88% Spectacular Visuals Fun Environments Easy Controls

Twenty years since sucking up ghosts while speeding along the street with a vacuum cleaner on top of a Cadillac on my old Amstrad CPC is a long time waiting. With a new film in the works, everything Ghostbusters is back in again and the PS3 is the first platform to get the latest Terminal Reality release.

The moment the familiar Ray Parker Jnr tune kicks in the hairs will stand up on the back of your neck. Not only is the game awash with the licensed music from the soundtrack, together with incidental music and original cast members doing the voice acting, this game is 'canon'. That means the story runs hand in hand with the films, no offshoots or alternative realities here.

Its now 1991, two years after the events of Ghostbusters. The busters, now a city-funded operation like the police and the fire department, must track down the source of the newest surge in supernatural activity that's crippling the Big Apple. Your part in all this is that of the fifth member of the team now that business is picking up. Unfortunately no face import or customization is
offered here for the 99% who don't look like the new star player of the team, but most of the cut scene and CGI action is on Dan Akyroyd, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis throughout.

From the word go the game play is damn good fun. This is no stale shooter. Ghosts often require a different approach and weapon to fully achieve the objectives. For example a long range slime rifle was required to purge the ghost from a possessed person, before we could catch the cretin with the nukes. There are also puzzles along the way before you even locate the ghosts and care needs to be taken on the status of your partner as they are your wild card who can quickly resuscitate you if you drop. The ghosts do, to some degree manage to scare while your hunting them. Many of these are genuine, others are meant to be corny and make you laugh all in traditional Ghostbuster satire.

The graphics are impressive. The character models share the likenesses of their on-screen counterparts excellently and the damage to both the environment and the larger ghosts looks great. Hitting the Marshmallow man covers you in goo, wallpaper, tables, curtains all flame up as the beams make contact, goo and burn marks mess up the players uniform, its all very well polished. Another great aspect is the collection of ghost data on the PKE meter allowing you to download it to the in game Tobin's spirit guide. PKE meter acts the same as a weapon, but instead scans for ghost and ectoplasm. Target the anomaly long enough and history, scientific data and other info on the ghost is added to the database for you to read up on. Its also great fun to be able to explore the station HQ.

When a game brings in the original voice actors not a lot can go really wrong and they fit in here perfectly. The story more than holds its own and every sound you would want and expect is here in amazing clarity making for a great gaming experience. All the original music from both movies are present and it really helps create dread and suspense. If you are a fan of the films you are going to love this and if your not, well, Ghostbusters humour and storyline will at least make you smile.
 

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