Break out your Proton Pack; it's time to join the Ghostbusters. http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/impressionsArt.cfm?artid=17723 The Wii version of Ghostbusters: The Video Game features a very stylized, cartoony look and it runs on a modified version of the engine used for Red Fly Studios' previous effort, Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars. The game controls are relatively sound and simple, much like the overall level design. It uses an over-the-shoulder third-person view and the Wii Remote pointer is used heavily throughout the game to move the camera and aim your character's Proton Gun. You fire the gun by holding down the B button.
The level I played, reportedly the fourth level of the game, took place in the library that is famously haunted by Eleanor Witty, the Gray Lady. Accompanied by Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), you travel through the level to a confrontation with the library ghost.
Most puzzles in the game are solved by using Paragoggles, which reveals the spiritual world to the player. For example, at one point in the level I had to walk across a bridge that can only be seen while wearing the Paragoggles. You can also scan ghosts using the goggles much like the scan visor in the Metroid Prime series. The lesser enemies of this level are made up of books and can be easily defeated by a zap of the Proton Gun. As you get farther in the level, you run into ghosts that you must attack, stun, and trap. After focusing your gun's stream onto the ghost for a while, he becomes weak and then, with a flick of the Nunchuk, you put them into a capture stream. Then, you have to point the Wii Remote in the various directions on the screen as the game informs you. Eventually, you'll receive the cue to slam the Wii Remote downwards, slamming the ghost into the ground. With a bowling motion, you use the Nunchuk to throw out a trap and then you must guide the ghost towards it. There was a steep learning curve with this in the demo, but I think that has to do with the fact that the level being shown was from a later level. Once I figured out how trapping is done, it was fun and easy.
You use the same method to trap Eleanor Witty in the final battle of the level. I dodged books as I fired my Proton Gun away at the library ghost until I caught her in a capture stream and trapped her. While this didn't wear thin in the demo, I hope that Red Fly Studios varies the ghost trapping as the game progresses, especially in boss fights.
In addition to all that, you also have a running monetary total of the damage you caused throughout each level. While it doesn't have much of an effect on the overall game, it is a fun little meta game.
Overall, the demo was a nice taste of the potential the Wii version has. The graphics were very appealing and the Wii-specific controls worked wonderfully after I figured them out. I am eager to check out the full version when it hits store on June 16, 2009.
Topic: IMPRESSIONS: Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Read 4952 times)
