This is the first in what I hope to be a series of articles highlighting the things games do right. Anything from game mechanics, to special weapons, to atmosphere or the writing. The rule seems to be that if something is done wrong, you hear about it, but if something is done right, you don’t notice it. I hope to rectify this.
In this first edition I will highlight something from an average game, but still something that really made the game the best it could be. Ladies and gentlemen, I present…The Proton Pack.
We have all heard about how a game has a “horrible camera” or “sludgy controls”, but we don’t hear about how great the camera was in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Everything about that game was done right, but that’s another show.
Important safety tip. Thanks, Egon.
Sometimes though, a great game mechanic would get lost in a mediocre game. Spider-man 2 for the PS2 was actually a pretty repetitive game when you get down to it. It did do one thing perfect, and this made the game one of the most fun of that generation. You felt like Spider-man, because the web slinging was exceptional. It made the combat and mission structure easier to swallow because of all the “thwipping” around.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game didn’t garner a lot of attention compared to everything else out there, but it was really the best Ghostbusters game they could have possibly made. The big reason for that was The Proton Pack.
The main weapon from the game was the same from the movies, but with a little spice. There were 4 different streams the Pack could use, each with an alt-fire option.
The fun came when you had to weaken the ghost with the Proton Stream (don’t you dare cross them) and when you got it weak enough you would hit a button and throw out a trap. Now you would slam the ethereal beastie around the room, trying to knock it senseless and then keep it wrangled in one place so the trap could do its dirty work.
Just like real life.
If you were successful the trap would make that familiar “woosh” sound and then begin to beep, signaling the trapping of your ghostly foe.
It was perfect. Satisfying. Doing it over and over didn’t bother you because it was exactly how a real Ghostbuster would have to do it. Your pack would overload if you fired it too much, and you could even overload it on purpose for a little extra jolt of Bozon goodness.
Other firing modes included a Slime stream that helped nullify its deadly black equivalent, a blue stream that slowed down ghosts, and an uber rocket launcher style stream and exploded and caused much destruction.
So much delicious destruction
Oh, the Destruction.
Anywhere you fired your Proton Pack would cause sweet, endless destruction. Cars, walls, chandeliers, priceless museum artifacts. All dust. Just like the movies! There was even a counter that kept track of the damage you caused.
A lot of people over looked this game because The Ghostbusters haven’t been relevant for over about two decades now, but if you are even the slightest fan of the source material, being able to wield the proton pack the way it looked in the movies, is a fun experience. They really couldn’t have made it any better than they did. Give it a rent. At the most, you will love it for everything it is. At the least, you will get a good laugh, and some easy trophies/achievements out of it. With the Ghostbuster’s weapon of choice however, I could think of a worse way to spend 5 or so hours.
Gaming done right.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
This game actually surprised me. I dig it.
Thank you for reminding me how much fun this game was. I might go back and replay it this weekend now. They really nailed the physics of ghostbusting, which is strange considering ghosts don’t particularly obey the laws of physics.
This game was surprising! I got the feeling that they really cared about it, must have been fans! It was a pretty game and I agree with you the proton pack could not have been done better.