Found: One Troll

The new Ghostbusters game was released on Tueday, and I spent my evenings this week playing through the PC version. I am a huge Ghostbusters fan, and when I heard that Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis were writing the script and story for the new game, there was no way that it would not be a day-one purchase for me. They came through in a big way, but before I discuss the high points of the game, there are some seriously glaring problems with the PC version. Review after the jump.

Now, it was known before the release that the PC version would be inferior to the X360 and PS3 versions. The PC version lacks multiplayer (co-operative or competitive) and uses SecureROM DRM to call home for authentication when you install the game. I bought it anyway because a) I don’t give a shit about multiplayer; b)  if I avoided every game with SecureROM DRM I’d never get to play any PC games at all and c) the PC version only costs $30 compared to the console versions’ $60. Considering that even neutered, the PC version should sport better graphics by virtue of more able hardware and smoother controls with the keyboard and mouse, I reckon that’s a fair deal.

Unfortunately, the problems with the Ghostbusters PC version begin immediately with the  install. The game will not install properly in any directory other than the default path, on the C:\ drive. Since I don’t install applications to the C:\ drive, this left me a bit perplexed when the game didn’t run. In fact, the game didn’t install any of the executable files to the directory I selected, it installed all of them in the default location. The game will work if you just copy the files from the C:\ drive to the location you want, but you have to edit the Windows registry if you want the uninstaller to be able to find its new location later (the registry will list the game’s location on the C:\ drive as well). Frankly, this is an unforgivable error for the developers to make. This sort of thing should never make it past QA. And it isn’t the only serious oversight.

None of the versions have a proper save/load feature. The game autosaves at checkpoints every so often. If you die or quit the game, you reload from the checkpoint. No quicksave, no manual save. It’s ridiculous that a modern video game doesn’t have a properly implemented save system. The in-game cinematics are also clearly designed for the lowest common denominator. While the graphics during actual gameplay are excellent, the cinematics practically look like they were rendered at 640×480 and then simply upscaled to fit whatever resolution you might play at (1920×1200 in my case). My final gripe about the PC version is that the default mouse sensitivity is far too low. I’d have to actually have a clean desk to play at the default mouse sensitivity, and that after cranking up the hardware sensitivity on my Logitech laser mouse from 800 to 2000dpi. If you want to be able to play the game in the space of a regular mousepad, crank the in-game sensitivity to the maximum, and you might get close to a reasonable aiming speed.

With the gripes out of the way, here’s the good news. The writing is 100% pure awesome. Aykroyd and Ramis really delivered with this project. The game is as close as you can get to being a recruit Ghostbuster working with Drs. Venkman, Spengler, Stantz, and Zeddemore^[1]. All of the cast do a great job of reprising their roles, and the voice acting is incredible. Even Bill Murray, who in one of the preview clips for the game seemed to be phoning it in, delivered his lines very well. The team AI for the Ghostbusters is also very good. The guys will actually bust ghosts quite well on their own, and will rescue downed teammates and the player from sticky situations. The game is immersive enough that you can feel a sense of commraderie with the old crew.

Once you tweak the game controls to make sense, it plays very well. Even so, it’s clear that the game was designed from the ground up for console play and not for the PC. In fact, it’d probably be much easier to play the PC game with a gamepad if you have one. Zapping, wrangling, sliming, and trapping ghosts is a great deal of fun, and the game has plenty of fan service. Sometimes it’s almost a little too self-referential, but I doubt the game’s target audience will mind. It manages to have a good deal of enemy diversity through the entire game, something that would have been easy for the devs to fudge in a game which boils down to “shoot ghost, trap ghost. repeat.”

The selection of weapons in the game is definitely a strong point. There are few enough that it doesn’t feel like you’re constantly juggling weapons, and enough that you get a decent amount of diversity in your poltergeist poppin’ career. You can earn cash by finding rare PK-active items and trapping ghosts, and use that money to purchase upgrades for your experimental weapons. Egon is always quick to point out just how incredibly dangerous the 100lb device you’ve strapped to your back is. . . to friend and foe alike. Each weapon fills a specific niche and there’s usually a clear “best” weapon to use in each situation.

All-in-all, if you’re a Ghostbusters fan you’ll love this game, but I can’t recommend the PC version unless you’re a power user who doesn’t mind spending 30 minutes tweaking it to make it work properly. If that isn’t you, rent or buy one of the console versions. The game is fairly short; I beat it in about 12 hours on the normal difficulty level, and that was after I spent some time looking for all the collectible artifacts in the game. If you aren’t a Ghostbusters fan, 1) I’m not sure we can be friends, and 2) skip it.

1. Winston’s PhD studies are mentioned in the game [↩]