PLATFORM: PC, PS4/5, XBOX ONE/SERIES (REVIEWED) | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
One of the most popular and successful movie, television and action figure franchises of the ‘80s and early ‘90s, Ghostbusters has remained an integral part of pop culture for the better part of forty years. Although the popularity of the crew of paranormal investigators hasn’t exactly waned over the years, they have been going through something of a resurgence or revival in recent times, with two new movies, tonnes of merch and a couple of new games all coming out in recent memory – the latest of which is the new offering from Colorado-based development team, Illfonic – Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed. But is it a worthy addition to the ever expanding Ghostbusters universe or is it just another smelly pile of ectoplasm? Well let’s don our trusty Proton Packs and find out, shall we?
Spirits Unleashed is a first person multiplayer game with slightly cartoonish graphics and presentation, in which players either control a rookie Ghostbuster or one of the ghosts in a series of arena-style levels. Although there is a story going on in the background, it is almost entirely separate from gameplay, so anyone expecting a traditional narrative based experience will be disappointed here. The focus instead is on your career as a fledgling Ghostbuster, with each new job that you take being represented by each new level that you play. The game starts with a rudimentary character creation mode in which you select the type of hero you wish to control, followed by a mandatory tutorial, then it’s off to the proverbial races as you take on your first job. The main game mode sees players finding and destroying the rifts hidden throughout each level so the ghost can’t respawn, before laying out traps to capture said ghost, all while trying to keep the poor little NPCs calm so they don’t evacuate the building through fear. This is done with the assistance of either a group of friends or a load of total online strangers, with an opposing team controlling the little spook. The Ghostbuster team needs to successfully capture the ghost to win, whereas the ghost player must completely haunt the level to be victorious.
Fans of the franchise will be pleased to see both Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson reprising their respective roles from the original movies, with tonnes of other Easter eggs and pieces of fan service thrown in for good measure. All in all, the gameplay is fun and mostly rewarding, and the Ghostbusting career is a neat idea – but where Spirits Unleashed ultimately lets itself down is with its lack of variety. There is only one game mode with no minigames or variations or anything. Even getting to play as a ghost feels like little more than a novelty – while it is a nice distraction, it’s an undeniably shallow experience that feels a little tacked on. Couple this rather egregious annoyance with the fact that there are nowhere near enough maps or variation between them, and you are left with an experience that almost feels unfinished. It’s really a shame more effort wasn’t made with the amount of content and general presentation of the game as there’s a really solid foundation here, just nothing that has been built upon.
Overall it’s hard to recommend Spirits Unleashed to anyone that isn’t either a huge fan of the franchise or a huge fan of online multiplayer games. There’s definitely some enjoyment to be had, but don’t be surprised if that enjoyment has a rather limited shelf life. Gameplay is solid and there’s no denying that bustin’ makes you feel good – paying the expected retail price for something this bare bones in 2022 however, does not.
