➤ Ghostbusters: The Remastered Video Game, the review 🎮

We open the Ghostbusters review: The Remastered Videogame Speaking of cinema: last January, the short teaser of a few seconds of Ghostbusters 3 heated the hearts of all fans of one of the cult series of the eighties. On the other hand, Ghostbusters are a real media icon still firmly in the hearts of their fans, who after thirty years hope to be able to see them again on the big screen next summer. In the meantime, those who own a console or a computer could pass the wait with what remains one of the best tie-ins ever dedicated to them, namely Ghostbusters: The Videogame. Edited by Saber Interactive for the PlayStation, 4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch editions, the title is being revived these days in a remastered edition that, let's say it right away, has left us somewhat perplexed.

Who will you call?

Ghostbusters: The Remastered Videogame first offers only the single player campaign, reserving the right to integrate competitive and cooperative multiplayer at a later time. Based on a story written by Dan Aykroyd e Harold Ramis, rather faithful to what should have been the third cinematic chapter a few years ago, the game is proposed as a true narrative sequel to the two films directed by Ivan Reitman. And it does so from every point of view, starting with the staging of the events, then the direction and the plot, which offers several references to the saga film with lots of historical lines and some cameos. The player plays the role of a new one recruit of the team with a plot that develops around an emanation of spectral energy connected in some way to the Sumerian god dude, the one faced in the finale of the first film in the series. Ray, Egon, Peter, Winston and the newcomer immediately begin to investigate, but barring their way they will find dozens of angry ghosts and old acquaintances.

Ghostbusters: The Remastered Video Game, the review

In terms of gameplay, for those who do not know it, the title offers the classic structure of a third-person action game, but with exclusive mechanics due to the weapons used and the objectives of the adventure, perfectly capable of make the atmosphere of the films and replicate the daily routine of Ghost Buster. The nodal point of the experience is in fact the hunt for ghosts, to be approached paying particular attention to the traces they leave together with other clues scattered within fairly linear but extremely fascinating settings to explore. Once the prey, we must then weaken it as much as possible before giving it the coup de grace by imprisoning it. To do this you need to use the rifle protonico supplied, connected to the backpack of the same name containing a portable proton accelerator that can be upgraded with additional functions, which forms an energy screen capable of immobilizing the ghosts, drag them and place them on top of one trap into which they will be inexorably sucked.

This mechanic is made decidedly fun and faithful to the original concept of the films, thanks also to precise and discreetly reactive controls: see your opponent flutter almost randomly, go through objects and possess them, and then face them and capture them it's really satisfying. And it becomes more so when the enemies become more difficult without actually a "natural" progression (the level of difficulty in this sense is fluctuating, thanks to an artificial intelligence not always up to the situation) and it is necessary to know how to exploit in combination a variety of equipment and gadget. Among these there are useful ones to replace the basic proton flux with freezing energy beams, photonic machine guns and with the infamous slime seen in the second film. The attempt of the developers to reconstruct a cinematic experience as much as possible can also be seen in the choice of eliminating any indicator of vital energy, relegating to this function a series of LEDs and lights present on the backpack proton: health status and weapons reload appear directly on the character.

We are ready to believe you!

So far the positive aspects of a fairly good experience between ups and downs. But a remastered is such also and above all for the technical sector. And here the real ones come out flaws: Saber Interactive has done very little to adapt the game to the new consoles and hardware of the most modern PCs, limiting itself to increasing the resolution without changing the textures of the original and the framerate, even if this has not solved some of those problems already present in 2009: the general action is therefore significantly more dynamic, but we recorded the same gods slowdowns in some situations. More than a remastered game, it almost looks like a port: even the movies have kept their original aspect and resolution.

In general, the graphics engine is the same: it performed well at the time and still behaves discreetly, allowing the game to stand up visually thanks to the presence scenic of iconic characters and settings. From this point of view it is evident how the collaboration of part of the original team, which has lent semblances and voices to the story, has benefited the work, and continues to do so: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis e Ernie Hudson they are recreated very well, obviously with the graphic style of the game, as well as symbolic places like the Sedgwick Hotel or the inevitable headquarters. Even during the clashes, between a riot of explosions, pieces of wall and tables that crumble as the opponents move convulsively in an attempt to escape, the game manages to make the suggestions of films.

Other painful notes unfortunately also come from the audio sector: if on the one hand we have the splendid original soundtrack of the films, as well as the interpretation of Murray, Aykroyd and associates, nothing short of great in giving voice to themselves in digital version, on the other miss the dubbing in Spanish. An absence in our opinion heavy as well as inexplicable, given that it was present in the 2009 edition and that the voices of the late Sergio Di Giulio or Mario Cordova, just to name two, they helped to give a greater sense of involvement and identification to the Spanish players.

Comment

Tested version PlayStation 4 Digital Delivery PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop Price 29,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

6.5

Readers (13)

7.3

Your vote

Evaluating a game like Ghostbusters: The Remastered Video Game is really complicated: net of the defects, the base title remains fun to play, especially for the appeal of the brand. Between ghosts to capture, grotesque situations that follow the spirit of the films and a dubbing in English that has nothing to envy to that of the films, the player is catapulted into a beautiful adventure where he feels "at home", alongside of old friends. The problem, however, is another: why propose it again in an edition that adds nothing to the original 2009, and which is paradoxically more limited? The remastering work has been done a bit with feet: apart from an increase in resolution there is little else, and even the past defects have practically remained unchanged. As if that were not enough, the developer has even eliminated the multiplayer mode and the dubbing in Spanish. In short, as it is Ghostbusters: The Remastered Videogame is a production that was not felt the need, which could be of interest only to the most avid fans of the Ghostbusters who have not had the opportunity to play it, and have no way to recover it in the original edition. on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or PC.