Who you gonna call? Illfonic! The Friday The 13th developers are bringing their licensed game experience to yet another beloved franchise with Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed. This asymmetrical 4v1multiplayer pits Busters against Ghosts in a cat-and-mouse trial, allowing long-time fans to live out their ghost-hunting dreams. Illfonic had done a great job implementing the campy-horror mood that the Friday The 13th films always conveyed and mimicked it perfectly in a video game format. Can the same be said with their latest installment?
Story
The game doesn't waste much time in long drawn-out cutscenes before getting into the action. You start out as a possible recruit for the Ghostbuster team, allowing you to craft your character to your liking. Your new recruit is introduced to series vets, Ray and Winston, who run the Ghostbusters team. They are looking for a new generation of Busters to hunt down unwanted Ghosts around the city.
The firehouse is the game’s central hub and Ghostbuster's headquarters. Every time you load the game, you begin in the central hub. This is where all of the story elements begin to unfold. It was difficult to gauge exactly how the story progressed because it did not involve any specific tasks to be done while playing online. After I completed a few online matches and returned to the firehouse, it seemed like there was a new cutscene available to watch. And that's exactly all there is to the story, you simply watch cutscenes after a few online matches.
It was nice to have some of the original actors reprise their roles in the game, but it really seemed unnecessary to have a story at all. I didn't feel like I did anything significant to progress through the story and unfortunately, it did feel very short-lived.
Gameplay
That feeling of retro-esque, campy, 80’s movie is alive and well in Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed. Illfonic really did a great job capturing the essence of the films and implementing it into a video game format. This feels like a Ghostbuster game, and that is a hard thing to accomplish! Being able to hunt ghosts as Busters or haunt buildings as Ghosts all felt exactly as it should. These fun and easy-to-learn gameplay mechanics made the multiplayer matches feel less competitive and more entertaining. This was very refreshing, especially with all the focus on competitive multiplayer games recently, it's nice to be able to load into a game with friends to just hang out and have a good time.
The Ghostbusters have 4 players on a team and are fitted with their plasma series and proton packs, a ghost’s worst enemy. The plasma series is used to tether the ghost and drag it to a ghost trap. Once the ghost touched the ghost trap field, it is then sucked into the metallic box for good. However, the Ghost does have the ability to break free of a tether, giving it a burst in speed to get away and hide from the Busters.
The Busters have very few tools at their disposal to take on these hauntings, but even though there isn’t much gear to choose from, it still felt appropriate and true to the franchise. The PKE meter is another tool that will be widely used when hunting ghosts since it detects when a ghost is nearby. This tool is what helps the Busters pinpoint a ghost’s location, but it can also lead them to a false reading if the Ghost player decides to haunt objects scattered throughout the map, giving off a ghost signal.
The Ghost player has one goal in mind, to completely haunt the building 100%. The match starts at 0% haunted and it gradually increases when the Ghost haunts objects or scares civilians scattered around the map. It can take a bit of time to completely scare a civilian but once you do, they flee the building horrified, and the haunt meter increases. The Busters can counteract this by talking to the civilians and taking part in a quick time event, in order to calm them down and talk them out of leaving the building.
The Ghost can also possess a multitude of objects on each map. Not only is this a great way to hide in plain sight, but it is also the main way the ghost regenerates its energy. All attacks and special abilities require energy and once it's depleted, you are basically a sitting duck. Possessing some objects also allows the player to fully control the object and sometimes perform special interactions. The dinosaurs on the Museum map allow you to swing their tail, which can cause a nasty pushback to the Busters if timed right.
All Ghosts have basic attacks that are universal amongst the four different main types, and they all have at least one unique ability. The different types of Ghosts can be unlocked through character progression and I found it to be very quick to level up. Each Ghost, just like the Busters, can be customized with different colors.
Ultimately, this cat-and-mouse game type has its entertaining moments and can bring some great fun with a group of friends. Overall, the Busters team and the Ghosts feel pretty balanced but of course, there are some maps that favor one over the other. Most of my matches were pretty even as far as which team ended up winning most often. I must say, it is quite fun to play with a group of friends against a high-level Ghost. The tension and scrambling around caused some very funny situations and, albeit, unexpected cleverness from the Ghost.
Audio and Visual
The sound design is good, with weapons and tools sounding just like they do in the movies. The voice acting is great and features a lot of fantastic talent (special shout out to Greg Miller who killed the role of a nasty knuckle-head spirit.) However, I do feel like there was a great opportunity to have the Ghostbusters theme play at the end of a winning match for the hunters. I can’t wrap my head around the reason why they wouldn’t include this iconic theme?
As far as the visuals go, the game is optimized very well on modern consoles and even better on PC. Smooth framerates and great performance can be expected on PS5 and XSX. The art style of the game is fitting for the franchise and resembles a modern-day animated movie.
I am also happy to report that there were very few glitches and I did not find any game-breaking moments during my playthrough. This is a huge relief, as fans of previous Illfonic games will be well aware of glitches and bugs that plagued some of their earlier titles at launch. Another plus, the game does not end if a Ghost player leaves the match. Instead, AI takes over the role of any players that had left mid-match until a new player takes their spot.
Replayability
Although the item choices are limited, the Ghostbusters do have unlockable mods that attribute to each item's stats. Particularly the plasma series. Depending on the mod, tethers can be initiated quicker, last longer, overheating can decompress faster, and recoil can be lowered. All of these mods can be unlocked as you level up each item through constant use in online matches.
Along with these gameplay-focused unlockables, the game also offers cosmetic unlocks through the means of challenges. You can assign “side hustles” before each job in hope of garnering additional XP or cosmetics for your Ghostbuster character. Leveling up is quick and the cosmetic options are a bit limited to mostly just different colors of items and Ghosts. I don’t see this one holding my attention longer than a couple of sessions with friends every now and then due to just having one mode to play. Matches can feel a bit stale just after a few rounds.
What It Could Have Done Better
As a side note, the game does offer crossplay via linking an Epic Game account (which is currently having issues on PlayStation at the time of this writing) and allows for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation users to play together. Unfortunately, I could not test this appropriately at the time of review because the Epic Account would not link, thus leaving me unable to join a party with my friends on other platforms. We had to result to join a Quick Play match at the same time, in hopes of possibly joining the same game. We did this for about an hour before getting into the same lobby, which was incredibly frustrating.
Even though the game is marketed to be played as either multiplayer or single-player, I would not recommend playing this one solo. The AI is very disappointing and doesn't perform appropriate tasks at the time when it is needed. Chasing a ghost to cut it off down the hall, only to find that your AI teammate walks right past him was frustrating.
Also, why tease us with the Ecto-1 at all? The famous Ghostbuster car is located front and center every time you spawn into the game’s central hub but it is not interactable at all. I feel like this was such a missed opportunity and a real shame that something so iconic to the series is merely a trophy to gaze at in this title. One idea that would have brought this game to the next level is if they allowed the Ghost player to become a huge powerful spirit if they were able to achieve 100% haunt status. This would be a great excuse to take the fight outdoors and possibly utilize the car in this manner. Unfortunately, no such mode exists, just the one Haunt/Hunt mode on the game's 5 maps.
Verdict
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is a great Ghostbusters game. Fans of the franchise will be happy to know that there are plenty of easter eggs to find and that the core gameplay is fitting for the universe. It can be a great time with a group of friends but it is held back by limited gameplay options and features that are not fully working, a la Epic Account link on console. However, it does get plenty right and this truly does feel like a proper Ghostbuster multiplayer game. The easy-to-learn and “fun to master” approach to the gameplay is welcomed and allows for easy pick-up and play sessions. I am sure this game will find a niche audience but unless Illfonic pumps a ton of post-launch content, I am afraid to see how these lobbies will look just a few months after launch.
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is available now for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via EGS.
