[ 1 DVD ]
- Published by: Atari, Sony Interactive
- Developed by: Behavior Studios
- Genre:Modern Action Adventure
- Release Date: Mar 23, 2011
Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime sounds like a great idea -- a four-player download where you bust ghosts with your pals -- but the thrill of the license wears off quickly and you're left with a $10 title that's ho-hum at its best and incredibly frustrating at its worst.
Developed by Behaviour, the folks behind Assault Heroes and formerly known as Wanako Games, Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime is a top-down, dual stick shooter. You'll take your team through 12 levels full of paranormal activity and blast the hell out of ghosts as you go. Comic strips play out to explain why you're playing as four rookies and what's going on. Ghouls come in three colors, and you'll have to use the color-corresponding Proton Pack function to best them.
Developed by Behaviour, the folks behind Assault Heroes and formerly known as Wanako Games, Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime is a top-down, dual stick shooter. You'll take your team through 12 levels full of paranormal activity and blast the hell out of ghosts as you go. Comic strips play out to explain why you're playing as four rookies and what's going on. Ghouls come in three colors, and you'll have to use the color-corresponding Proton Pack function to best them.
If it sounds fine, that's because it is. The issue is that Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime is so mundane. Walk into a room, get locked in the room, beat all the ghosts, and repeat in the next room. As you play, you'll start new levels and find that it's really just an old level you're doubling back to. It's lazy, boring design that plays into the fact that I can't point to a part in this game where I was having fun.
This all came to a head in Chapter 10. After busting without a challenge for hours, my team and I ran headlong into a brick wall. We were back in the graveyard level and forced to go through marathon sessions with dozens of spirits who could KO us in two hits. We tried and tried, but after each fail, our urge to keep trying dwindled. This isn't the experience I want out of any game.
Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime is all about multiplayer, but the PC version is gimped when compared to the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 downloads. Over on the consoles, players have online multiplayer. On the PC, you can only play locally. That sucks, but the mouse aiming is far more precise than a controller's joystick so I guess the PC gets that. Even the local multiplayer is far from perfect in Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime. When I was playing with a group of IGN editors and someone finally had enough of Chapter 10's garbage and put down the controller, the remaining players either had to find a replacement or restart the level. We couldn't just turn off the controller and have the computer jump in.
This all came to a head in Chapter 10. After busting without a challenge for hours, my team and I ran headlong into a brick wall. We were back in the graveyard level and forced to go through marathon sessions with dozens of spirits who could KO us in two hits. We tried and tried, but after each fail, our urge to keep trying dwindled. This isn't the experience I want out of any game.
Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime is all about multiplayer, but the PC version is gimped when compared to the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 downloads. Over on the consoles, players have online multiplayer. On the PC, you can only play locally. That sucks, but the mouse aiming is far more precise than a controller's joystick so I guess the PC gets that. Even the local multiplayer is far from perfect in Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime. When I was playing with a group of IGN editors and someone finally had enough of Chapter 10's garbage and put down the controller, the remaining players either had to find a replacement or restart the level. We couldn't just turn off the controller and have the computer jump in.
When you don't have a full four-player team, the remaining slots are filled by the computer. For the most part, this is fine. The computer revives fallen teammates faster than a human could (real players have to tap a button to get people up) and the ghosts tend to leave the AI alone. However, when the game gets tough, the AI freaks out. It'll try to revive you even though it doesn't have enough time to do so, it won't use the right weapon on the right ghost, and I saw it run to a corner more than once. When you're on what seems like the final wave of a massive fight, leaving the AI alone on the map is a guaranteed loss, and that sucks.
System Requirements :
* CPU: Core 2 Duo @ 2.0 GHz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
* RAM: 1 GB
* HDD: 500 MB free disk space
* Graphics: 256 MB Graphics Memory
* Sound Card: DirectX 9 Compatible
* DirectX: Version 9
Supported Graphics Cards:
nVidia GeForce 8600 / ATI Radeon HD 2600