Things That Would've Made Ghostbusters the Video Game Even Better

Games/Toy/ Hobbies - Video Games

By: EgonLongshanks 19-Mar-2012

Introduction:

Ghostbusters fans have been waiting a long time for a decent video game adaptation. They finally got one a couple of years ago. It was written by Aykroyd and Ramis and featured the main cast from the movie to lend their voices to the respective characters. It was fun, exciting, and just one big love letter to the fans with its nods to continuity and other iterations of the franchise.

Still, there were some things that could've made it even better. Being something of a Ghostbusters nerd myself, I figured I would take it upon myself to throw these ideas out there. It's probably a moot point by now, but what the heck? I'll do it anyway.

Side Quests

As the game wanted to put more of an emphasis on story, the developers didn't give the game a "sandbox" type of game like you would see with games like "Fallout" or "GTA".

I get it, but I still think it would've been cool to be able to roam around a bit more. Heck, if you really wanted to keep the focus on the story, you could have the side quests get unlocked by beating the game.

Then, you could pull a "Fallout" and drop the player back into the game after the final boss is defeated so that they can roam around and continue to enjoy the game without having to go through a complete reset.

Not to mention the fact that such quests would make for some interesting downloadable content. All you'd need to do is come up with a map, some ghosts, and a miniature, self contained arc and bam, new level. It would give the game developers profits and it would give fans more time to enjoy the game.

Vigo Fight

You had Max Von Sydow reprise his role as the villain from Ghostbusters II, you had a level at the museum, and the mood slime played a prominent role in the plot. Why was there no Vigo fight?

We fought Slimer and Stay-Puft/Gozer (actually, I wouldn't have minded getting a mini-boss battle with Gozer in its original form, but that's another issue), surely, the team's second biggest threat warrants more credit than this.

Unlike the other ghosts, Vigo could've just attempted to serve his own agenda or pay the team back for his earlier defeat. It would've been a break from the guardian bosses and it would've been a fun moment for the fans.

Co-Op Multiplayer on Story Mode

When this game was announced, the first thing that popped into my head was that running through the story with friends was going to be a blast. You'd have your group running around, catching ghosts, trying not to cross the streams. It would've been awesome.

While there is such a mode on the Wii version, one is not available on the Xbox 360 or PS3 versions. They have online multiplayer, but it is its own separate thing. As I haven't played that yet, I can't comment on how good it is, but it's still a shame that we couldn't get multiplayer for the story mode on the other two big consoles.

More Gear

As you advance through the game, you collect money that can be used to purchase gear and upgrades for your equipment. They give you a decent amount of equipment, and it was setup so that your pack would be maxed out by the time you reached the final stages of the game, but having more options would've allowed players to customize their weapons and try out different things. It would add a level of replay value to the game, giving players more chances to enjoy it while still giving them incentive to keep playing despite having beaten it at least once, if not several times more so.

More Character Interaction

Your character remains mute throughout the games entirety. It was amusing, and they did manage to give him a bit of personality, but it still would've been nice to be able to throw your two cents in. Maybe have dialogue options like some of the early RPG's like KoToR and Mass Effect. Again, it would add a level of replay-ability to a game that, while still fun, doesn't really bring much in the way of new material upon a second play through.

Final Thoughts

I had a blast playing Ghostbusters. It allowed me to live out my childhood dream of busting ghosts with the team and it was quite satisfying to see such a well designed product for the franchise. Still, as good as it was, there were some aspects where it could've been made even better.