Ghostbusters

You know, I have completely checked out, people. Normally, this is where I make a joke about the Ghostbusters franchise, the large packs on their back, the ugly ass outfits, or how their car siren sounds like a horn farting, but really, I'm not feeling it. First of all, any joke I can make will be way too easy. Second, not every post I do has to try to be funny. So, instead of having some long ass intro paragraph with jokes that probably don't make sense, I'm just gonna start the review.

Didn't I just eat you for desert not too long ago?

All right people, Let's make this quick. You play the new, voiceless, nameless member of the ghostbuster. Your job as the cadet is to test all the new equipment...in case something goes wrong. You also has to catch ghosts, which you already knew from the job description (aka the first 2 movies). The story is written by the same people who wrote the movies, and the writing (admittedly a little too geeky) is so good, it can very well qualify as Ghostbusters 3. With good writing, you need to have good voice acting. Ghostbusters automatically scores points by having the cast back to do the voices, and they are still funny. They ALMOST do an excellent job. I say ALMOST because I have a few issues with Bill Murray. Half the time, his fuckin whispering, and I have to turn up the volume just to hear him. He's not bad, but it just sounds like they're not paying him enough to act well (and don't send me e-mails about how he can't act well).

Remember her?

The post label says shooter, but honestly, I don't know how to classify it. It operates like a shooter, but I don't think you can necessarily call it that. Anyway, if you played third person shooters before (and you have because I told you twice to get Gears of Wars 2), you should be familiar with the controls here, and they work well. Being the test dummy, you are the first to get all of the add-ons to your ion pack. You know, the big heavy shit on your back. You get photon darts that acts like rockets I guess, a stasis beam that's like a freeze ray, some blue shit that acts like a shotgun, green slime to kill some enemies (and slime your partners, which they hate), and so forth. You press the RB to manually vent your pack, which kinda works like reloading. Yea, let's call this a shooter. The action can get intense, leading to some fun moments, but the make or break part to any GB game is capturing ghosts. Once you weaken a ghost, it will be caught in your capture beam. At that point, you throw out your trap (if your parnter hasn't already done so), and try to get the bastard in there. It kinda works like a fishing game. They will constantly struggle to get free, and you're tugging them as hard as you can towards the light coming out the trap. Once they're in the light, you're still in a struggle to keep them from escaping the light so the trap can do its thing. Its actually more fun than I can make it sound, and probably the best part of the game, and it damn well should be. To make things more awesome, you'll go up against previous ghosts that the GB have already beaten. See the 2 pictures above. That's the Grey Lady from the library in the first movie. I think we all know who Stay Puft is, and get this: he's the second official boss you will face (I say 'official' because the first boss was so piss easy, I don't count him as a boss). He shows up so early, and the fight is so epic, you can't help but to get excited about the rest of the game. Online is also sweet, but it's not as competitive as I thought it would be. A lot of the game modes have you teaming up with others to beat ghost, but no game modes where you can blow each other up. It's still all good, though.

......Creepy!

Now That I'm done talking about sunshine and roses, it's time to talk shit. First on my list of complaints is the PKE googles and detector....thingie. See the picture above? When you need to find a ghost or just need to figure out where to go, whip out this shit. You can also find collectibles and scan ghost. My problem is these segments (when I'm pretty much forced to wear them) is that they're boring. Sometimes, a ghost will try to fuck with you when you're wearing them (like move furniture or pop out of nowhere), but for the most part I feel like taking a nap when it's time to use them. Second on my list is the Ghostbusters themselves. You know, the guys you work for. Why the fuck, as the new guy, am I better than them? Why the fuck, as the new guy, am I doing all the work? Why the fuck, as the new guy, do I have to revive them every 5 seconds? When you get knocked down, someone will come to help you. You must also return the favor. If nobody is around to revive you, it's game over. Prepare to see that a lot because your team is filled with idiots who don't know how to avoid danger. Also, why the fuck do we always have to separate for some arbitrary reasons? Wouldn't it be more efficient if we all went in, and kicked some ass (instead of just ME!)? Number 3 on the shit list: why can't I drive the Ecto - 1? I've always wanted to since I was a kid. Number 4: WHY THE FUCK CAN'T I DRIVE THE ECTO -1!?

TIMBEEEEEEEEEER!

If you're a Ghostbusters fan, you've already bought this game and are singing the theme song as we speak. For the rest of you, it all depends on how much you like it. That seems to be the game's biggest pitfalls. You have to actually like the movies to like this game. You also have to be familiar with third person shooters, but most xbox owner are, so that shouldn't be an issue. It's a good game all around, and I recommend it highly.

Rating: Sweet

NOTE: Yes, I have a PSP now. No, I will not start a PSP blog, so shove it. He knows who I'm talking to.