Pixelnauts.net

In a recent interview with gamesindustry.biz, Tigon's Ian Steven's on working with Hollywood to develop licensed games said, "The studio goes ahead and slates the films for production in the next couple of years, and part of that revenue stream is licensing and merchandising. For a lot of those guys...making videogames has been the same thing as making action figures, and putting your characters on cereal boxes, or making pyjamas." In other words, for Hollywood, the quality of the product itself doesn't matter so much, as long as there's a box out there with the Transformers, X-Men, Wall-E, or whatever, logo slapped on it.

Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, it's a business model that's proven to be quite successful throughout the years. What it means for gamers however, is that nine times out of ten, the game release based upon the movie that you love so dearly, will inevitably be, well, garbage. The reasons for this fact are manifold, but it can generally be marked down to the result of a condensed development cycle dictated by the source movie's rock solid release date. Yet every once in a great while, a game's development breaks the shackles of Hollywood interference and is granted the freedom to grow up on its own. Apparently also, only after the source material has aged for twenty-five years. Of course, I'm speaking of Atari's Ghostbusters.

Admittedly, I came into Ghostbusters expecting the stigma of licensed games to transcend even the distance of a quarter-century. And indeed reading many reviews of the title generally reveal that most critics felt that without the Ghostbusters license to support it, you're left with an otherwise rather shallow action game. But rest assured, fan of the series or not, there is a lot of fun to be had with Ghostbusters.

Where the game (like the films) excel is in the characters and premise. The player fills the role of a nameless new recruit to the Ghostbusters team, and truly after just a few minutes of running around with Peter, Ray, Egon, and Winston, you really will feel like one of the gang. Herein is the problem with the criticisms thrown Ghostbusters' way: quite simply, it is a Ghostbusters game. You can't separate the license from the game precisely because the premise is so decidedly unique. The fun comes from being a Ghostbuster, and the developers at Terminal Reality really pull it off.

Written by the original film scribes, Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis, Ghostbusters' story revolves around the 1984 film's arch-villain, Gozer, and a group of cultist worshipers intent on wreaking havoc in the streets of New York City. Of course, it's up to the gang to make sure that these evil beings are banished back to the realm from whence they came. Reviving the original villain does open up the opportunity for some fan pleasing moments (we once again encounter the iconic 'Stay Puft' marshmallow man, as well as some other familiar ghosts). While at times these homages and inevitable joke-repeats can feel a bit safe and uninspired, having the original cast returning in their beloved roles is enough to forgive this minor gripe. Hearing the droll, monotone voice of Janine begrudgingly answer the Ghostubusters' phone, seeing Walter Peck writhe at Peter Venkman's seemingly endless supply of jabs, and watching Egon and Ray banter about the dangers of ectoplasmic residue, is all very well written, funny, and enjoyable, whether you're familiar with their backstories or not.