Oddly, the PS2 version was nowhere in sight, despite it being said that it would appear on the same day as the PS2 version. Oh well, at least I’ve saved myself 25 pounds from not buying the game. Anyway, I’ve been waiting for this game to come out for a while, and like many fans of the franchise, I’ve been waiting for a sequel for quite a while. Coincidentally, this month, the Ghostbusters Franchise also celebrates its 25th birthday. 1984 is obviously a great year for many things although right now, Tetris and Ghostbusters are what come to mind. But I promised myself I’d stick to Ghostbusters this time, so no deviation! I especially need the practice for the upcoming DiggerCast Teaser-Pilot.  Anyway, it’s been 20 years since the last Ghostbusters film and Dan Ackyroyd has essentially said that the games is the 3rd film, although I noticed there’s a 3rd film apparantly being released in 2010… but I digress, I should be talking about the game.

I’m just mentioning again that if you click through to read about the game, there will be spoilers. Keep in mind that the Wii, PC, PS2, 360 and DS games have not been released yet. The first 4 follow roughly the same plot, although the PS2 version (which I’ll get later) along with the Wii have a different graphical style. The DS version is different to the others. Anyway, I do recommend getting the game… although it’s perhaps not what people expected, it’s still a great game to play and worth the 45 quid (you can get it cheaper elsewhere) for the game. I got mine from Game, so I got some money back, and used my discount to lower the price by £2.50.

Once I put the BD into the PS3, and waited for the somewhat lengthy install process (the game needs 4GB to install!) and read up on Folklore which I got not long before, the game finally loaded. There was a somewhat lengthy intro with all the companies involved, when it finally goes into the game intro proper. The setup was pretty good, I thought… especially when it went straight into the theme (at which point people would be cheering loudly – if this were a cinema – I admit I said a mental “oh yeah!”) and Ecto 1 reverses into GB-HQ. Anyway, you get introduced not too long after, although you aren’t introduced by name, due to the fact that they don’t want to get too attached to you, given what happened to the last person (gulp). Anyway, you’re a silent protagonist in this game, and apart from a few facial expressions, there’s very little in the way of identity for your character. I suppose however that’s good, as you can imprint yourself more easily on the character you play, as it’s more “you”. I should mention as well, that the game takes place 2 years after the second GB film, in case anyone wasn’t sure.

Anyway, when you start the game, you’re just after experiencing a level 7 wave of parnormal energy, and you get a few chuckles at the beginning of the game. Anyway, after this, Slimer escapes and you have to capture him again… simple enough task, right? Actually not so simple. When I first blasted at him, I hit the containment unit, and released a ghost… I actually felt guilty about doing so until Ray reassured me that it’ll be fixed by Ego, which actually made me breath a sigh of relief. Anyway, this part is teaching you how to use the proton pack, how to capture ghosts and use traps to capture ghosts, along with mentioning your health bar and remebering to vent the neutrona wand (the thing used to fire). Using the proton pack is easily one of the most fun things in this game… granted at the start it may not seem that way, but as you complete the tutorial, and move on to the next level – the Sedgewick Hotel – to recapture Slimer. As you enter the lobby, Peter is talking to the hotel manager about “re-hauntings”, which I have to admit is a nice touch, referring to the first film.

Anyway, you start getting into some of the more advanced features of the game, such as dodging stuff. You also get a bit of the story as well, such as a few concessions they had to make, such as turning the proton packs off in public areas, since the maid sued. Unfortunately though, they ended up having a repeat of that incident. Something else repeated too, but I’m not saying what, as it’ll either be a surprise to you, or you already guessed. I have to say though, once I started capturing the ghosts in this level, I had to let out a little cheer because this is when the game really starts to pick up, working with the “fab 4″, listening to their witty comments and busting some ghosts – this is easily fanterbation* in its purest form; who doesn’t want to play around with an unlicenced nuclear accelerator strapped to their back? Towards the end of the game, you have to contend with a ghostly fisherman, alone. I initially had a bit of trouble finding my way around, but eventually I found out where to go. After this point though, I died a few times because of the candlestick things that kept on killing me, but that’s a minor detail, as after all I did ask for “Experienced”.

Anyway, after you get to the end and confront the fisherman, you eventually get back together with the others and kick the ass of a ghost that used parts of things in the kitchen (such as a cooker) to create a golem. I haven’t even mentioned the PKE Meter at this point, but it’s faithful to the original and they obviously made sure it worked like it. You also switch to the spectral goggles, and will go into a first-person perspective so you can look around and scan for ghosts and artifacts. You also can scan ghosts to add data, such as what they’re weak to, to your Online Spirit Guide. You also get money for capturingor destroying ghosts, as well as aquiring artifacts. Anyway, after you defeat the golem, you run into another old friend out on the streets of New York. I’ve not gotten that far into the level yet, but so far I’m enjoying the ride. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to properly try out the online, social aspects of the game yet, as I can’t seem to join any games. I did try out the multiplayer though for one level, and it looks pretty good. I’m not officially at the stage where I can review it, but even so, I do get the impression that it’s deserving of the 8-9/10 score that it’s gotten.

After all, who doesn’t want to strap on a proton pack and bust some ghosts?

That concludes my first impressions for now, but when my games blog comes up, I’ll hopefully be able to have a review as well. An early forewarning though… all my games-related blog posts will be moved to the games blog, with a redirect. I’ll mention this later as well in a more public post, for those who chose not to read the small summary.