Ghostbusters: The Video Game facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Windows, PS3, and Xbox 360 box art
Developer(s)	Terminal Reality (PS3, Windows, X360) Red Fly Studio (PS2, PSP, Wii) War Drum Studios (PS2) Saber Interactive (Remastered) A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games
Publisher(s)	Atari Interactive Mad Dog Games (Remastered)
Director(s)	Drew Haworth
Producer(s)	Michael Duane Fetterman
Designer(s)	Andy Dombroski Glenn Gamble
Programmer(s)	Craig Reichard Nathan Peugh
Artist(s)	Austin Cline Grant Gosler Robert St Aubin Daniel Soni
Writer(s)	Dan Aykroyd Harold Ramis Flint Dille John Zuur Platten John Melchior Patrick Hegarty
Composer(s)	Kyle Richards Chris Rickwood
Series	Ghostbusters
Engine	Infernal Engine
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS Remastered Version: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release date(s)	June 16, 2009 PS2, PS3 June 16, 2009 EU Wii, Windows, Xbox 360 June 16, 2009 EU PlayStation Portable October 30, 2009 EU Remastered Version: Switch, PS4, Xbox One WW October 4, 2019
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Ghostbusters: The Video Game is a 2009 action-adventure game based on the Ghostbusters media franchise. Terminal Reality developed the Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 versions, while Red Fly Studio developed the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Wii versions. The game was released after several delays in development and multiple publisher changes. In North America, all versions of the game were published by Atari Interactive, while in Europe, the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation 3 versions were published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. A separate game for the Nintendo DS with the same title was developed by Zen Studios and released at the same time, albeit with substantial differences in the gameplay and story.

The game follows the player's character as a recruit in the Ghostbusters, a team of parapsychologists who pursue and capture ghosts. The game features elements of typical third-person shooters, but instead of a traditional gun, each player is equipped with a Proton Pack, and other technological means of fighting and capturing ghosts. The game's plot is set in 1991, two years after the events of Ghostbusters II, with the Ghostbusters team training the player's character while investigating paranormal activities in New York City.

Many of the principal cast members from the films were involved in the game's production. Each of the actors who portrayed the Ghostbusters in the films (Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson) lent their voices and likenesses to the in-game characters. It is also Ramis's final portrayal as Egon Spengler and story to the Ghostbusters franchise before his death in 2014, and the game's remastered edition was posthumously dedicated to him. Aykroyd and Ramis, who wrote the films, also aided in script doctoring for the game. Other film cast members to reprise their roles were William Atherton, and Annie Potts. Ghostbusters: The Video Game contains the soundtrack from the original Ghostbusters film, along with various characters, locations, and props featured in the films. Aykroyd later described the game as being "essentially the third movie."

The game received generally favorable reviews from critics, and more than three million copies were sold. A remastered version for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, developed by Saber Interactive and published by Mad Dog Games, was released on October 4, 2019.

Gameplay

The disembodied spirit of Ivo Shandor, shown prior to the character taking the Destructor Form called "The Architect", an unseen antagonist in the film Ghostbusters (1984), is formally introduced as the game's chief adversary.

The game's player character Rookie, in likeness of associate editor Ryan French

In-game likenesses of Ernie Hudson, Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, and Bill Murray

The single-player campaign is the same for the Xbox 360, Windows, and PlayStation 3 versions of the game. The Wii and PS2 versions have a significantly different campaign, but the stories are mostly identical.

The game is a third-person shooter, placing players in the role of a new recruit to the Ghostbusters team known as "the Rookie". Players control the Rookie's movements as he explores the environments of each level, seeking out paranormal activities and ghosts, either alone or in conjunction with the other Ghostbusters. Players can switch to a first-person perspective by equipping the Rookie with a PKE Meter and goggles. In this mode, paranormal items are highlighted and the PKE Meter helps direct players to ghosts or haunted artifacts.

In both the original and the remastered versions of the game, Terminal Reality's Infernal Engine allows for the Ghostbusters' Proton Stream to bend in real time, reacting as it did in the films.

Players can aim and fire a Proton Stream to weaken ghosts, before switching to a capture stream to manoeuvre them into a ghost trap. Continuous use of the Proton Pack causes it to overheat, and players are momentarily unable to use the pack's weapons until vented. The Capture Stream can also be used to "slam" ghosts, and move objects in the environment.

Over the course of the game, the Proton Pack can be upgraded to include additional firing modes such as the Shock Blast, Slime Blower (positively charged), and a Meson Collider, each with an alternate firing mode (a Boson Dart, Stasis Stream, Slime Tether and Overload Pulse). Upgrades are earned by capturing ghosts, and identifying cursed artifacts and new species of ghost. The game also tallies monetary destruction caused by the player, with Xbox 360 Achievements and PlayStation 3 Trophies awarded for either minimizing damage done, or for causing a high amount of damage.

Many of the achievements' names come from quotes in the films, such as the "You Gotta Try This Pole" achievement.

In place of a traditional heads-up display, the player's health and weapon status are represented as meters on the back of the Proton Pack. The player's health regenerates over time if they do not take further damage, and that can be revived if knocked down by any Ghostbusters still standing. Similarly, the player can help revive fallen team members. If all of the active Ghostbusters fall, including the player, the player will have to restart at the last checkpoint.

Other versions

The Wii, PlayStation 2, and PSP versions differ slightly from the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Windows versions. In addition to the cartoon-like graphics and the E10+ rating, the Wii version uses the Wii Remote for gameplay. Visual aspects of the interface are relocated, such as placing the Proton Pack's temperature meter as a HUD element instead of on the backpack. In the Wii, PlayStation 2, and PSP versions, the player "slams" a ghost by initiating a Simon Says-type game with the ghost, and the player is given the option to play as a man or woman.

The DS version shares the same plot, but its gameplay differs in that it is in a squad-based tactical style, with driving sections and RPG elements. The player controls the original cast rather than an unnamed rookie.

Multiplayer

The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions feature an online multiplayer mode. Players can play online with up to three others in a variety of missions outside of the main storyline. These missions include capturing as many ghosts as possible in a limited period of time or attempting to defend ghost disruptors as they are charged up. The Wii version is the only platform to feature offline multiplayer, with the entire single-player mission playable by two players in a split-screen mode. An adversarial multiplayer suite was advertised for the Wii version as well, but it is not in the final release. In December 2012, after three years of online gameplay, Atari shut the PlayStation 3 servers down for the online modes. Atari cited the declining online gameplay as the main reason for shutting down the servers.

Remastered version

A remastered version of the game, developed by Saber Interactive and published by Mad Dog Games, was released for Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows on October 4, 2019, marking the game's 10th anniversary and the franchise's 35th anniversary. It is dedicated to Harold Ramis, who died five years before the game was remastered. The game's remastered version is based on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows versions of the original game. Online features were said to be in development before its release, but were later cancelled due to the code "not cooperating." Foreign language voice tracks recorded for the game were also removed from the remastered version for unknown reasons.

Legacy

Ghostbusters: The Video Game was developed while Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis were trying to write a script for a second sequel following Ghostbusters II; this was principally related to the uncertainty on Bill Murray's participation in filming. Around 2005, the script accounted for Murray's potential absence by replacing him with Ben Stiller, leading to initial discussions for how the project would go forward.

Terminal Reality's game was developed with some input from Aykroyd and Ramis, incorporating elements of the Ghostbusters 3 script that they had been working on; Aykroyd considered the game to be "essentially the third movie". They were successful in getting all four actors—Murray, Aykroyd, Ramis, and Hudson—to voice their characters in-game. The project's ability to overcome Murray's prior reluctance led Sony to put more effort behind a new Ghostbusters film. In September 2008, Sony announced that work on a new Ghostbusters film was in full production, even if they could not get all four actors involved. The film went under many conflicts and eventually morphed into the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot. Sony later established Ghost Corps, a studio with plans to expand the Ghostbusters franchise into a narrative universe similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ghost Corps produced a sequel to the original film, titled Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The film is set 36 years later and was released in 2021.

See also

In Spanish: Ghostbusters: The Video Game para niños