And lo, I have finally justified my coming here:
Plus I, you know, went up in some little old statue that they’ve got over here.
Coming tomorrow: Fallout 3 sightseeing in Washington DC.
Tag Archives: Ghostbusters
So Bad They Named It Twice
It had been ages since I’ve been abroad, and despite the number of times I’ve visited the States I’d never been to New York, so it’s on that basis that I find myself in my current location: halfway around the world, in a midtown hotel room… on the Internet with my laptop. My excuse is that I’ve walked like 30 miles over the last few days, so get off my back.
The first day was spent understanding just how big Manhattan is, as I walked around the Central Park lake, over to Strawberry Fields, down to Times Square, over to the Empire State Building, all the way west and down Hudson River Park to Battery Park, then past the World Trade Center site and back up to my hotel on 57th Street. Anyone who knows the lay of the land will back me up when I say that it’s not an inconsiderable distance, and my poor legs will serve as evidence.
Since then I’ve been on the requisite games and DVDs Blu-ray shopping trip to the local Best Buys, taken in the American Museum of Natural History, and in a minute I’m going to weather the day’s bad… weather to visit the United Nations and the Guggenheim.
My big project, however, is my Ghostbusters geek quest, which has so far taken in 55 Central Park West – also known as the conduit for spiritual activity in New York – and the adjacent Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, which looks remarkably good for having been stepped on by Gozer the Destroyer.
Nobody steps on a church in my town, indeed. Coming next: the Ghostbusters headquarters and anything else I happen to stumble across. And the chances of some real-life Fallout 3 touring when I visit Washington DC on Wednesday are pretty good as well. I’m packing some Rad Away as we speak…
Keep an eye on my New York 2009 Flickr set for more photos as I upload them.
Ghostbusters Impressions
I went into the Ghostbusters game having just watched the original movie – over 25 years old now, if you can believe it – on Blu-ray. Its effects may be a bit rough around the edges and they really do smoke a lot compared to what you could get away with now, but it’s certainly not as embarrassing to look back on with 21st Century eyes as some of the popular films of the era and holds up amazingly well.
This is where it’s tempting to spout a cliché about the traditional shortcomings of movie-licensed games and the dangers of resurrecting beloved classics – never forget – but Ghostbusters is notable for the involvement of the original creative team, still clearly enthusiastic about it and what it could mean for the seemingly inevitable Ghostbusters 3, and it makes a massive difference. Much of the original cast is in it, and while some are better than others – Dan Aykroyd’s apparently never left character, for example, whereas Bill Murray sounds slightly phoned in in comparison – the script is great and it’s genuinely funny.
Now you may have noticed that I’ve spent a lot of time talking about how authentic and funny it is and not much time on what it’s actually like to play. This is where it becomes a bit hit and miss. It’s absolutely brilliant when you’ve got the whole team together, wrangling a ghost as it struggles to escape the trap – and the effects here are spot-on, it must be said – but it’s less so when you’re using the shotgun-like attachment to your proton pack to shoot down waves of flying ghosts or slowly whittling down the health of another palette-swapped golem.
Despite the flaws, though, I’m really enjoying it. Setting it in 1991 was a smart decision, and the modern hardware – well… some more than others – proves more than capable of recreating 80s special effects. The aforementioned ghost-wrangling really is a treat for fans.
Terminal Reality has also done a great job of creating an atmosphere and actually proves pretty adept at getting in some decent scares. There are a couple of moments in the hotel when particularly powerful apparitions bend reality itself, like when an area is flooded with water and comes over all nautical while you’re in it. The game takes delight in forcing you to search for paranormal disturbances using your PKE meter and the narrow field of view that comes with it only to make something jump out or, when it’s being more subtle, flash just outside your field of view, all to good effect. It’s hardly Silent Hill scary, and it’s probably not even up there with when the library ghost traumatised you as a child, but it proves that there’s more to the game than Dan Aykroyd’s script.
While Ghostbusters may be a little rough around the edges, those with fond memories of the film will likely have fun with it. I certainly have.