Mother Pus Bucket! | The Ghostbusters Review (Xbox 360)

Hot on the heels of the 25th anniversary of the original Ghostbusters Theatrical release, comes the one-two punch of the Blu-Ray Release (check out a great review here) and Ghostbusters: The Video Game.

We've already reviewed the Wii version on the site, you can check that out here, but wanted to go into some of the differences on the Xbox 360 version.

Other than the noticeable graphical difference (the wii version is a decidedly more cartoony affair), the Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis penned story is the spiritual successor to Ghostbusters 2. Set two years after the events of that film, you play the new "silent" recruit, the fifth-wheel to the original four (all voiced by the original actors) and guinea-pig for Egon's new testing equipment. The supernatural happenings are back in full-force in Manhattan, you'll see plenty of new spirits, but expect some run-in's with some of those all-time favorites from the classic films.

It's with that mentioned above that that the first hour or two feels more like a re-hash of a few scenes from the original flick. Banking on hooking you in with nostalgia, you'll head back to Hotel Sedgewick, back to the Library, and even encounter the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. After you get past that, however, the game feels entirely new, with new areas to explore, and with the twist of entering other dimensions, adds a puzzle-like element to the game.

The controls are standard 3rd-person fare here, you move your character with the left stick, and control your camera view with the right. Using a combination of the right and left triggers, you aim and fire your proton pack. Various upgrades are available as you earn money to unlock them. Though this upgrade system initially feels good, it lacks much depth and eventually feels like more of an afterthought.

The gameplay does alter the traditional 3rd-person shooter mechanic, as you're not just firing at anything that moves, you have to lower a ghosts defenses enough so that you can "capture" them and draw them into the trap. This tends to become difficult when there are multiple enemies on screen, and if you're playing solo, it's a crap shoot if your team mates will actually revive you (a'la Gears of War).

The xBox 360 version features co-op gameplay (1-4 players) as well as various multiplayer modes, including Containment, Slime Dunk and more!

The bottom line from our point of view, is outside some strange difficulty curves, and some other minor issues, this probably has to be one of the most faithful "movie-tie-in" games there is. I guess, to that point, I'd hope that 25 years is enough time to get it right. The game is fun, humorous, genuinely spooky at times, and basically a big interactive version of what could have been Ghostbusters 3.

Mashbuttons.com gives Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Xbox 360 version) 8 out of 10