There’s something strange in your neighbourhood? Who you gonna call?
This is the part where you scream Ghostbusters. This is the part where we all scream Ghostbusters because we’ve been waiting for years for more Ghostbusters content and we’re finally getting it. We’ve got two new movies (one upcoming), that extend the mythology and two new games. Whether or not this is the Ghostbusters you wanted though, is another matter entirely.
For now, we’ll be looking at one of those new games that just made the jump to the Nintendo Switch: Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed Ecto Edition, while asking the question; if something strange is in your neighbourhood, is this the Ghostbusters you want to sit down with while the neighbours are getting possessed?
Okay, first up the bad news for anyone hoping for a new single-player Ghostbusters game to carry on the torch from the official Ghostbusters game in 2009, Spirits Unleashed is an asymmetrical multiplayer-focused game. Now while you’re all rioting in the streets and looking for a congressman to call up, let’s take a breath at the realisation that Spirits Unleashed is actually pretty good and pretty damn fun along with the added bonus that the Ecto Edition comes with all of the games DLC.
The basic design philosophy behind asymmetrical games is here as well. A group of four players takes on the role of newbie Ghostbuster while another player takes on the role of the spook. Of course, everything is layered in Ghostbusters goodness while playing out from a first-person perspective as a buster and third-person as the ghost.
As a buster, your job is simple: Accept a job to cleanse a haunting, find and destroy Ghost Rifts which lets the ghosts respawn and then capture the ghost. As a ghost, your job is even simpler: scare the bejeesus out of everyone!
Matches are won when you, as a buster, destroy all the Rifts and trap the ghost. For the ghost, a match is won when you’ve fully haunted a locale. There’s a percentage meter at the top of the screen which tells you how far away you are from that happening. If the meter hits 100%, then you have a limited amount of time to bust the ghost or, as the ghost, to avoid getting caught.
As with most of the best things in life, Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed mechanics are rather simple, which really aids the playability of the game. There’s a minimum of complexity, such as using the P.K.E. meter to track ghosts and find rifts or to calm down civilians in a location who will vacate the premises when scared or help you spot the ghost if supported enough. Trapping ghosts is as simple as ensnaring them in a particle beam, dropping a trap and guiding them into it. Well as simple as it can be without an uppity spook fighting back that is. Destroying rifts and trapping is a lot easier with everyone helping out.
Ghosts can haunt and possess items and people, scare them with different attacks, summon minions and move the Rifts around. Keeping the mechanics simple makes it easy for everyone to jump in and get going. Of course, the complexity comes when going up against other players or the A.I.
Primarily you want to play with other people. That’s where the real joy comes from. Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed supports friends and randoms as well as cross-play through an Epic account. But if you want to play by yourself or are having problems with your net, the game is fully playable offline with bots. The bots do a pretty reasonable job, on easier difficulties, of sorting out issues though I would have liked some way to get them to follow me or come to a specific location. Right now they do their own thing and are quite effective most of the time.
There’s also a whole bunch of things to unlock. More on the Ghostbuster side than on the ghosts though. You’re looking at customisation options for your gear along with new gear parts that affect specific stats like tether strength. And using your gear levels it up as well. There are also contracts to be undertaken which unlock more parts or customization options. You’ll be doing things such as causing a certain amount of damage or capturing a certain amount of ghosts. These did seem to be a little too grindy though.
Ghosts can unlock different variations of the spook they’re using along with customisation options. You can swap skills out to suit your play style. What’s nice is that regardless of which side you prefer to play on, experience and levelling up are carried across both groups.
The game’s cartoony visual style, along with the simple mechanics, makes it a far more enjoyable way to play online with others, especially randoms. It’s just a whole bunch of chaotic fun though the usual rule applies that if you want to succeed as a team, you’ve got to work together. There are still some balance issues, which seem to be inherent in asymmetrical games, that need to be ironed out but thus far I haven’t felt the need to rage a lost match as I have in other games when partnered with. . . uncooperative people. . .
And the game’s performance and visual quality? Spirits Unleashed looks, most of the time, great on the Switch. The Firehouse benefits the most from the visuals as the setting is gorgeous and detailed with great character models. Dynamic resolution is at play here and is noticeable during matches. When things get really hectic, you’ll notice the resolution drop and the image getting a little fuzzy but it’s not game-breaking at all. Far more relevant is that the game suffers from no performance drops that I experienced. Regardless of how much was happening onscreen, there were no stutters or frame rate drops at all, which is impressive considering this is a UE4 title running on Switch.
An added bonus is that the game actually has a story that features both Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson reprising their respective Ghostbusters roles here. The story, as well, is canon, tying in both the original movies and Afterlife while opening up the mythology and world to an in-world Ghostbusters franchise. My only gripe is that the story doesn’t factor into the actual gameplay.
Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed Ecto Edition is a surprisingly fun asymmetrical multiplayer game. The cartoony visuals, great performance, original story and completely offline playable mode make for a fun time with mates or by yourself. It’s one of the few asymmetrical MP games that I can see myself returning to regularly.
Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed Ecto Edition Trailer
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