GhostBusters: The Video Game

Ghostbusters: The Video Game is an action-adventure game released in 2009 based on the Ghostbusters film series. Terminal Reality created Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 versions. In contrast, Red Fly Studio created the versions for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Wii, and Zen Studios created the Nintendo DS version. The game was launched after various development delays and publisher changes. Atari released all game versions in North America, while Sony Computer Entertainment published the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation 3 versions in Europe. The game follows the player’s character as a new member of the Ghostbusters, a parapsychology unit that hunts and captures ghosts. The game contains aspects of standard third-person shooters, but instead of a rifle, players are equipped with a “Proton Pack,” a laser beam-like weapon, and a ghost trap to battle and catch ghosts. The game’s narrative takes place two years after Ghostbusters II, around Thanksgiving in 1991, with the Ghostbusters team training the player’s character and investigating paranormal phenomena in New York City. Many of the film’s prominent cast members were engaged in the game’s development. The movie’s actors who played the Ghostbusters (Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson) provided the voices and likenesses of the in-game characters. Aykroyd and Ramis, who authored the movie, also contributed to the game’s script doctoring. Other film actors, like William Atherton, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Annie Potts, provided voices and likenesses for the game’s characters. Max von Sydow also returned as Vigo the Carpathian. Ghostbusters: The Video Game also includes the original Ghostbusters film’s music, as well as different characters, locations, and objects from the movie. Ghostbusters creator Dan Aykroyd says, “This is essentially the third movie.” The game mainly garnered reviews from critics and has sold over one million copies.