Ghostbusters PS4 PS5

Give up the ghost

The hubbub surrounding the new Ghostbusters movie has been so well documented that even the Internet-deprived people of North Korea have likely heard about it. The response to the first trailer for the 2016 reboot of the supernatural comedy franchise has been nothing short of vitriolic, to the point that it's one of the most hated videos ever put on You Tube. Even Nickelback doesn't have a video with that many dislikes.

The plot of Ghostbusters II revolved around a river of pink slime flowing under the streets of New York City. The slime would feed off of people's emotions, and the hate, bigotry, anger, and fear in late '80s New York were charging the slime up with negativity. After years of built up emotions, the stuff was basically liquid nastiness, and it would corrupt anyone or anything that touched it with the feelings contained within it.

The disc landed at the feet of a passing Activision executive, who promptly picked it up, wiped away the sludge with a handkerchief, turned to his colleague, and read aloud the inscription emblazoned across the Blu-Ray: "It's Ghostbusters for the PS4. Hey Pauline, do you think we can release this in time for the movie?"

Immediately upon starting the game up you'll be greeted by the classic Ray Parker Jr Ghostbusters theme song. I hope you like it because you'll be hearing it over and over again between every single mission. Starting a new game quickly explains that the Ghostbusters are all busy saving the country from ghosts that are trying to assassinate the President, but there's four new recruits ready to clean up the streets. This is all explained in a two minute cut-scene that delivers lines like "There's something strange, right here, in the neighbourhood" with such a spectacular lack of wit that it's unclear as to whether the writers were simply lazy or if they're subversively mocking their own game.

You'll walk around the level with your PKE Meter out detecting ghostly presences, and then when the ghosts turn up you'll blast them into oblivion. Eventually you'll reach a big ghost that needs to be worn down by concentrated fire, and then you can switch to the classic Ghostbusters proton beam weapon to hold them in place, slam them into the ground for some reason, and catch them by throwing out a trap and hitting X as quickly as you can.

As you shoot things you'll earn points that can be used to level up your character and upgrade stats like how much damage you do and how much health you have. Health is important because when you run out of it, you'll fall on the floor and say, "I need help!" and then one of the other Ghostbusters just comes over and picks you up. Yes, the penalty for death in this game is that you're instantly revived and must continue playing the game. We're not even sure if it's possible to get a game over screen. We certainly didn't see one, and we'd remember if we did because it would have been a highlight of our time playing Ghostbusters.