Ghostbusters
- May 05, 2008 13:31 PM PST
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There are few retro movie franchises that are as beloved and as iconic as the Ghostbusters.
For gamers of a certain generation, the Ghostbusters still stands as a seminal geek film: like the original Star Wars and Back to the Future, it's just one of those movies that you can't help but love. This helps explain why, when rumblings of a new-gen Ghostbusters game first leaked onto the Internet, speculation ran wild. Gamers around the world began to dream of the day that they could strap on a virtual Proton-pack and go hunt down nasty ghosts. Now, thanks to developer Terminal Reality, that dream is about to come true.
You Know Who to Call
I didn't get much in the way of hard details out of my short demo with the 360 version of the game. They didn't revealed any of the story elements, though I did learn that you play as a new recruit to the Ghostbusters team-sorry fanboys, but you won't be stepping into the boots of the original cast this time around-nor did they discuss things like the number of levels and included modes. But what they did do was show off the game's insane physics engine.
Dubbed the Velocity Engine, this piece of custom tech can produce some ridiculous onscreen effects. The dev team conjured up an alley way and filled it with bystanders, all of whom had their own pathfinding routines-at one point, there were over a thousand discrete characters on the screen. They then took us into the public library that provided the setting for the ghostly intro sequence from the first movie. Inside, books and tables and chairs realistically flew apart as they were hit by proton beam fire, providing an awesome display of physics and carnage. They also demonstrated a gun that fired blobs of ecto-slime. First, some cars were spawned inside the library. A blob of slime was fired onto the car's hood and then a linked blob was shot onto the ceiling; the slime then contracted together, pulling the car upwards. It was hilariously unrealistic and I couldn't imagine a scenario where you'd actually have to do that in-game but it was yet another eye-opening example of what the physics engine is capable of.
Puft Daddy
The rest of the demo was spent sampling the tasty ghost-busting gameplay. I watched as the main character ran alongside members of the Ghostbusters team, battling ghosts and navigating treacherous terrain as they headed towards a rooftop confrontation with, who else, the Stay Puft Marshmellow Man. It was classic Ghostbusting action as the team fired their proton-packs, trapped ghosts in the shimmering beams then tossed out traps to contain them. The game's visuals, powered by the Infernal Engine, were gorgeous and they really captured the look of the movie; at one point, they showed off the Ecto-1 and the level of detail was pretty freaking sweet.
The demo ended shortly after the team ran into Stay Puft and fired off a few shots but my brief time with the game got me excited to strap on a proton-pack of my own. Of course, there was one thing that gave me pause-the battles against the minor ghosts and ghouls seemed a little tedious. Considering how long it took to trap a ghost and further considering the fact that there are a lot of them to contend with, I could see how it might get a little tiresome. But I'm hoping that the developers keep things moving along and that the movie's trademark humor comes shining through. As someone who loved the first two movies, I can't wait to get my hands on the game and see if it lives up to my expectations; I have no doubts that you feel the same way.
