Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed inspires with its nostalgia factor in the test. But is there also a good game behind the pretty façade?
Every one of us had a favourite series in our childhood. For many, it was guaranteed to be “The Simpsons”. For others, “He-Man”, the “Power Rangers” or “Saber Rider”. But whether it was “Dragon Ball”, the “Turtles” or “Samurai Pizza Cats” – I simply loved everything in the 90s. Even the very strange “Super Mario Bros Show”.
But above all, “Ghostbusters” still has a very special place in my heart. If you knew all the toys I had back then – all four Ghostbusters, their car Ecto-1 and of course the Marshmallow Man. I went to kindergarten dressed as a Ghostbuster for carnival and pined longingly for weeks in the Otto catalogue for the super cool plastic Proton Pack that I sadly never got.
Thirteen years after the, for me, terrific Ghostbusters: The Video Game, there is finally a proper PC game featuring the original ghostbusters again with Spirits Unleashed – and then it”s an asymmetrical co-op shooter to boot. As a Dead by Daylight fan, I”m thrilled by the idea. Nothing can really go wrong, can it? The answer can be found in the test.
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A childhood dream comes true
When I start the game for the first time, I want to start crying for joy. The opening scene has Ray and Winston renovating the old firehouse and bringing the Ghostbusters back to life while the iconic Ray Parker Jr. song plays in the background. Perfect introduction.
Since the two veterans, who by the way are once again voiced by Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson (regrettably only in English), have retired in the meantime, fresh recruits are needed – that”s you. The two take you by the hand and teach you everything you need to know in a tutorial to successfully capture your first ghost. In an alley you can also experiment to your heart”s content with the proton emitter and the ghost trap – or you can do what I did and explore every corner of the old fire station first.
There are so many small and large details to discover that will put a big smile on the faces of fans of the films. Anyway, the entire presentation and the huge nostalgia factor are the greatest strengths. The sound effects alone of all the old familiar tools are so well done that I could just play around with them for hours.
I collect spores, verdigris and mould.
But you”d probably much rather know if there”s a viable game behind the phenomenal facade. Once a multiplayer game starts, you”ll find yourself as one of four aspiring ghost hunters in a museum, mountain hotel or other haunted location.
Your goal is to capture the ghost controlled by the fifth player before it can curse the entire building. As a side task, you can also pick up various mushrooms in the levels, which is an allusion to a well-known Egon Spengler quote from the first film. However, these do not bring any advantages in the fight against the ghost, only a few experience points.
The basic procedure is the same in every round: As a ghost hunter, you unpack your PKE meter and go in search of the ghost, while it scares innocent civilians somewhere on the map and takes possession of objects in order to bring the haunted bar up to the necessary 100 percent as quickly as possible.
Once you have discovered the ghost, all you have to do is catch it. But that”s not so easy, because the proton beams only have a short range and aiming is difficult due to the large recoil – but you know that from the films. More problematic and even really frustrating is the ejection of the ghost trap.
Right-click to throw the device in the direction of the enemy, right-click again to open it – sounds easy, but it plays awkwardly and clumsily. Then you have to bind the ghost with your proton beam and manoeuvre it towards the trap. If you are facing the enemy alone, the chances of success are almost zero.
If you throw the trap first, he will simply run away before you have unpacked your weapon. If you shoot first, you can hold the ghost for a few seconds, but without a ghost trap this will lead to nothing. Teamwork and coordination are therefore essential, and in co-op with friends the game is worlds better than solo.
If you can”t catch the ghost, you can first look for ghost cracks hidden in objects. These serve as respawn points for the ghost after it has been captured. As a ghost, you must of course defend them with everything you have.
At the release of Spirits Unleashed, there are five different ghost types, each offering three to four specialisations with different skills. One vomits slime, one makes slime rain, yet another shoots slime projectiles. The main thing is to slime the hunters. You can”t take them out permanently, but you can secure important time in the race to see who can reach their goal first.
The system is haunted
The cat-and-mouse game between hunters and hunted is definitely fun. At least for a few rounds in between, because although there are different ghosts and equipment for the Ghostbusters, the games, which average around ten to fifteen minutes, really always play the same. Although the whole thing is livened up by a charming story full of allusions to the old films, which is always told in cutscenes after a few level-ups, the fun is over after just a few hours.
The fact that Spirits Unleashed doesn”t offer much variety at the moment is perfectly okay. The basic gameplay is also solid and the developers promise that future updates will bring new ghosts and maps. However, three things currently bother me enormously.
Technology is a double-edged sword
On the one hand, the game runs buttery smooth, has Ultrawide support, crossplay and almost everything you would want in a PC version. Only the keyboard layout cannot be adjusted – an absolute absurdity. In addition, there are really annoying and regularly occurring bugs. As a ghost hunter, for example, I start every round with equipment that I haven”t even selected and some of which I haven”t even unlocked yet. On top of that, the gadgets often suddenly don”t work at all.
On the ghost side, the bugs are even worse: several times the mouse control suddenly failed after the hunters had tied me up, so that I could only look in one direction. Once I even fell through the floor of the map and couldn”t do anything anymore – not even leave the game. At some point I won anyway, because the haunted bar fills up as long as I”m alive.
Problem number two is the cheater problem
To free yourself as a ghost from the clutches of the proton beam, you simply have to hammer the F key as fast as possible. Resourceful players who have installed a keyboard with a macro function or a corresponding app can cheat quite easily here. It only takes a few seconds to create a macro that presses the key for you a hundred times per second – and you are invincible.
The last problem are the bots
In the trailer, the developers promise: “Play with your friends or lead your own AI team.” It”s just a shame when the AI is so stupid that it will hardly help you. For example, while I frantically try to steer the ghost towards the trap, the bots just stand by and scan it with their PKE meters. Fortunately, the AI ghost is just as stupid and can be caught single-handedly. So if you”re planning to play offline – forget it, it”s not much fun.
For whom is Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed worthwhile?
Are you a big fan of the Ghostbusters and ideally still have a group of friends who want to go ghost hunting with you? In this case, Spirits Unleashed is worth its 32 euros, because the developers have delivered a really great adaptation of the series here.
Be aware of what kind of game awaits you before you buy. You”ll go through the same five levels over and over again and the games are all similar. There is no long-term motivation in the form of a ranking list or anything similar, and after about 15 to 20 hours you should have unlocked everything that is not hidden behind any special orders.
However, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is a nice and less stressful change from Dead by Daylight for a few rounds in between, as long as you don”t let the frequently occurring bugs drive you crazy. No more, no less – because after the initial enthusiasm, at some point the great atmosphere alone is no longer enough to keep even the biggest Ghostbusters fan happy for more than 30 to 60 minutes at a time.
Editor”s verdict
I am not disappointed with Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed. The presentation is too good and the nostalgia factor too high for that. You can tell that the developers at Illfonic are as passionate about the series as I am. I think the game idea is excellent in theory, but in practice it doesn”t really work. This is not only because of the annoying bugs, but also because there is a lack of gameplay highlights during the game.
In Dead by Daylight, I have the opportunity to significantly influence the outcome of a game with my skill and strong actions. That”s not possible here, because as a ghost hunter I”m always dependent on the help of my team. And as a ghost, I am ultimately always doomed to wait for the haunted bar to slowly but surely fill up.
So Spirits Unleashed remains a nice pastime for in between, which is especially fun with friends. But as soon as you”ve seen the end of the story and unlocked most of the upgrades, the motivation for further rounds is gone.
