Who Are Ya Gonna Call? Next June?!

[Roy Karrde]

http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/02/ghostbusters_polygraph.jpg

Next October, when the Goulues, Demons, and Nasties rise from the grave for Halloween, the boys in grey will be there to protect the world, one last time!

http://www.g4tv.com/pile_player.aspx?video_key=19059

Ghostbusters 3! The movie that was on again, off again, on again, off again, has finally been made into a video game. The script penned by the original creators Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramus with everyone coming back to voice act.

The game is being created by Sierra with fully destructable environments, controllable proton packs, explorable fire house, and hopefully multiplayer!

http://kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/11/gbstaypuft-thumb.jpg

As for the consoles it is running on, so far PS3 and 360 have been confirmed, with rumors being the Wii, PSP, and DS!

[Drago]

www.ghostbustersgame.com For your official news, and iffin you're wondering, yes, all four of the boys are onboard. Don't fear for Ernie Hudson exclusion. No Rick Moranis or Sigourney Weaver, though. :(

http://kotaku.com/gaming/ghostbusters/ghostbusters-screen-co+op--mp-info-322990.php

Vivendi have confirmed to Variety writer Ben Fritz that the games will feature both multiplayer and co-op.
Oh yes please.

Additionally, in case y'all weren't doing your homework (lord knows I was), the Wii (and PS2?) version are supposedly more 'kiddy', and being made by a different development team from that of the 360 and PS3.

Claims from the IGN boards...

Ecto 1 is back, it looks like the one from GB2, with the yellow/black warning stripes, but with less crap on top and it's using the original logo, not the GB2 logo.

- Release is for October 2008.
- You play as the 5th member of the team
- It takes place in 1991 and the city has agreed to fund you but they hire Peck to watch over you to make sure you're not just pulling their strings.
- After you are hired, a new evil hits New York and ghosts start appearing everywhere
- The first mission is to hunt down Slimer in the hotel from the 1st movie, it trains you how to use the proton pack and trap.
- While you play, you hear chatter from the other 4 members over your radio or in person when they're around you.
- The environments are destructible, but don't worry about bill as now that you're funded by the city, they cover the damage.
- You press the d-pad to deploy the trap
- There are different proton beams you can use and some of them act like a fishing mechanic, a pull and tug lasso effect.
- Terminal Reality has developed their own engine to handle the physics, they showed off a demo where they dropped hundreds of ragdoll bodies, boxes, and cars and they all reacted perfectly with no framerate hits.
- They will be able to simulate up to 1,000 objects at once with no framerate hit.
- The entire demo was done on the PS3 to show that they're not having trouble developing for it.
- There is a Slime Gun that shoots out a trail of green slime and you can anchor things to each end of the strand, you can tether ghosts to walls using this for easier trapping.
- One of the levels takes you back to the library from GB1 to re-visit that librarian ghost, or as Ray refers to it as, "the one that got away".
- The Elmer Bernstein score is in tact and while no other songs were confirmed, they have to imagine Ray Parker Jr's song will be included.
- Your AI teammates will perform all sorts of actions without you having to tell them and they can save you by shooting ghosts and deploying traps.
- They said they wanted to keep you as a 5th member of the team so you can hear all the interaction between the other 4 guys with the dialog that Akyroyd and Ramis are writing.
- They want the game to be, "fun, funny, or scary" at all times. In an average hallway, for example, ghosts could smash through a window, pop out from behind a vending machine, or come down from the ceiling.
- Your main hub is of course the Firehouse and you're free to walk around and talk to Janine, play with Egon's new gadgets, perform scientific experiments, etc. And YES you can slide down the firepole!!!!
- The Stay Puft battle is actually EARLY in the game as there's a big reveal bigger evil at play.

"Wii and PS2 owners will also be able to get in on the fun next Halloween with a cartoon-styled version of Ghostbusters. "The storyline from the next-gen version will be carried out in its entirety in our game, but our primary focus is on multiplayer," says Red Fly's Jeff Mills. "So we'll reproduce everything that you do in the game, but then we'll repurposed the maps for various multiplayer things and introduce new maps for multiplayer scenarios as well." The entire single-player campaign can be tackled by up to four players via splitscreen co-op or a Halo 3 style competitive mode. But the largest difference from the XBox 360 and PS3 versions is found in the adversarial modes where players battle it out in a ghosts versus Ghostbusters free for all. Ghosts will be able to phase through certain points in the walls, floors, and ceiling. And many, like Slimer, have the ability to fly. Ghosts can also sneak up behind players and scare them, temporarily reducing their max health. Busters are equipped with a standard array of proton packs and traps and each one has a different special ability. Ray, for example, will be able to spot where ghosts are going to come through the wall."

All the above shamelessly lifted from the research of NeoGAF members. I'm your man for second-hand information, you realise.
My opinion? It'll probably be average, but I wish beyond wishing that it'll be brilliant. If this is the closest we'll get to GB3, lord knows I'll take it. I love the originals, and always dreamt that a third would become reality. I'm not big on the idea of this '5th member', though I do appreciate the prospect of the banter between the boys in the background. Besides, co-op could turn out to be boss.

So for the love of all that is holy and Walter Peck, let's pray that this will be a game to remember.

[Roy Karrde]

I am glad to hear that Ernie Hudson is back, when I asked him about the game last March he said he hadn't been asked to come back for it.

I've heard the same notes that you posted from over at Trek BBS.

There are screen shots out of the Wii/PS2 game, and it does look very kiddy and well, not that well put together. But then again, it is Ghostbusters, and that is enough to have me buy a Wii for it.

Anyway this website has scans of the entire article in Game Informer.

http://ghostbustersiii.blogspot.com/

As for Sigorney and Rick, the original GB3 script called for Dana and Peter to be married, so I wouldn't count her out just yet!

[classy_cat18]

Dude, extra posts.

Oh yeah. And whoopie for Ghostbusters fans.

[Austrian ViceMaster Alex]

Heh, great news indeed, I really enjoyed those two movies back when I was a kid. A 3rd movie would have been fun (but by now with the aged actors probably not a good idea anyway) but a game is better than nothing. I'll certainly keep my eyes open for this one.

[Drago]

A 3rd movie would have been fun (but by now with the aged actors probably not a good idea anyway).
Are you kidding me? I was hoping they'd do a third movie 'coz it'd be hilarious having 'senior Ghostbusters'. You know how at the beginning of the second they're a little rusty after five years' downtime? Imagine how rusty they'd be after eighteen years.
But hey, the way a new script was shaping up we'd have to have put up with new, young 'hip' Ghosbusters too, so it's just as well it didn't happen. The minute you try inserting a new generation, things fall apart, eg. 'The Extreme Ghostbusters' cartoon series. Oh no you didn't.

[Roy Karrde]

Well alot of new vids have come out for this game!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKXtyy55R2U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5i--SdNCg0

[Drago]

Please please please please don't let this game suck... It's almost as if I'm being unreasonable with how much I want this game to be good. The AI looks wonky as all hell (not only do the guys appear to be crossing the streams, they're going the extra yard and running right into the blast radius!!), but I want my Ghostbusters back. Maybe I can just be satisfied in knowing all four of them are lending their voices and likenesses. It's a significant Weaver/Moranis short, but it's a good start.

EDIT: Wow, I'm pretty much saying the same stuff I was back in November. Good to see my stance hasn't changed on just about anything.

[Roy Karrde]

According to next months issue of X Box Magazine the whole game is still in Pre Alpha State. So the AI is probably not tuned. There will probably be more info on the AI next month when the magazine comes out.

http://protoncharging.com/gb/2008/05/19/oxm-us-preview-on-its-way/

[Drago]

Yeah I hadn't considered that (isn't it due in about five months though?), I guess I'm just so worried about this game being anything less than fantastic I'm throwing my hands up at any red flag.

[Roy Karrde]

New Trailer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4hNMULTddM

My jaw hit the floor when I saw this trailer, but then again I hadn't seen the game in action since like June back when I was a tester for it. Oh man I can't wait till next June to play it!