Ghostbusters: The Video Game Co-Op Review

Review System(s): XBox 360, Playstation 3

Jim "txshurricane" McLaughlin Friday 19th of June 2009 11:24 AM

The co-op modes include Destruction, Containment, Survival, Thief, Protection, and the aforementioned Slime Dunk. Slime Dunk has been discussed, and the rest are pretty straightforward: Containment is a timed match that has your team capturing a certain amount of ghosts as quickly as possible; Thief is a capture-the-flag of sorts, wherein ghosts will try to make off with four artifacts that you must protect -- returning them is a matter of using your capture stream; in Protection you must activate three PKE stations, one at a time...meanwhile, waves of ghosts attack you and the station; and Destruction sets paranormal artifacts in various areas of a map, each of which spawn baddies until you destroy the artifacts. Survival is the mode we've been excited the most for, probably, and it doesn't disappoint; players work together to trap and blast waves of ghosts and creatures, each wave more difficult than the last. After ten waves, you've successfully survived the onslaught, and you can breathe once again.

You can level up by earning cash, rising to the rank cap of 20 eventually. Along the way, you'll unlock new uniforms, which are automatically displayed on your character. Sadly, there are no other persistent upgrades, meaning that you'll start off each match with your basic proton pack and work up its effectiveness as you play. Aside from a good number of Achievements and Trophies available online, there is also an impressive list of Most Wanted ghosts that will appear randomly in certain maps and game types; when one arrives, the game will give you a heads-up, and once the Most Wanted ghost is captured, everyone present can check them off. It's a neat way to provide some extra incentive to keep playing, even after reaching level 20.

Overall, I'm very happy with the game. It's not revolutionary, but I don't think it ever tries to be. Much in the way that Indiana Jones games reclaim the Tomb Raider premise through lore alone, Ghostbusters crashes the action game genre by reminding us why we love games that try to recreate our favorite classic action moments, be it on the big screen or in our backyards. Much in the same way that Richard Petty would draw interest at a Dale Earnhardt Jr. victory bash, Ghostbusters will turn plenty of heads for the time being. That said, I don't think that the online-only co-op modes are going to be enough to steal co-op fans from our current favorites in any long-term sense; Ghostbusters will help us to appreciate the roots of entertainment, and then will be fondly remembered as more original games inevitably trump it. Most gamers will get $60 worth out of it; the single player experience is top notch. There's really no excuse for not having that campaign available to player cooperatively. Perhaps it was a design decision to keep things a bit spooky, but we're advocates of players choice.

The Co-Op Experience: Online-only co-op allows four players to bust ghosts, earn cash, and level up together through a variety of familiar and unique instant-action game modes.

Score: 3.5 out of 5

Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience. Our General Score is more representitive of the overall experience.

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Tags: playstation 3 xbox 360 4 player co-op ghostbusters reviews

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Reader Comments

Biohzrd451 at 01:19 PM on 6.19.2009

Great review I hope to be getting this here pretty soon.

Tino at 04:49 PM on 6.19.2009

I gotta say I spent about a solid week with the Co-op and while I hated it at first, lagging a ton and inability to invite friends to ranked games, it really grew on me.

When there is no lag, the game is rock solid and there is a built in server browser so provided you are all in a party, you can tell your friends to look for your specific game.

justabaldguy at 05:19 PM on 6.19.2009

The lack of an in-game lobby is horrible, and the short co-op modes are just teases. That said, the single player mission is STELLAR!! At times the effects are almost overkill but man are they amazing. Personally I love wandering the firehouse looking for junk from the movies, like Louis' desk or the toaster on the pool table.

roland at 05:41 PM on 6.19.2009

I'm debating on if I will end up buying this now, or just wait for a price drop. Most of the reviews are pretty positive, just not sure if I want to pony up full price for it.

Bakken Hood at 06:02 PM on 6.19.2009

I'm with Roland-- it's on my when-the-price-drops list. I hear it's pretty short. It's a shame, because out here in the sticks with no XBL and no other gamers around, I could use a good single-player game. Ah well, I still need to see the second movie anyway.

phrozenfearz at 03:14 PM on 6.20.2009

Yeah, definitely waiting for this one to hit <$40. But I certainly can't wait for that day!

BigBadBob113 at 12:48 PM on 6.25.2009

I finally got around to playing some co-op last night. I enjoyed it. But I just gotta say, my biggest disappointment was the lack of a lobby. Once you finish a round, you are automatically booted to the menu, so you can no longer chat with your party, and there is no option to start a new round or anything. That was a big disappointment and frustration.

Gameplay itself was fun. I really enjoyed the survival mode. Containment was challenging, and the relic destruction was fun. The only mode I did not like was the one where you have to save artifacts from those thieving ghosts.

Overall, it was fun, and it gives life to the game and increases the replay value. I wasnt going to "keep it now" from Gamefly initially, but after playing online and enjoying it, Im considering dropping the $42 to keep it.

Total Comments: 7

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