Images lovingly stolen from Joystiq

In the era of the hardcore shooter and epic RPG, it’s rare to find a game these days that makes me feel like a kid again. And I’m not talking about that nostalgic feeling you get when playing a remake or a compilation. I’m talking about a genuine, smiling-while-clapping-your-hands feeling. The sort that makes you, just for a second, feel like you’re two decades younger again. The kind of feeling that Atari’s much anticipated, and already bestselling (a million copies!) Ghostbusters: The Game delivers.

Ghostbusters opens up with you as a nameless, new recruit. New York City is suddenly taken over by a number of ghosts and new supernatural beings, and the Ghostbusters entrust you, new recruit, to test out their wealth of new weapons and gadgets in the fight to win back the city.

And is it really that big a surprise, that Ghostbusters: The Game turned out so well? With the original actors (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson) returning to reprise their roles and a script penned by Akroyd and Ramis, the only thing that could have possibly held this game back, was gameplay. Does it? Read on to find out.

The gameplay… is fantastic. Come on, did you really expect it to be bad? Atari has been on a winning streak lately, their last published game was, what Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, right? (I could be wrong on this, feel free to correct me). Ghostbusters continues this streak, as an awesome third person shooter,  a la Gears of War, with its over the shoulder camera.

Graphically, the game is gorgeous. The proton packs and streams are beautiful, blasting out those wildly vibrant colors you’ve come to love from the original films. And the controls for those streams? Brilliant. What could have turned out to be a nightmare on the controls (there are a lot of moves you can do with the streams), Terminal Reality streamlined into an easy-to-learn mechanic, with a low learning curve.

The script, penned by the hilarious Akroyd and Ramis, sparkles with wit, sarcasm, and keeps the one-liners coming. There is never a dull moment, in the story and in the gameplay, and the achievement points give frequent nods to the die-hard fans of the series. (Ie: You’ve Got To Try Out This Pole!)

My only criticism? The game is over so quickly. For the single player who isn’t a fan of multiplayer (like me), the game is over in about 8 hours. There’s plenty of stuff to collect for gamer achievements, sure. And the voice acting and wonderful story (that easily could have been Ghostbusters 3) is certainly worth a second visit, just to catch the little quips you might have missed… but I really can’t see myself returning to this title again and again.

However at the end of the day, Ghostbusters’ campaign is SO GOOD that it is a must buy, and needs to be experienced. Here’s hoping Atari delivers some quality DLC!

Other Stuff You Might Wanna Know:
Available for: Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3 / Nintendo Wii / DS (I played the 360 version)
Price: 49.99
Rating (Buy It, Don’t Buy It, Rent It): Buy It