For those who aren't afraid of ghosts, Atari has released Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime for the XBOX 360 Arcade, PlayStation Network and PC. A top down, twin-stick shooter, Sanctum of Slime sees players taking control of one of four new rookie Ghostbuster recruits. Said recruits have been hired to help out after a huge increase in ghastly activity in New York City leaves the series' iconic heroes swamped with more work than they can handle. With a controller in your hand and your thumbs on each of its two joysticks, it's up to you (and up to three friends) to take on the ghoulish menaces that are trying to take over the city. If you're still trying to decide if it's a job you would like to take on, then this review is for you.
Though the game's action takes place in 1989 after the events of the beloved second film in the series, its story begins 4000 prior to the 80s' last hurrah. Told through a series of comic book pages before each stage, its story begins by showing a group of members of the Cult of Damazu, mourning the loss of their demonic leader, Damazu the Destroyer. Fast-forwarding to the late part of the 80s, the story is set up by showing insane museum curator, Janosz Posa (from Ghostbusters 2,) and his chance encounter with the last surviving member of the Cult of Dumazu, in a New York City mental institution. There, Janosz is tempted by his roommate to steal the Relic of the Nilhe, with the reward being the opportunity to have his love, Dana Barrett. With the relic, the Cult can resurrect their maniacal leader, and it is up to the new Ghostbusters team members to put an end to their plan, while taking on all of the new ghosts who are attempting to make New York City their new home. Needless to say, there's a lot of work to be done. I guess there's no such thing as a basic training period when you're a Ghostbuster.
The term 'twin-stick shooter' is used to describe a game like Geometry Wars, where plays move with one joystick and control weapons (and their 360-degree firing radius) with the other. Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime is exactly this type of game, though it adds a couple new elements to the standard formula, including a vehicular chase sequence and the Ghostbusters' iconic trap. Instead of using traditional weapons, the game's four main characters utilize four different types of rays, with each one being the weakness of at least one (colour-coded) enemy. In order to succeed (especially if you decide to bust ghosts alone since it's quite a challenge,) you must use the right weapons against the right enemies. Sometimes you may get lucky by taking one out with the wrong coloured weapon, but you won't do much damage without the right ray. Some of the weapons include the traditional red ray that was featured heavily in the movies and first game, a yellow spread shot,and a blue blaster that bounces off of walls. The trap comes in handy when you're trying to capture large (boss) ghosts, and it brings up a brief quick-time button-pressing event. You must get at least most of the buttons correct (and quickly) to trap them, or else they'll go loose and attack you some more. Overall, the game controls quite well with a simple control scheme that is easy to get used to.
The game's campaign is quite lengthy for a downloadable game, with twelve separate missions, including some boss fights. Missions take longer in single player than in multiplayer sometimes, but you're looking at several hours of gameplay or more. Replay value is dependent on whether or not you decide to go back into each level with new friends, or to find all of the hidden Marshmallow Man stuffed animal collectibles, with four hidden in each level (usually found in destructible items spread out within the environment.) Since I'm an achievement addict, I've been going back to levels I've completed to look for the collectibles and I still find them to be enjoyable a second time around. The locations that you visit vary quite a bit, but you'll see both familiar environments from the films and new ones. Some of the more memorable levels I played through were the New York City sewers, the Sedgewick Hotel and the downtown core. Level variety is important when it comes to this game, as it helps keep the game fresh, considering the gameplay doesn't evolve much. The scoring system also provides a good reward and incentive to keep going, especially with online leaderboards and score multiplier pick-ups.
There are quite a few different types of enemies to fight, as the developers did a good job of adding some variety to the ghastly ghouls of NYC. Throughout the experience, you'll find your team up against large flying beasts, small rodent-like blue ghosts and humongous slime monsters who can take you out in one hit. As can be expected, different enemies represent different amounts towards each player's score. This game isn't friendly towards its customers, throwing everything and the kitchen sink at you sometimes, so tactics are important. Try to prioritize targets. Boss fights are a relatively large part of the game and even some of them can get busy at times, but they're pretty well-done albeit somewhat basic at times. This is the first time I've ever fought a possessed subway train, so kudos to Behaviour Interactive on coming up with that interesting idea.
As I mentioned previously, the game is far from easy, especially if you play it alone. Multiplayer is a bit easier, especially if you have good players on your side, but the partner artificial intelligence is lacking. Sometimes your computerized allies will do great things, but they're also very prone to getting themselves taken out in stupid ways (especially by stepping into dangerous slime,) making them helpful at times and infuriating at others. They're generally quite good about saving you if you've fallen though they sometimes lose their own lives doing it. Sanctum of Slime throws a lot at you throughout the game, so you have to be on your toes, or else you'll be restarting the checkpoint over again. I was impressed with how the developers handled the checkpoint and respawn systems though. Tapping A to resurrect allies works pretty well and can become quite hectic if you have oncoming enemies inches away. Sometimes it's hard to tell what is going on, but it's usually quite easy to tell the characters apart by the different coloured ring around each Ghostbuster rookie's feet.
Presentation is another part of this game that is very hit or miss, with quite a few pros and cons factoring into the equation. It certainly feels like a Ghostbusters game (especially since the popular theme song is included,) but it lacks polish. The storyline is interesting, but it's not very well-written and the comic panels that serve as storyboards are tiny and hard to read with stilted dialogue and bad/forced humor within their bubbles. Unfortunately they don't appear during multiplayer. The comics themselves look alright, but the game's graphics are mediocre at best, as they look a bit hazy and are too dark a lot of the time (with no brightness setting to be found.) It certainly doesn't look awful - don't get me wrong. Though doesn't look that great either. Graphics don't make or break a game in my opinion - it's the gameplay that does and, luckily the framerate holds up well with the game's chaotic action and its multitudes of characters on the screen at any given time. The fact that it also features tons of destructible items and some nice effects, within its relatively well-detailed environments is also impressive. That is considering how much is always going on during gameplay.
The game's audio features a mixture of sound effects combined with an original score. It sounds okay, but isn't memorable by any means. Unfortunately, the game doesn't feature any voice acting, so most of the time you're forced to read dialogue bubbles. I didn't mind this a lot of the time, but there are sometimes a bit many to toggle through at one time. Most gamers (and fans) will be elated by the fact that the Ghostbusters theme song is included, playing as you scroll through the main menu. It's easily the most memorable piece of audio in the game, which is too bad, because there was a huge opportunity missed here. The developers tried to add character and humor into the game with their dialogue, but I think it would've gone over a bit better (and could have ended up being a lot more humorous) if they had hired some good voice actors to play the roles. Unlike the past Ghostbusters game, this game has serviceable audio but it won't stick in your head for years to come.
Despite its issues, I enjoyed playing Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime, and will be going back to it. This Arcade release doesn't have the polish and memorable character of other Ghostbusters products, but it's still pretty well-made. Plus, it's pretty fun in four-player co-op with friends. There are some definitely missed opportunities found within, as well as some frustrating moments, but you get a good amount of content for your buck. For only ten bucks, it's a pretty good buy for fans of the series and those who like twin-stick shooters. For the most part, bustin' still feels pretty good, though it has its moments of frustration due to inconsistencies. Still, it's not a bad deal at ten dollars.
Rating: 6/10
Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime was released on March 23, 2011. It is available on the XBOX 360's Live Arcade and the PS3 through the PlayStation Network. Its cost is 800 Microsoft Points or $9.99 U.S.
