The guys at NGamer – which comes with a handy Jam Sessions DS case this month – have been treated to an exclusive look at the Wii and DS versions of Ghostbusters: The Videogame. I wish Vivendi weren’t calling it that; just plain old ‘Ghostbusters’ would suffice.
As mentioned here, the Wii and PlayStation 2 spook-blasters are going to be vastly different to the ‘next-gen’ ones, sporting their own visual style. Most notably, the characters have a soft, rounded look – almost as if they’re made out of Playdoh – while the ghosts are almost cartoon-like in design.
The demo NGamer played was set in a graveyard, and they were more than impressed with the controls. As you’d expect, you can aim with the Wii remote, using the Z-trigger to blast, while a push of the nunchuk makes the ghost trap slide along the floor. Like you’d find in a fishing game, some ghosts need a good tugging before they can be caught, although once inside the beam they can be slammed against walls, and environments can be fully damaged.
The proton pack can be upgraded over the course of the game, with a goo-firing tether gun and an explosive blast mooted. You can also short-circuit the pack to create a temporary shield. The analogue stick is used to move the characters around, although there will also be on-rails driving sections involving Echo 1. Slimer will be a playable character too, although it’s not clear whether it’ll just be in the promised mini-games.
Multiplayer is already sounding comprehensive: there’s a four-player co-op mode, along with ‘Busters vs Ghosts’ battles, and a couple of 2 vs 2 modes – one involving catching more ghosts than the other team, another requiring as much furniture as possible to be damaged. Lastly there’s Domination Mode, a take on the usual ‘King of the Hill’ deathmatches involving ancient artifacts.
It’s still early days for the DS version, but we do know that it’s viewed from a top-down perspective and will have a management structure – you can pick and choose missions, then use the cash to buy weapon upgrades.
It all sounds promising so far, and with ages to go – autumn 2008 is the ETA Vivendi are giving – the developers have plenty of time to get it right.
