Ghostbusters for PlayStation 3 Reviews by Gamers

In my experience movie-based games tend to fall flat. Something really gets lost in the translation. As with all things there are a few exceptions. Ghostbusters is based on the franchise, but is not based on one of the films. This formula seems bizarre, but works surprisingly well. Written by Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis (just like the films) it also features the voice talents of the original stars (Akroyd, Ramis, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson).

The writing is funny and appropriate to the series (though having Winston wonder aloud why there are so many "spooks" in Central Park pushes the limits of taste). In fact, it could be considered Ghostbusters 3, though rumor has it they are now working on a film that will claim that title. Personally I never cared for the films. The game, however, was enjoyable. The controls are pretty fluid but I did occasionally stumble when attempting maneuvers that are not used often. Gameplay is kept fresh through the continual addition of new weapons and devices. Unfortunately the new weapons became useful only in context during later stages and some I never used because I forgot what to do with them.

Gameplay and on the fly dialogue does get repetitive during the end game. Which is sad considering gameplay is less than 12 hours, significantly less if you are good. There are plenty of hidden objects and secondary goals that could extend your experience. I didn't spend the extra time for what amounts to trophy hunting. Considering how long the game has been out it's no surprise that online multiplayer is basically dead so those trophies are not achievable anyway and platinum is out of reach.

I can definitely see a strong future for this series in the game world even without a new movie on the horizon. Considering the trials this game beat to even come to market this may never happen. If I were making the sequel I would go 4 player co-op, a la Left 4 Dead. Or, with the right story tweaks, an MMO is not impossible.

I like the concept of this game. It was fun. The original voice actors were excellent. The story was good as well. Other reviewers stated that the controls were a bit confusing. I would agree with that but I did not find that to be the biggest downfall of this game.

My biggest problem with this game was that the game was constantly requiring you to use your PKE meter. For those who do not remember, this is the device used to detect ghosts and other paranormal activity. The problem was, when you used the PKE meter, you were looking through green goggles. Your screen becomes rounded like you are looking through binoculars and it takes on a green color like you need to adjust the tint.

The environment is well crafted. There is a lot to wander around and see. But looking through the PKE meter destroys much of it. It would have been better had the PKE meter just brought up some tracking bars at the bottom of the screen without throwing in the binocular/funny color effects. I felt like I was missing so much having my vision focused like that.

Batman had something similar with their "detective mode". While I didn't like the fact that it turned the environment strange colors, that game didn't have the binocular effect making it much less bothersome.

The story and game were fun enough, but the PKE meter really was that distracting. I would give this game a pass.

no multiplayer offline mode. very dissapointed. they should have 4 ghosbuster 4splitscreen. more fun. with friends.

This game is alright they got everything right from the movies but the stroy was lame and boring i thought the one on sega gen was ten times better i hope they can make a better ghostbusters game in a few years i hope.

Can it be? Rare it is, indeed, for a Hollywood game would pique my interest as it is a game I'm going to have a second look at it.. This game is a hollywood movie-game that is not horrible.. Don't get me wrong, but the last couple of hollywood games Woverine and the Hulk didn't turn-out so well.. This game offers some degree of options and seems to have a good blend to it. It is missing some features as I wouild have liked a more sand-box approach to this game, instead of having it staged and leveled like it is now. being able to drive Ecto-1 would have been cool. It ain't bad, but ain't perfect. The only other Hollywood based game I am pleased to own is The Godfather. So it is nice to know that this game is there as it possibly represents that Hollywood- movie based games are in fact improving, but time will tell if this game is a step in the right direction, or if it like Godfather was a fluke..

Felt like I was playing a PSone game on a PS3. I like the movies. If you enjoy the movies you should probably give it a try. It wasn't worth my time. Great to see the actual voices of the characters come out however. Probably the only high point of this game. I'd rather go buy an NES and play the Ghostbusters game on that.

The positives first. The storyline in single player is enjoyable, and not too difficult, even on hard difficulty. It is also not too long, which some see as a bad thing, for me I don't always want a game that will take 3 weeks to get through (playing every day)

The multiplayer (co-op) also has some fun modes and levels. If that is all there is to a game, then I'd rate it higher than I do. But the multiplayer servers are glitchy and people who like to complete all the trophies of a game will find the experience intolerably frustrating. Getting all the trophies actually wouldn't be that hard or time intensive if it weren't for the poor servers. If you are working through all the single player trophies and expecting the multiplayer trophies to be a reasonable task, you might rethink going after the trophies on this one, and settling for a level of completion far below 100%.

The problem is mainly a combination of the game not tracking your progress toward some of the multiplayer trophies, and the servers not saving the results of all the matches, the result of which is that you can have a checklist approach, and still not get the trophy you think you just earned...and have no idea what you need to do to finish it. The biggest culprit is "Gozer's Most Wanted" where you have to win in every match type on every map. You can print a checklist and satisfy every condition, and then.........no trophy. Why? Because it seems that some of the matches didn't count because the server didn't save the statistics. And since the game doesn't specifically tell you which ones are still missing, you have no way of knowing which to go back and do, other than to retry them all. But that is also no guarantee that it will all save correctly the second time. As a result, I reluctantly gave up one trophy short of completion. I wish I had known in advance, as I wouldn't have bothered with mutiplayer at all.

Let me begin by saying how happy I am that this game was picked up by Atari. Last summer it was canceled due to the fact that it was a game based on a movie that had no movie on the way. Wow big mistake. You play the game as a rookie Ghostbuster just starting out on his first day on the job. It doesn't take long before you're thrust into the thick of it. Talk about on the job training. The game plays as if you are in the film and really makes you feel like you're part of the team. With the original ghostbusters lending their voices. The visuals are top notch,very crisp. The effects of the proton stream and trapping are very realistic. There are also some genuinely scary moments to be had. Game play involves an over the shoulder view with a shooter set-up. Targeting a ghost is as easy as point and shoot. Once you have weakened it enough you can use your proton stream to grab the ghost and pull it side to side or up and down, or you can slam the heck of it. Toss your trap and guide the ghost in. You will have access to a PKE meter which you use to track and scan ghosts and other paranormal materials, such as the location of the games artifacts. As you play you will earn cash that can be spent to upgrade your Proton Pack and trapping abilities. You will also have access to "Tobin's Spirit Guide" to learn a little GB history involving the spirits. So if you like collecting stuff then you'll be happy. The game is very easy to jump right in and begin playing. I gotta say that I was a little concerned about it being a movie game since those types of titles usually aren't very good,but GB definitely breaks the mold. I'm extremely happy with the way things turned out and I'm even more happy that it wasn't shelved forever.Good work Terminal Reality you made a huge hit.The Story for this title was written to basically be Ghostbusters 3 and with all the Hype this title has generated it actually has spurned the writing of an actual third film that is scheduled for a 2010 release

I don't think any gamer or game reviewer could ever have predicted how good the Ghostbusters video game would come out. The Ghostbusters video game is easily the biggest surprise of the video game industry in 2009.

If you're a Ghostbusters fan like me, you'll fall in love completely with this game. The voiceover is amazingly done (Bill Murray is AWESOME, easily the best one), with each Ghostbuster sounded just like they did 25 years ago. And SURPRISE, they even got Walter Peck began to play along in this game! Nice!

The gameplay has its unique, Ghostbuster touch to it while at the same time keeps it awfully simple. Catching ghosts might seem complicated at first, but once you begin to upgrade your gear, it will become easier (especially when you get the slam dunk maneuver).

The story could easily have been the third movie. It has the original Ghostbuster touch while embracing the new age Science Fiction world. Although your character The Rookie is a bit bland, the rest of the characters are very enjoyable, and the developers do a wonderful job to connect all past storylines and ghosts (i.e. the classic Librarian...ssshhhh).

The one big downfall is the health system. You will spend a lot of time reviving your partners or waiting to be revived. It is something that can be frustrating at times while playing, but the story and one-liners from the Ghost Busters will help you overlook this problem.

I tried not to be bias and thought really hard about this, and I decided this has nothing about being a Ghostbusters fan. The Ghostbusters video game is easily the most fun game I've played this year, 2nd best game I've played this year (second to UFC), and I hope this opens the doors to a 3rd movie. You WILL enjoy this game.

Ghostbusters gets an easy seven from me. The transition from movie to video game has seemed to be pulled off flawlessly. Most games mistakenly make you replay the movie you watched days, weeks, or months ago. This is wrong. Ghostbusters has been executed in a way that doesn’t make you make petty comparisons to the past movies. The likenesses along with their mannerisms and voices added to the nostalgia factor better then any other contributing factor in the game. The storyline was executed perfectly. Instead of playing back through events that occurred in the movies with filler missions, in a failed attempt to increase the length of the game, you experience the role of a new “cadet.” Playing as an experimental weapons technician, who just joined the Ghostbusters, you follow the original cast through a series of missions with promise of battling Gozer. The game play seems creative enough, although is lacking the addictive factor. The controls seem cumbersome at first but eventually, after several missions, they finally fall into place. Hunting down items/samples, locating significant anomalies and hunting ghosts through use of a separate PKE screen becomes annoying very quickly. However the action infused ghost encounters quickly make up for this drawback. The quirkiness Ghostbusters humor keep you smiling throughout the game. Even though this game is entirely on rails, it provides solid game play and humor from start to finish. Definitely worth playing if you had any previous experience with the Ghostbusters movies.

there's only a couple things I didn't like about the game.

1. The extremely short length.
2. The story at point seems to literally lag behind the game play. There are moments where I am just sitting there waiting around for something to happen because the game isn't progressing and the action is at a stand still
3. There was a time or two where I died in combat and one of the others was coming to revive me and they got stuck running in place for a bit.

Other than that though I found the story enjoyable and the actual ghost busting was incredibly fun.

some great things about it though are

1. Ghost busting is just absolutely awesome.
2. Even though you don't talk you do feel like a Ghostbuster.
3. The atmosphere is very ghostbusterish and definitely draws you in. It also makes you feel a little creeped out
4. Hearing the banter even though it repeats from time to time is great

It was a great game. The kids loved it. I agree it was kinda short though, But as always when the children are satisfied the parents are as well.

I've been looking forward to this game for years. I had my hopes up, but in the back of my mind I've never played a "movie game" that I've really enjoyed. Let's just say I wasn't disappointed. The graphics are great and the story is funny and entertaining. The game play is fun and it's the type of game that you won't get bored with. The only thing that gets annoying is having to revive your teammates quite often, but I do like how it adds a bit more difficulty to the game. I'm a fan of the movies and if you are too, you need to get this game.

This is a fun little game that takes you back to the days when Gostbusters was all the rage. The game is fun but does get a little tedious. The game is very short, maybe 8 hours. On the plus side the graphics are amazing and they got all of the original actors for the voice work. If it was longer, it would get a higher rating.

This game did a really good job translating the proton pack and ghost wrangling to the PS3. The graphics are average-good and the voice over work is very good though repetitive at times (especially Murray's character). Winston was a stronger presence in this game than in the films which is a testament to how far we've come since the 1980's, though the game could have done better in allowing the user to customize the race and gender of the avatar. Loading times were great and there were only a few minor bugs. I would have liked to have seen more customization on the difficulty levels (once you set it for the career it stays that way) and dialogue choices for my character. Also, it would have been nice to get behind the wheel of the ecto-1 in at least one chapter. This is a good solid game that will renew interest in the franchise and get people psyched up for the new movie scheduled for 2012.

Well im about to the Library scene and so far I can say that I am very impressed. Graphics are good, loading time is short, and overall gameplay I would rate at a 9/10. The voiceovers from the original cast makes the gameplay more enjoyable. When it comes to the fun stuff... IE shooting and trapping ghosts... there are many weapons and styles to choose from, so it never gets boring.

I was very skepticall over the last several months about the playability and storyline of the game, but I have to say that all of my fears were resloved when I bought the game yesterday and started to play it. You will not be dissapointed.

As a fan of the movies I am enjoying this game a great deal.

The graphics are pretty good as is the game play. Probably the only complaint I have is it feels like your being held back a little by the other characters in the game.

This is a must rent. Even if you dont know the movie franchise all that well I believe you will still enjoy this game.

this game is nothing but garbage. im a huge fan of the movies and i had high hopes for this game when they announced this title, but dont be fooled by the name of the franchise. this game does nothing to live up to the title of Ghostbusters. the controls on this game are horrendous. the layout of all your gadgets and moves are so convoluted around the controller that your fingers have no idea where to be at the right time. besides the character models, visuals are mediocore at best. the story looks like it might be rewarding to those who can stand the constant one liners and forced jokes that the game tries to make funny. some might not agree with me but in my opinion this is not even worth the rent

As as add-on to the Ghostbusters films I think that Atari would have had a hard time doing a better story integration. It's a great in-movie experience. The cut scenes are well done, the dialog is well written outside of the repetitiveness of a few character prompts in-game, and the voice acting is superb. I really didn't even have much of a problem with Bill Murray's revisit of Peter Venkman. Of the voice cast I think that Harold Ramis absolutely nailed Egon Spengler. His lines had me laughing several times throughout the game.

The graphics are well done in-game, although some of the cut scenes looked a bit outdated. The musical score and sound effects were absolutely superb.

The controls were very easy master, although I did find myself misfiring a particular shot here and there. That I blame on adrenaline and not the game. Game play for the first few hours is very entertaining, although I found myself getting bored after about 6 hours into the game. The boss battles were somehow less challenging than a few of the regular encounters, and you'll find yourself going through a LOT of regular encounters.

Enemies for the most part are a good mixture of difficulty and strategy, although I did find that there were a few sections where you are basically Zerg rushed and have to spend more time sprinting around reviving your team mates than you are actually combating ghosts.

Level design was pretty much spot on throughout the game, and the designers really did a great job of creating of tense, creepy atmosphere. Generally you always have an idea where you are supposed to be going, and what you are supposed to be doing. Probably the only exception to this is the graveyard level towards the end of the game. That one had me roaming aimlessly around for quite a bit until I reached an area of the level that happened to have a trigger that allowed me to advance. An annoyance, but a minor one.

All in all this is a great rental that happens to also include a great story.

This game was done for complete love of the franchise, AI responds great to the user, as well as keeping other ghosts in check. the on-screen commands work very well. makes you want to watch the movies.

Graphics were ok.But sent it back after one day.

ok, here is the deal, i am a father of 2 small boys whop owns my own business so when i get gaming time i need to use it for game playing. this game had crazy long cut scenes that i couldn't figure out how to skip and thus never did and thus wasted valuable time sitting through them. they aren't bad, just WAY to long. to make matters worse, the game crashed the first time i played it during training and i had to reboot the ps3 (oh yeah, it takes about 40 minutes to actually install the game for the first time - i kid you not) and it didn't auto save and i had to sit through the SAME CUT SCENES again. when i rebooted on another night (as i wasted all my time the first night) the game crashed again in the hotel area and i just had enough and mailed it back. boo you atari.

As a fan of the original Ghostbusters movie, this game was like a bonus sequel. The original cast is intact and the amount of voice acting and cut-scenes could easily fill a feature film script. The game really does try to make you feel like you are with the movie stars as you are rarely without one or more Ghostbusters at your side. As a playable movie, I'd give this a 9, just missing a 10 due to Bill Murray's sometimes uninteligible lines (was he drunk while recording?) and some questionable special effects.

As a game, Ghostbusters isn't quite as polished. There is a learning curve, and some enemies seem more challenging than they should be. The controls work pretty good once you have some practice with them, but some things like wrangling ghosts with SixAxis control just don't feel right. The upgrades to your proton pack are essential to defeat tougher ghosts, and they definitely add some spice to the gameplay.

I would recommend that anyone who enjoyed the original Ghostbusters movie play though this game on Easy just to watch the cutscenes. I would not recommend it as a purchase as only the most determined of game completionists could handle multiple playthroughs to unlock all the trophies.

First things first I loved this game it was fun and had a great story. I would have given it a 9 but I did experience a few problems with it

1. The game froze (self explanatory)

2. This one almost made me lose it. I turned on the game and my save was missing. Ok at this point I am freaking out but I went to the ps menu screen and started the game back and my save was back. Any other game I would have sent back without finishing but Ghostbusters is so much fun that I kept on playing.

3. It is a little on the short side. I finished it in under 7 hours.

I highly reccomend this game and plan on buying it when the price is right.