Sierra Spring Event - Ghostbusters
posted:
5/6/2008 11:37:00 PM
More On:
Ghostbusters
As someone who's a bit of an old school gamer it's nice to see a company you have fond memories of step back into the limelight with something cool. So it was a pleasant surprise to find out that Terminal Reality was working on the new Ghostbusters game as they have a history of doing some great games back in the day. Between their first game (titled Terminal Velocity) and Fly!, the company broke amazing new ground in terms graphics in games. Sure the graphics are crude by today's standards but back in the day they were the bees knees.
The game is actually being touted as the third Ghostbusters movie as most of the original cast is back and contributing their voices to the game (Rick Moranis and Sigourney Weaver are out) They've even gotten Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis to lend a hand with the script of the game which should help the game maintain the flavor of the movies. In the game you will assume the role of the 5th Ghostbuster known only as Rookie (yes, you have to look up to Ernie Hudson's character which feels a lot like being Cousin Oliver's BFF) and you'll get to don the proton pack take care of spooks and ghoulies in 1991 era New York city.
The first part of the demonstration was Terminal Velocity showing off what their new Infernal Engine could do. Entering a extra ordinarily well rendered version of the New York Metropolitan library we went into one of the large reading rooms and got a demonstration of what the game will be able to do by throwing cars around, tethering them together with strands of slime, and destroying things in all kinds of new ways. Everything in the game has a realistic weight to it and components which means they can be broken down into those components as you blow them apart. The most impressive part of this display was going down into a flooded room in the library and seeing hundreds of books floating around in the water and moving up in down in response to the waves created by walking through the water. The books then combined into a giant book golem which was then broken back down into the component books with a few shots from the proton pack. This was an extraordinarily cool demonstration as each book responded to the beam in it's own way based on how it was hit.
The next part of the demonstration showed off the new crowd dynamics in the game which allow for the game to have nearly 1000 people on the screen at one time. These aren't just dumb models running around but rather they have their own AI and interact with the other characters on screen. We were told that they even react to being chased by ghosts at a large event, perhaps event something like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. The developers didn't say anything beyond that but it's pretty easy to see that their could be a very cool level where you have to defend people against giant possessed parade balloons.
After seeing what the engine could do we got a chance to see some actual gameplay. In addition to the proton pack you'll get a few other fun weapons like the afore mentioned slime gun,Ion Blaster,and a few other weapons. Each weapon has an alternative fire so you've got a decent arsenal of weapons at your disposal. The folks at Terminal Velocity are going for the minimalist user interface on the screen and most of the information you need will be visible on your proton pack including which weapon you have selected and what your health bar is.
The demo we saw had the Rookie and Dr. Stantz rushing up an office building to try and take down the Stay Puft Marshmallow man who has returned to reign terror on the city. As you progress up the building you have to take out little "Marshmellow minis" which are little bulldog like creatures composed of marshmallowly goodness and evil. As you work your way up the building you run into some other ghosts which you can collect and trap. In order to trap a ghost you have to capture him with your proton ray and then weaken them by slamming them into the ground a few times. Then just pop a trap and you're good to go. The PS3 version of the game will let you use the SIXAXIS motion control to slam the ghosts into the ground.
I have to saw that I'm pretty impressed with what I saw in the demo. Sure it was only fifteen minutes of footage but having the Ghostbusters license and the core cast members back gives Terminal Velocity a fantastic starting point. The tech we saw also looked great but I do wonder if you can make the Ghostbusting experience fun for more than two to three hours without going way off the road in terms of the canon of the films. I guess we'll find out when the game hits in October of this year.
What Works
- Great license and all of the major cast members on board
- Amazing new engine and lots of cool technology to play with
- Lots of potential to be a movie tie-in game that doesn't suck
What doesn't
- Could the ghost hunting and trapping get old after an hour or three?
The game is actually being touted as the third Ghostbusters movie as most of the original cast is back and contributing their voices to the game (Rick Moranis and Sigourney Weaver are out) They've even gotten Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis to lend a hand with the script of the game which should help the game maintain the flavor of the movies. In the game you will assume the role of the 5th Ghostbuster known only as Rookie (yes, you have to look up to Ernie Hudson's character which feels a lot like being Cousin Oliver's BFF) and you'll get to don the proton pack take care of spooks and ghoulies in 1991 era New York city.
The first part of the demonstration was Terminal Velocity showing off what their new Infernal Engine could do. Entering a extra ordinarily well rendered version of the New York Metropolitan library we went into one of the large reading rooms and got a demonstration of what the game will be able to do by throwing cars around, tethering them together with strands of slime, and destroying things in all kinds of new ways. Everything in the game has a realistic weight to it and components which means they can be broken down into those components as you blow them apart. The most impressive part of this display was going down into a flooded room in the library and seeing hundreds of books floating around in the water and moving up in down in response to the waves created by walking through the water. The books then combined into a giant book golem which was then broken back down into the component books with a few shots from the proton pack. This was an extraordinarily cool demonstration as each book responded to the beam in it's own way based on how it was hit.
The next part of the demonstration showed off the new crowd dynamics in the game which allow for the game to have nearly 1000 people on the screen at one time. These aren't just dumb models running around but rather they have their own AI and interact with the other characters on screen. We were told that they even react to being chased by ghosts at a large event, perhaps event something like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. The developers didn't say anything beyond that but it's pretty easy to see that their could be a very cool level where you have to defend people against giant possessed parade balloons.
After seeing what the engine could do we got a chance to see some actual gameplay. In addition to the proton pack you'll get a few other fun weapons like the afore mentioned slime gun,Ion Blaster,and a few other weapons. Each weapon has an alternative fire so you've got a decent arsenal of weapons at your disposal. The folks at Terminal Velocity are going for the minimalist user interface on the screen and most of the information you need will be visible on your proton pack including which weapon you have selected and what your health bar is.
The demo we saw had the Rookie and Dr. Stantz rushing up an office building to try and take down the Stay Puft Marshmallow man who has returned to reign terror on the city. As you progress up the building you have to take out little "Marshmellow minis" which are little bulldog like creatures composed of marshmallowly goodness and evil. As you work your way up the building you run into some other ghosts which you can collect and trap. In order to trap a ghost you have to capture him with your proton ray and then weaken them by slamming them into the ground a few times. Then just pop a trap and you're good to go. The PS3 version of the game will let you use the SIXAXIS motion control to slam the ghosts into the ground.
I have to saw that I'm pretty impressed with what I saw in the demo. Sure it was only fifteen minutes of footage but having the Ghostbusters license and the core cast members back gives Terminal Velocity a fantastic starting point. The tech we saw also looked great but I do wonder if you can make the Ghostbusting experience fun for more than two to three hours without going way off the road in terms of the canon of the films. I guess we'll find out when the game hits in October of this year.
What Works
- Great license and all of the major cast members on board
- Amazing new engine and lots of cool technology to play with
- Lots of potential to be a movie tie-in game that doesn't suck
What doesn't
- Could the ghost hunting and trapping get old after an hour or three?
