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Ghostbusters Co-Op Interview - The 360 and PS3 Versions Explored

Interview
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In part one of our Ghostbusters Interview we looked at the Wii version of the game and all the co-op features it offers. Today we talk with Michael Fetterman, Executive Producer and Brendan Goss, Producer from Terminal Reality about the co-op modes in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version.
 

Co-Optimus: What was the primary inspiration for the new gear/weapon/gadget design that the Ghostbusters will be testing? Will the Ecto get any upgrades to test out as well?

Michael Fetterman: The new equipment had to:

  1. Feel and look authentic to Ghostbusters. We wanted to stay true to the signature funky DIY ethic of the equipment, and to reflect that Egon & Ray are working with a little additional funding.
  2. Provide a very compelling range of tactical options that allows the player to develop his/her own preferred playing style while responding to a wide variety of dangerous ghost behaviors.
  3. Leave plenty of room for purchasing upgrades throughout the game to really level up the base equipment into instruments of pure mayhem.

We came to Dan (Aykroyd) with what we wanted the equipment to do, and he applied the names and proper scientific principals to each of them, so they’re 100% legit, as far as paranormal science is concerned.

The additional powerups for Multiplayer came from think “what other cool things would the Ghostbusters team use while on the job?”

 

Co-Optimus: How extensive is the character customizability? Will I be able to bring this character into the co-op session?

Michael: You’ll be able to select your character and weapon specialization for each co-op session. Weapon specialization affects your initial ability/power with that weapon and allow you to upgrade that weapon when in campaign mode.

 

 

Co-Optimus: Can you describe the co-op modes in detail? Is there any persistence between sessions?

Brendan Goss: Ghostbusters multiplayer has an Instant Action and a Campaign mode. Each mode allows you to play various “Jobs” or game types at locations around the city, playing as the Ghostbusters team. Instant Action is a single Job; Campaign is a linked series of Jobs.

The six Job types include” Containment- where the goal is to find and capture/destroy all ghosts in the area, Survival, where the team needs to work together to stay alive, Protection, where players protect some of Egon’s devices from a paranormal onslaught, Destruction, where the goal is to destroy a series of Evil Relics that appear and spawn enemies, Thief, where players need to keep ghosts from stealing special Artifacts, and Slime Dunk- a more competitive mode where players try to capture the most Slimers!

There is persistence between sessions in the form of online ranking, statistics, leaderboards, and Most Wanted Ghosts. Most Wanted Ghosts appear at various times in the game; like Pokemon (!), the goal is to find and capture them all…




 
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Author
Nicholas "bapenguin" Puleo
Owner and Managing Editor

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rafoca
12:26 PM
4/6/2009

"One, the Single Player game and story just isn’t designed for a co-op experience; it’s really about being a new recruit."

I hate when they use that excuse, cause I always remember Halo co-op and I know it would work.


Biohzrd451
1:17 PM
4/6/2009

I agree 100% Rafoca, with some slight adjustments they could have recorded two sets of dialog to acknowledge two new recruits instead of one. Still the coop multiplayer sounds like it can be alot of fun.


roland
3:33 PM
4/6/2009

Fully agreed. Resistance is a great example too. In the first Resistance, all the cutscenes and story just completely ignore the fact that there is a second player. And it didn't impact the fun we had playing through it at all.

I suspect that the second part of that answer is the bigger reason. They had the time/resources for one mode or the other, but not both. While I'm disappointed as a fan, no game has an unlimited budget.


rafoca
5:20 PM
4/6/2009

Yeah, guys, that is what I was talking about

They should admit they didn´t have the time or resources to make it, or maybe they couldn´t have done it without downgrading the graphics (we all know that campaign co-op can often force a graphical downgrade because of framerate issues, etc).

Anyway, based on a lot of devs, I am pretty sure that making a cooperative campaign is pretty hard to do it.


horror_spooky
5:37 PM
4/6/2009

Is there any split-screen confirmed?


Mrxknown_JG
7:47 PM
4/6/2009

Don't know, horror.

This is very interesting, I won't preorder it, but if this gets great reviews...I'll definitely get it.




Edited


txshurricane
11:57 PM
4/6/2009

Remember also that Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis are key ingredients to the campaign story, and they have a lot of final say in the matter of how many players can interact at once during the campaign.


COG_Network
8:54 AM
4/8/2009

SpyderTK says...
He kind of dodged the character customization question...


Mrxknown_JG
1:49 PM
4/8/2009

--- Replying to txshurricane -----

Which is only one player, but if the devs said "Hey, we're going to allow for two players to play together."

Dan and Harold, might be like, "Do they talk?"

"No, they're silent like the first player"

"Okay, no problem"
-------------------------

Of course, what would be better than the linked "Campaign mode" they got for MP. would be if you could go through the single player game without the story (aka the Original GB team). That way the players get the "feel" of being ghostbusters without feeling like a clone of Unreal. By that I mean, saying something is a campaign, when all it's actually just a series of MP matches with bots/ against bots.

To truly feel like a ghostbuster in a co-op setting requires an open map, that allows for a linear progressing. Like a building and the GB were sent cause of possible ghosts, they are not forced into one direction to find them and develop tactics are all to deal with them.

Unfortunately, that's not in this game


Zeus
4:41 PM
4/12/2009

I don't mind a separate co-op campaign -- generic one-shot missions are fine -- just as long as you don't need multiple Xbox 360s and TVs just to play. Left 4 Dead's inclusion of split-screen local co-op catapulted it from "just another zombie game" to "must have." The more companies supporting "friends on a couch" gaming, the better.


Mrxknown_JG
8:45 PM
4/12/2009

--- Replying to Zeus -----

generic one-shot missions? What do you think when you read that? Some map with multiple objectives to tackle?

Well, that's not what's in Ghostbusters. It's a series of Deathmatches or King of the hill. Do they sound like missions?


Willtur
12:27 PM
4/15/2009

sure hope they have offline system link. I hate the trend of online only co-op. I understand the logic in not allow split screen because of limitations but besides making me pay a live account I dont follow the online only logic.

I used to only play split-screen since I was limited to one box so I get the downside but trust me when I say if you invest in it there isn't quite a better gaming experience.

Crackdown
RE5
Saints Row 2
to name a few.


Mrxknown_JG
12:54 PM
4/15/2009

--- Replying to Willtur -----

The Wii version of the game has split-screen co-op, but it is unknown how many MP features from the other version are also, if any, in the Wii version.

It is unconfirmed if the PS3 or X360 have or do not have split-screen as far as I know.


Zeus
1:02 AM
4/16/2009

--- Replying to Mrxknown_JG -----

I didn't realize that. It doesn't even make sense. Why would the Ghostbusters deathmatch each other? This isn't Unreal Tournament. Yeesh. O_o


Mrxknown_JG
7:46 AM
4/16/2009

--- Replying to Zeus -----

Okay, well I went overboard with that statement. I met the series of missions are basically the setup from MP modes. Deathmatch -> capture/destroy all the ghosts

King of the Hill -> protect Egon's Equipment

Another one, where you have to stop the Ghosts from stealing stuff.

There's more, but let's not forget the "competitive" Slimeball where you have to drop slimers into a, I guess, basketball like hoop or maybe a trap.

My basic premise was that missions are fluid and can change or just have different objectives, the way Unreal & Ghostbuster (at least with co-op) go is not exactly campaign. I'll still play, and I bet I'll have fun.

But my point was Campaign is not equal to whatever you would call this.

Is my point clear now?

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Total Comments: 15

Release Date: 06.16.2009
Genre: Action
ESRB: Teen

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