Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered (Multi)
By: Saber
BETWEEN its Ivan Reitman-directed cast, Elmer Bernstein score and oh-so '80s special effects wizardry, Ghostbusters bottled lighting as a true hen's teeth item – an effects-laden comedy that was actually funny. Little wonder it became a cultural phenomenon.
The problem with the original movie was, of course, that the 'busters were all dudes. Thankfully, 2016's fauxminist reboot solved that problem. Battling ghouls and misogyny, it dragged the 'busters into the woke era, ransacking the concept for everything bar quality.
While the Ghostbusters don't exactly have a glowing remake relationship on the silver screen, this do-over of 2009's hit videogame bucks the trend. Referred to by Ghostbusters co-writer and star Dan Aykroyd as "the third Ghostbusters film", this decade-old actioner did plenty right.
Penned by the original creators and capturing the spirit of the beloved flick to a T right down to its grainy, early '80s Colombia Pictures logo, the game featured the voices and likenesses of stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson in an original story supervised by Aykroyd and Ramis.
It was easily one of the greatest movie to game adaptations, and now comes gussied up for modern rigs. Taking place in 1991 – two years after the god-awful/unfairly maligned sequel (delete according to your personal prejudice) – a museum dedicated to Gozer creates a spike in paranormal activity.
It's time to strap an unlicensed nuclear accelerator to your back as the Ghostbusters are back in business. Players fill the boiler suit of a rookie fighting alongside the gang on a whistle-stop tour of the original's best moments, from ridding the Sedgewick Hotel of Slimer to plugging Stay Puft with proton fury.
From then on, the game follows an original plot that does the franchise proud.
Playing out like the spiritual successor to Luigi's Mansion, its survival comedy involves scanning for spirits before coaxing them into your trap with the proton pack, accessing Tobin's Spirit Guide to find weakness and splurging your earnings on an arsenal of new weaponry. Players even get to burn some virtual asphalt in ECTO-1, which features in a race towards Times Square.
As a new recruit alongside the fab four, you'll find your iconic team are pretty cack-handed, constantly requiring help and taking their sweet time to revive you – and this incompetent AI is a real bugbear in later levels.
Visually a step up from the original, it's HD crisp, though obviously a generation removed. Those real-time cut scenes suffer from shonky animation and load times do drag on.
One poignant addition, though, is a memoriam for Harold Ramis, who sadly graduated from Ghostbuster to actual ghost in 2014.
A textbook example of how to marry nostalgia with new-fangled tech, nerds were practically crossing their streams in anticipation of this game 10 years ago – and they weren't disappointed, with plenty for the fan faithful to geek-out on.
Celebrating 35 years since the original film, Ghostbusters Remastered is a remake done right, and will raise any spirits dampened by the movie reboot as you discover that 'Bustin' still makes you feel good.
