Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed

[Helmsly]

Being made by developer Illfonic (makers of Friday the 13th: The Game and Predator: Hunting Grounds) and due to be released at the end of this year for PC (Epic Store exclusive), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5,  Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.

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Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, an all-ages take on its brand of four-versus-one asymmetric multiplayer games, where you play as your own original Ghostbusters team — or take on the role of a ghost hellbent on wreaking haunted havoc.

[Sméagol]

That seems so obvious in hindsight.. I love the idea.

[Helmsly]

This was recently released on the Switch (as well as Steam) along with a major update which re-titled it Spirits Unleashed Ecto Edition and added a bunch of new options and features a and a new mode, so I picked it up on Switch. I am a huge Ghostbuster fan so I wanted to try this game since it was announced, but I was worried I wouldn't enjoy a 1vs4 game, as that has never been a genre of game I've really been into. But I have found myself really enjoying it and playing it a few hours a day.

Gameplay-wise, From the perspective of the players playing as Ghostbusters, the gameplay is how you would expect it to be: They have to search the building looking for the ghost. You can use the PKE meter the scan around and to help find him. When you find him you have to throw your trap and blast him to drag him into the trap with your proton beam. It's not easy though, especially when a real person is controlling the ghost.

You can customize each part of your gear to have different perks like better battery life, longer scanning range etc which normally make compromises to other stats like running speed. As well as cosmetic changes like making the gear look like how they did in the 80's cartoon or the 2016 movie. And a bunch of others.

The player playing as a Ghost has to haunt a building by possessing random objects and frightening the the NPC's to raise the buildings 'Haunt level'. If he manages to get it to 100% he wins. The ghost has three "rifts" hidden around the level which are basically his lives, so if he gets caught in a trap he can return back using a rift. However the Ghostbusters can find these rifts before hand and destroy them (it takes ages to wear them down and leaves them vulnerable when they're focused on one) .

There is also a character creation option which is pretty good to mess around in. I was boring and just recreated the Ghostbusters from the 80's cartoon, but the character's you are not using just wonder around the firehouse doing random things, so its cool to see them hanging around the place:

 

 

I'm enjoying the game a lot and its clear that a lot of love went into making it from the developers, as there are so many references to both the movies and the cartoons everywhere. The fanboy in me just likes wondering around the Firehouse, which serves as the Hub area to access everything. They have moved Ray's Occult Book store from the second movie right next door, so you can wonder over there and talk to Ray, or shoot a target range of ghosts in the alleyway in-between. They have Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson reprising their roles as Ray and Winston who seem to have a lot of recorded dialog if you walk up to their NPC's to talk.

There is also a story that runs as you level up. It's short but being as this is an online focused game its not a big issue, plus the latest update added a new story that kicks in once you finish the first one.

It's not without its issues though, as mentioned the story mode is short, I think some of the quests (or contracts as they call it) are way too much of a slog to complete just to unlock some alternative colours or nametags and the game itself is a little buggy. I have had it crash twice on the Switch and stuff like the opening cutscenes are a little janky as it as though the game can't run everything as fast as the scene is asking it to. But its a good game, and I think it has a lot of potential. I am of the understanding they are planning more content so I am looking forward to whatever they add next.

 

 

Edited October 23, 2023 by Helmsly