We Ain’t Afraid of No Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime [VIDEO GAMES]

March 28, 2011 Posted in Cool Stuff, Entertainment, Funny Stuff, homepage, Movies, Video, Video Games

It’s been nearly two years since the release of the highly acclaimed, fan-favorite Ghosbusters: The Video Game, which helped to temporarily sate the fans’ hunger for a third Ghostbusters movie. Heeding the call, Atari – the publishers of the 2009 smash hit – announced back in December that the Ghostbusters would be making their triumphant return to video games in the downloadable follow-up title Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime being released in late March. At last, the wait is over, but Sanctum of Slime is a complete departure from its predecessor in terms of gameplay and the overall story.

The Ghostbusters Take On Master Chef LeBlog

All great things must come to an end and the original Ghostbusters team is no exception. There’s a sudden and inexplicable surge of paranormal activity plaguing NYC and as hard as the team may try, time has taken its toll on them all and ghostbusting is proving a daunting task with each passing day. Rather than hang up the Proton Packs and let the city fall to ghosts, the original Ghostbusters pass the torch to a new team of rookies just as wide-eyed and eager as they once were. With the stage finally set, the team quickly learns that eradicating specters isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

You’ll notice right away that Sanctum of Slime forgoes the previous title’s first-person perspective in favor of a top-down view displaying all the action and characters on the screen at the same time, making it akin to an arcade-style experience. Not to mention that the developers of the game opted for a more lighthearted, cartoonish direction when designing the characters and locales – this is a downloadable game after all, so don’t expect a large graphics budget here.

The game is a dual-stick shooter meaning that most of the in-game functions are performed with the two control sticks on the controller – the left stick is used to move your character while the right is used for weaponry. Speaking of weapons, Sanctum of Slime brings all the ghostbusting goodies to the table. Each player’s Proton Pack fires three types of beams, each with a color: red beams are standard issue, yellow beams fire in waves and the blue beam fires in the form of blue balls of energy. As the game progresses you’ll learn that some enemies can only be taken down by a particular color with the others being ineffectual.

The Ghostbusters Hit The Town In The Ecto-4wd

There’s also the Ghostbusters’ newest ride, the Ecto-4wd! Definitely an upgrade from the original team’s 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor, this monster on wheels tears up the streets in driving stages while in pursuit of ethereal dirtbags.

While it’s touted as a multi-player experience (both local and online), you’re able to play on your own with the computer taking control of the rest of your party. While it’s not entirely awful, any gamer will tell you that the computer makes for a poor substitute and dilutes the fun factor. So for a more enriching and worthwhile experience, try to round up some of your buds or find someone online interested in a round of smacking around some ghosts.

Things Get Gross With Grotesque

The stages are all varied with some bringing the new team to familiar territory as well as new areas, each with a boss character waiting to send the team off to an early grave… and a forced trip to the afterlife! Boss battles are interesting given the new button-pushing sequence when trying to capture it after it’s health meter is depleted. All the buttons in the sequence must be pushed correctly lest you want the ghost to break free and wreak havoc all over again!

All in all, Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime, while not a game in the grand scale like 2009′s hit, is a fun multi-player experience that makes for a great party game as well as an excellent addition in the growing Ghostbusters mythos. It’s available now on X-Box 360′s X-Box Live, Playstation 3′s Playstation Network and Windows PC Download at Atari.com. Tell ‘em Zuul sent ya!