Ghostbusters World
Game Review
October 22, 2018
From Sony Pictures Consumer Products, Ghost Corps, publisher FourThirtyThree Inc. (4:33), and developer Next Age, Gostbusters World is a new mobile AR game, available for free download on iOS and Android. Available on October 22, 2018, Ghostbusters World lets YOU strap on a proton pack and be a Ghostbuster! Using cutting edge AR mapping and GPS location technology, Ghostbusters World lets you battle and trap iconic ghosts from the Ghostbusters franchise. The game has several different game play options which also includes an easy to use RPG-style, turn based battle system. In PVP mode, you can pit your ghosts against other real world ghostbusters. Who has the best ghosts? Who is best at busting? Settle it here, in Ghostbusters World!
For those that don’t know, “AR” means augmented reality. Still lost? An Augmented Reality game is one that places the video and audio of the game in the player’s real world environment. Using GPS location technology and your smartphone’s camera function, the player experiences a game where the objects in the game are placed into the real world on a map that is your real world location. The best known example of AR mobile gaming, before Ghostbusters World, is Pokemon GO, the smash hit from Niantic.
So strap on your Proton Pack, jump in Ecto-1 and let’s go bust some ghosts! …
PopCultureReview first saw Ghostbusters World at this year’s San Diego Comic Con where we participated in a demonstration activation at the Experience, an immersive activation park from GranDesign, set up at Petco Park (across the street from the Convention Center). We walked away from the game with lots of excitement for its potential. Fast forward a few months and our time with the final build of the game not only surpassed our earlier expectations but left us really excited to spend many hours playing this game in the future.
Our final word on the game is below but first, let’s take a look at what you can do inside the game.
At this demo, we got to play with the basic function of the game, the “busting ghosts” in your neighborhood experience. For most people, especially those familiar with Pokemon GO, this will be the majority of their experience and the real draw of the game. It worked okay in San Diego but I feel like the finished version of the game has not only polished the busting function but the other options in the game has really made an experience that will occupy users for a long time. But, we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
When you open the game, your Ghostbuster avatar, which is customizable in appearance and look through the Menu screen, is on your real world map. If there is a ghost around, it’ll appear on the map. Also appearing on the map are Dimension Doors which act as item refill bases where you can get powerups and other items you’ll use in game. Once you hit a Dimension Door, it’ll be some time before you can go back to it.
From the home screen, you can click on the game Menu, check out the current missions available, enter Story Mode, enter the Ghost Dimension or engage a ghost right there and then (if there are any on your map). Let’s walk through this one by one.
Menu Button:
If you click on Menu, that takes you to a new screen. From here, you can fiddle with your game settings. But also and more importantly, you can access you character and equipment customizations and builds, your collection of captured ghosts, your “Tobin’s Spirit Guide” (this is the library of ghosts that are in the game), and your current inventory of items.
Missions:
If you click on Missions from the Home Screen, you’ll pull mission goals that are currently available. These are broken up in to Daily Missions, Weekly Missions, and Challenges. Daily Missions. The missions range in difficulty and game participation (e.g., visit a Dimension Door, capture 3 ghosts in battle, play PVP) and are designed to make you explore all aspects of the game. When you complete a mission, you get a reward. If you’re a trophy hunter in video games, you’ll love these missions because of the feeling of completing one is cathartic and receiving a reward for it is icing on the cake.
Story Mode:
Have you ever wanted to not only watch Ghostbusters but actually be the 5th ghostbuster? Ghostbusters World allows you to do just that through Story Mode. In story Mode, you join Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz, Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddmore as the newest ghostbuster addition. In a storyline developed by IDW Publishing, makers of the Ghostbusters comic book series, you and the team go from battle to battle pitting your captured ghosts against ghosts in the wild. In an RPG-style, turn based battle system (you do your move and then the computer does its move), your ghosts fight for you against enemy ghosts. There is a leveling up system for your team of ghosts which I found a little tricky to navigate but the game eventually helped me out. The further you progress in the story, the harder the ghosts become so you definitely need to level up your team if you want to be able to get anywhere.
Before you can get to leveling up your ghosts and progress through Story Mode, you need to actually capture a variety of ghosts and that is where the basic game function of busting ghosts in your neighborhood comes in to play.
Busting Ghosts in Your Neighborhood:
As you wander through your world, ghosts will appear on your map. The game draws on a wide variety of ghosts pulled not only from the movie but also from the wider universe of comics, cartoons and other IP properties done over the years. In addition, with IDW’s help, Ghostbusters World will introduce players to never before seen ghosts as well.
When you spot a ghost on the map and click on it, the ghost appears on your screen against your real world backdrop. This is the AR technology which is being fueled by Google’s ARCore and Apple’s ARKit technology, the most cutting edge location technology out there today.
As you go through your fights with the ghosts, you’ll need to counter their attacks, blast them with your proton stream from the Particle Thrower and then, once the ghost is weak enough, pull the ghost into the Ghost Trap. You have your own health meter so if you’re paying attention, the ghost will drain your energy and escape before you can trap it.
It’s a thrilling experience that feels engaging and terribly satisfying when you successfully pull the ghost into the trap. As noted above, you need to trap ghosts in order to use them in Story Mode (where the trapped ghosts go to work for you). There are levels of power and rarity among the ghosts and how hard or easy it is to trap them will depend on these levels. You can likewise power up your equipment to make your blasting skills more powerful.
Boss Battles, PVP amd Ghost Dimension:
Ghostbusters World also two features we didn’t get to explore in the final build model available to press, boss battles against mega strong ghosts (like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man) and requires a squad to take on (up to 4 players) and a Player versus Player mode where you pit your ghosts against another real world player.
The Ghost Dimension is unlocked at Level 7.
Final Word on Ghostbusters World.
Ghostbusters World is a successful improvement on prior AR games. Using better technology in location and mapping, the feeling of encountering ghosts in the real world is more immersive than ever. The game play in both busting ghosts and in the Story Mode functions is easy to use and satisfying. The strategy in choosing your team, and making sure they are properly leveled up, makes this a thinking game which pays off in successful battles and makes your wins feel well earned and your losses serve as true learning experiences. One thing that I would like to see made more accessible is how you go about leveling up the ghosts. Perhaps it was user error (very possible) but it took me a lot longer than I thought it should to figure out how to actually level up my ghosts.
The beauty of mobile gaming is the ability to whip out your phone whenever you have some free time and put some time into your gaming. Ghostbusters World fills this need perfectly, allowing you go through a full story mode battle sequence or just bust a single ghost or hit a Dimension Door — all depending on how long that line is at the grocery store.
As a kid who grew up with Ghostbusters, I’d be remiss to not mention the not insignificant amount of nostalgia I felt as I saw myself put on a proton pack and blast away at Slimer the ghost and trap him. It was my 7 year old self’s greatest dream come true.
I think this feeling of nostalgia will be felt from a wide swath of players of a certain age but for younger players who maybe haven’t grown up with original flavor Ghostbusters, I think Ghostbusters World will still draw them in with its style, substance and game play, all of which are made possible with a well thought out and vastly improved AR/RPG style mobile game.
If you’re wondering, here are some more pictures from Ghostbusters World Demo at San Diego Comic Con:
