Ghostbusters Hands-On (Thanks to
teamxbox.com
A shiver went through the gamer community last week when it was announced that a host of games under the Sierra brand would not be making the move over in the big Sierra/Blizzard/Activision merger a trois. The official line is: “Ghostbusters: The Video Game is not cancelled. Activision Blizzard is exploring options for those titles it will not publish.” That’s a relief for sure.
So it was a pleasant and weird surprise when a build of the game (or at least one fairly complete demo level) showed up on our door step last Friday. For one, we were glad to get it, our hands-on experience with the game has been shamefully brief so far. But also we were happy to see that someone still cares about the game other than us (and many of the rest of you) and is making sure that “exploring options” is made easier by more exposure to the game and more positive buzz. Positive buzz? We haz it.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game couldn’t possibly have more promise. The great looking graphics and physics engines, the ¾ over the shoulder Gears of War perspective, the participation of the original principal actors, the fact that it’s freakin’ Ghostbusters? Either way, it’s been on many of our top ten, in some cases top 5 (points to self) most anticipated upcoming titles. Actually playing the game some more just solidifies that opinion. It seems like exactly what you’d want and more than you’d expect out of a Ghostbusters game.
Don't cross the streams!
The first thing you see after popping the disc into an Xbox 360 Debug unit (don’t have one? Awww, I is sorry) is a 3D menu that sets huge letters on the front of the iconic Ghostbusters HQ/firestation. Since this is only a demo, there’s only one option you can select (other than, of course, “options”), but the other ones include multiplayer and extras amongst others. You can glean one thing and assume about another. That yes, there is multiplayer, and hopefully you’ll be able to unlock not just videos and art pertaining to the game, but maybe even to the original movies as well. I’m just sayin’ is all. Something to think about.
The demo level’s setting is the main library, harkening back to the first real ghostbusting experience that Venkman and the boys have in the first movie. It begins out on the front steps of the edifice, surrounded by police tape, emergency vehicles and of course Ecto-1 looking super awesome. The crowds mill about behind the tape and there’s hundreds of them actually being modeled and following simple crowd A.I. routines – they’re definitely not a texture. This crowd technology was something that developer Terminal Reality was crowing about earlier, especially since it will become an important gameplay mechanic in the later levels of the game where things descend into chaos. That whole cats and dogs living together thing, right?
A ghost quickly explodes from a nearby statue, letting you know this place is hot with paranormal activity. The voice work of Harold Ramis and Dan Akroyd are quickly on display (not sure, but I don’t think they’ve recorded Bill Murray yet) and their voices, along with the sweet upclose display you get of the proton pack thanks to the third person camera let’s you know that you truly are in for an authentic Ghostbusters experience.
You then move inside and get introduced to your P.K.E. meter. You’ll learn how to scan with it and spot telltale ectoplasms. Soon you find yourself in one of the large reading rooms of the library, full of tables and lamps and chairs that cost money if you destroy them. C’mon, you know you want to. Soon, a huge “animator” type ghost appears and turns himself into a huge Golem made of books. Shooting him with your stream just seems to make him mad, even if Ray and Egon are hitting him too. Toss a Boson Dart into him if you want to break apart his little book club.
After that you encounter the same spooky librarian from the first movie, and follow her through the backrooms of the library. There’s a maze section where you need to find your way through some possessed bookshelves. Ah, so there’s some adventure to this action. After you get through that you have a little bit of a branching path. Actually, one way goes to the final boss of the level, the other to a break room where an innocent NPC is waiting for you to rescue her. One has to assume that little side missions like this will be peppered throughout the game, possibly to help you unlock extras. There’s already little Stay-Puft men littered about as collectibles.
Nobody steps on the church in my town!
The final boss is your garden variety ghost that you must capture in the classic Ghostbusters way, by trapping him in a containment unit. But before you can even get to that you’ll have to deal with “swarmers” or little insect-like ghosts that drive you nuts but are easily dispatched.
Getting your ghost wrangled into the containment unit is far from simple. Slamming the ghost to the wall or ceiling three times to stun him is a great idea, but not all that easy to pull off with the Xbox 360 controller. If you were playing it on the PS3 you can use the Sixaxis to do that, not like anybody who reads this site cares. It’s really just about making the ghost weak and easy to coax into the tractor beam of the containment box. Set your proton packs to stun.
Even though it was a brief taste, this build has only whetted our appetites more, and made us into champions for finding this game a good home. Come on publishers; don’t let this one pass you by. I think it’s going to be good enough to satisfy Ghostbusters fans and fun enough to attract gamers of any ilk. That’s pretty win-win.
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Bioshock Survivor Mode Hands-on (Thanks to
ign.com)
Can you survive the halls of Rapture once again?
by Jeff Haynes
August 6, 2008 - So, you've braved Big Daddies, killed splicers by the dozens and genetically engineered yourself to become a superhuman specimen that can fire electrical bolts and insects with a flick of the wrist. Think you've conquered everything there is with Andrew Ryan's domain, huh? Well, think again, particularly with the impending release of Bioshock on the PS3, which promises to be more expansive than ever before with brand new gameplay modes. We recently had a chance to go hands on with the new difficulty mode known as Survivor to see just how difficult our return to Rapture would be.
Immediately accessible from the main menu without having to be unlocked, Survivor mode is the fourth difficulty mode that is exclusive to the PS3 version of the game. Whereas the other difficulty modes have somewhat basic explanations, such as "newcomer " or "experienced with shooters," Survivor has a simple three word description: "Every bullet counts." That isn't because the designers threw in more splicers that you're going to have to fight or increased the Big Daddies or Little Sisters that you're facing -- instead, the designers cranked down the number of resources that will be available to you. We spoke to JP Lebreton, a level designer for the game, and he mentioned that Survivor mode is designed to be much more of a sink or swim experience for players that want to be challenged. For example, in previous difficulty levels, you could pick up a pistol and you received a large number of rounds. In Survivor mode, you'll find the fewest rounds possible. This means you'll frequently only receive one bullet in a gun you scavenge from one fallen splicer, which forces you to conserve your ammunition.
The same can be said about other resources -- in fact, JP mentioned that the game has intentionally been cranked up to not "cut players any slack." This means that the Eve cost for plasmids is much higher than in other modes, which is somewhat of a deterrent to constantly rely upon them to perform many of the standard combos that you've become accustomed to. For instance, at the start of the game, using the Electric Bolt plasmid consumes about 55-60% of your energy bar. So if you've gotten used to stunning attacking splicers and clubbing them with a wrench, you may have to adjust your thinking -- particularly because there aren't nearly as many Eve Hypos lying around. While Lebreton mentioned that they haven't removed items that are specifically placed in certain areas, such as bags of chips or First Aid kits, the amount of restorative effect that they'll have on any damage that you take will be significantly reduced as well, making you much more careful about charging into a potential battle with one or two splicers and feeling as though you'll emerge unscathed.
This was particularly true, we found, as we began the game and started to encounter our first splicer shortly after we acquired a wrench. Unlike the previous times we've played the game, where we could shrug off two or three hits from a pipe or another wrench, these melee strikes in Survivor mode were much more powerful, and drained our health meter severely. Charged up leaps were even more dangerous, removing a surprising amount of health and threatening to send us back to a Vita-Chamber (by the way, did we mention that Vita-Chambers restore much less health than before in this mode?). In many ways, this highlighted the essential plot element that is central to Bioshock itself: you are a newcomer to the city of Rapture, who is only just getting used to the effects of genetic manipulation that plasmids have to offer. The splicers, on the other hand, have had multiple years to master and improve their skills, making them much more dangerous and destructive at the start of the game, and much more of a daunting threat as you start to explore this world.
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RB FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't wait.