Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is the latest asymmetrical multiplayer game based on a beloved property, which has become quite the trend in recent years. While most of these games are in the horror genre, this entry is a lot less scary as Ghostbusters has never been all that terrifying despite featuring plenty of ghosts and possessions. While it’s not quite as charming as the films that inspired it, IllFonic’s latest multiplayer game still delivers some satisfying action for players on both sides of the bustin’.
After a brief tutorial, Spirits Unleashed starts players off on the titular ghostbusting team, which comprises of four humans that are each equipped with traps and a proton pack. Hunting ghosts plays out like a first-person shooter as players use a handheld device to search for paranormal activity that can range from the ghost itself to rifts that can be destroyed (thus taking away one of the ghost’s four lives). The larger stages can feel like less is going on, but there are collectibles and fungi to collect for experience points, so there’s always something to do even if you’re not encountering ghosts.
The real highlights are, obviously, the battles, especially if multiple Ghostbusters are taking on a ghoul. The humans are truly stronger together, so getting all four proton packs active often leads to a satisfying victory, while a one-on-one battle is difficult to win unless the ghost gets sloppy or lacks energy needed for special moves. Working as a group to track and frantically capture a spirit fulfills the ghostbusting fantasy from the films and is where the game shines.
Although I ultimately preferred hunting and playing with others cooperatively, players quickly earn the ability to play as a ghost as well. This winds up being just as interesting and the experience playing as a specter informs your strategy as a Ghostbuster as well, so there’s never a wasted game if you don’t get your desired role. Knowing where to haunt makes it easier to know where to hunt.
The ghost is able to haunt and possess individual objects with the goal of making the area fully haunted. It’s up to the spirit to come up with a strategy, whether it’s hiding the rifts, trying to defend them via their wide range of abilities and slime-based attacks, or just focusing on haunting areas while evading traps and detection. These choices naturally yield variety to playing as a ghost, which opens up even more once the situation calls for improvisation. Once the building is fully haunted, it’s a mad dash to avoid the other team as a final countdown appears and any remaining rifts are eliminated — giving the humans one final chance to win even if a match has not gone their way. No matter which side you’re on, these chaotic finales are always intense and condense the game down its most action-filled essentials.
The progression systems are great for both sides because later unlocks are not necessarily better and instead only open up the game more and provide different strategies. From new gear that allows you to slow down ghosts to abilities that suit particular playstyles, there aren’t objectively superior loadouts to work toward, which was a problem in Illfonic’s Predator: Hunting Grounds. Because of this, it’s more liberating to experiment and players are rewarding for doing so. Using different upgrades and ghost variants that unlock over time is key to finding out what works best and keeps the relatively simple gameplay loop feeling fresh as well, which is important since there are only five maps at launch.
Spirits Unleashed does effectively emulate the look and feel of the series, but it can’t quite capture the humor of Ghostbusters within the actual gameplay itself. You can possess a few out-there objects, such as dinosaur statues, and spew slime on all the Ghostbusters, but it’s rare that players will bust a laugh while busting ghosts. Predator‘s action and Friday the 13th‘s horror are more natural fits for multiplayer gameplay, whereas comedy just isn’t as clean of a fit and that is, disappointingly, quite clear here.
While that’s a bit of a letdown, the cutscenes — which play after leveling up — are quite charming and feature great performances from Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson who both reprise their beloved characters. So, while you get a taste of the wackier side of Ghostbusters, don’t expect constant laughs.
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While it doesn’t have jokes like a typical Ghostbusters film or offer scares like many other asymmetrical multiplayer games, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is a very welcome addition to the genre that manages to deliver a lot of offbeat fun and makes up for its sparse number of stages with a large amount of gameplay customization. Hunting ghosts is rarely stressful, yet still exciting as the clock ticks down. The very real possibility of last-minute triumphs and failures keep players invested and often creates some stellar emergent moments. While 2009’s Ghostbusters: The Video Game remains the gold standard for Ghostbusters games due to its faithful original story and rich voice acting, Spirits Unleashed still stays true to the series and is a worthwhile addition for any fan looking to bust ghosts with their friends.
SCORE: 7.5/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 7.5 equates to “Good.” A successful piece of entertainment that is worth checking out, but it may not appeal to everyone.
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