Plot
The game takes place during Thanksgiving 1991, two years after Ghostbusters II and seven after the first film. The player is a new recruit, the Rookie, hired to field-test the experimental equipment Egon Spengler and Ray Stantz have built during a sudden rise in paranormal activity. Because the Rookie has no lines, the four original Ghostbusters keep the comic timing they had in the films.
The trouble begins at the New York Natural History Museum, where a disturbance in a Gozer exhibit releases a paranormal shockwave that spreads across the city. The pulse reaches the firehouse on the Rookie's first day and frees Slimer from containment. Tracking him back to the Sedgewick Hotel, the team finds the hotel overrun and recaptures him, now operating as bonded municipal employees whose damages are covered by the City of New York. They also cross paths with a mysterious woman who reappears when the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man returns and rampages through Times Square, spawning marshmallow minions. After defeating him, the team rescues the woman, Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn, an expert on Gozerian lore brought in to supervise the museum's World of Gozer exhibit.
Mayor Jock Mulligan and Walter Peck arrive at the firehouse. Under pressure from City Council, Mulligan has appointed Peck as liaison through a new office, the P.C.O.C. (pronounced "peacock"), forcing the rivals into a working relationship. The investigation leads through several New York landmarks: the New York Public Library, where the Ghostbusters recover a Gozerian Codex guarded by the ghost of former chief librarian Eleanor Twitty and battle her killer, "the Collector," in the ghost world; the museum, where they use the Slime Blower Mk. II loaded with mood slime from Ghostbusters II to dispel possessing spirits, including one inhabiting Peck; the Sedgewick again, where the Spider Witch has trapped the manager on a hidden thirteenth floor; and a sunken island in the East River holding Shandor Castle, the home of the late Ivo Shandor, reached aboard Ray's restored tugboat, the Ecto-8.
Each cleared location darkens one light on a recurring symbol, which Selwyn recognizes as a map of points where the spirit realm and the real world converge. With Selwyn kidnapped and the containment grid shut down, the team heads to Central Park, where they discover the mastermind is Mayor Mulligan, possessed by the spirit of Ivo Shandor. Shandor intends to ascend to godhood through spiritual turbulence and the blood of his own descendant, Ilyssa. The Ghostbusters weaken him, cross their proton streams to seal him away, and revive Selwyn and Mulligan. With the spirit realm pushed back, there is no longer enough work for five Ghostbusters, so Venkman offers the Rookie a franchise of his own in another city.
Main cast and characters
Playable in all versions is the Rookie; the Red Fly versions offer a choice of a male or female Rookie. The returning Ghostbusters are Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Dr. Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), Dr. Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), and Dr. Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson). Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn (Alyssa Milano) is the new lead. Supporting roles include Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts), Walter Peck (William Atherton), and Mayor Jock Mulligan (Brian Doyle-Murray).
Major boss ghosts include Slimer, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, the Library Ghost (Eleanor Twitty), the Spider Witch, and Ivo Shandor. Several bosses differ by version: the realistic build features Pappy Sargassi, the Chairman, and an Imprisoned Juvenile Sloar, while the stylized build substitutes a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton and the Black Slime Behemoth.
Development
Sony's PlayStation publishing arm and Vivendi Universal first put the project with Terminal Reality. An early prototype around 2005 to 2006 played in the style of survival horror, with the player tracking Slimer through a hotel using a P.K.E. Meter, but it did not test well because players wanted to shoot, so the design shifted toward action.
Aykroyd and Ramis came aboard to support and rewrite the story, and the development team regarded the project as effectively a third film in spirit; Aykroyd publicly described it as "essentially the third movie." Internally the team even pushed for a Ghostbusters III logo, but Sony Pictures would not allow a game to be branded that way.3 The script itself was original and was not based on any draft of Ghostbusters III.
The Rookie's existence as a silent player character was, by producer John Melchior's account, a long internal fight: the publishers wanted players to control the original cast, while Terminal Reality argued that keeping the original four as AI teammates preserved the films' chemistry and comic timing. The new character was ultimately given no famous likeness; his face was modeled on one of the game's associate producers.
Casting Peter Venkman was the most fraught part of production. Before Bill Murray committed, Peter was written out of the story in several proposed drafts, including one in which he had moved to Paris with Dana Barrett and another in which he had gone to Los Angeles to open a new Ghostbusters franchise.45 The team also considered recasting the role: Vince Vaughn was the first choice and the producer reached the point of agreeing a price with Vaughn's agent, and Murray's brother Joel Murray was considered after Murray missed a recording session.67 Murray eventually recorded his lines in mid-2009.
Red Fly Studio was approached to build a Nintendo Wii version while it was finishing another Wii project. Judging a direct port of Terminal Reality's build infeasible on the Wii's hardware, the studio created a new game from the ground up in a stylized cartoon look while sharing the same story, music, and voice acting. The PlayStation 2 and PSP versions are ports of the Wii build. Artist Dan Schoening, later well known for IDW's Ghostbusters comics, helped inspire the graphic style of the stylized versions.
The game's path to release passed through several publishers. After the 2008 Activision Blizzard merger left Ghostbusters out of the franchises Activision intended to carry, the project sat in limbo before Atari acquired the publishing rights and announced a June 2009 launch to coincide with the first film's 25th anniversary. In Europe, Sony handled the PS3 and PS2 releases while the other versions were delayed to the fall.
Cut content
A number of characters, levels, and features were planned but did not ship. The team wanted to use Janosz Poha but abandoned the idea once it became clear they could not get Peter MacNicol to reprise the role.8 Before Murray signed on, the team also considered making Louis Tully the fifth, playable Ghostbuster; Rick Moranis, who was retired, sent a note declining but speaking warmly of the project, so the role became the anonymous Rookie instead.9
Several levels with recorded dialogue were cut, by panelists' accounts six or seven in all. Among the documented cuts were an Ellis Island level and a subway level. A Thanksgiving Day Parade level was also planned, later folded into discussion of unmade downloadable content. Vivendi had planned DLC, but Atari did not carry those plans forward.
Sequel ideas
A sequel was scoped but never made. The central idea was to transition to a new team in a new city, with Ray Stantz acting as a mentor and Aykroyd's character as the lasting connection to the original cast; whether it happened was effectively tied to whether a new film would be made.10 The team completed a design document and a story synopsis for a sequel and a synopsis for a third game, and intended to make driving the Ecto-1 work in a more open, sandbox-style city, something the original engine could not support.11 One concept sent the Rookie back to his hometown of Chicago to start a franchise. Atari had no interest in pursuing any sequel.
Remastered Edition
Saber Interactive's Remastered Edition, released October 4, 2019, covers only the realistic version. Producer Matt McKnight described how the team had to obtain Atari's permission to access the game's code and track down former Terminal Reality staff for rights to the Infernal Engine; the original cutscene art turned out to survive only on a hard drive kept by the lead animator, and the cutscenes were rebuilt in 4K with enhanced textures and lighting.12 Gameplay was largely left alone aside from tweaks to shadows, lighting, and hair.
The remaster contains no multiplayer. Online co-op had been promised via a later patch, but Saber's chief creative officer, Tim Willits, later explained that the state of the original multiplayer code did not cooperate, so the team focused on recreating the single-player experience.13 Finishing the game on the "Experienced" difficulty unlocks the Ghostbusters II flight suit, and finishing on "Professional" unlocks a gold Proton Pack. The remaster added a dedication, "In Loving Memory of Harold Ramis," and replaced the original game's Doritos product placement with a fictional "Crispy Snacks" brand.
Continuity and the IDW comics
The realistic and stylized builds differ enough in ghosts, characters, and mechanics that fans have long debated which elements are canon. One in-game oddity is the painting of Vigo the Carpathian in the firehouse basement, which by the films' continuity was destroyed and replaced at the end of Ghostbusters II.
IDW Publishing's Ghostbusters comics treat the events of the game as having happened, while changing some details. In that continuity the P.C.O.C. oversight office, Walter Peck's possession, Mayor Mulligan's possession by Ivo Shandor, and the city's insurance payouts for Ghostbuster-caused damage all carry over, as do the World of Gozer museum exhibit, Eleanor Twitty's disappearance in the library, and the Gozerian Codex. The comics also reconcile the game's three Rookies as three separate hires and, unlike the game's stylized version, establish that Winston was given an honorary doctorate in parapsychology rather than holding one all along.
Reception
USA Today reported the game topped one million units sold by late July 2009.14 Despite the early sales figure, it took roughly a year and a half after release for the game to recoup its costs.14
Legacy
The game was acknowledged within the wider franchise. Michael C. Gross referenced it on the DVD commentary for The Real Ghostbusters episode "Take Two," noting it was being promoted as Ghostbusters III. Two of the original films' writers and several of their stars reprising their roles made it one of the most complete cast reunions the series had until the live-action films of the 2020s.
References
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Ghostbusters: The Video Game page at Spook Central, spookcentral.tk.
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Ghostbusters News, "Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered coming to Steam on November 17th," November 9, 2020.
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Spook Central, "Ghostbusters: The Video Game - Game Informer's Dan Aykroyd Interview (December 2007)." Dan Aykroyd: "This is essentially the third movie. And it's better than the third movie because it lasts longer, there's more development of the characters."
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Greene, James, Jr. (2022). A Convenient Parallel Dimension: How Ghostbusters Slimed Us Forever, p. 177. Lyons Press, Essex, CT, USA. ISBN 9781493048243.
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Greene, James, Jr. (2022). A Convenient Parallel Dimension: How Ghostbusters Slimed Us Forever, p. 177. Lyons Press, Essex, CT, USA. ISBN 9781493048243. John Zuur Platten: "We wrote it with Peter Venkman going to Los Angeles to open a new Ghostbusters franchise with new Ghostbusters."
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Greene, James, Jr. (2022). A Convenient Parallel Dimension: How Ghostbusters Slimed Us Forever, p. 178. Lyons Press, Essex, CT, USA. ISBN 9781493048243.
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Greene, James, Jr. (2022). A Convenient Parallel Dimension: How Ghostbusters Slimed Us Forever, p. 180. Lyons Press, Essex, CT, USA. ISBN 9781493048243.
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Greene, James, Jr. (2022). A Convenient Parallel Dimension: How Ghostbusters Slimed Us Forever, p. 176. Lyons Press, Essex, CT, USA. ISBN 9781493048243. John Zuur Platten: "We wanted to use Janosz from Ghostbusters II, but we knew we wouldn't be able to get Peter MacNicol."
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Greene, James, Jr. (2022). A Convenient Parallel Dimension: How Ghostbusters Slimed Us Forever, p. 176. Lyons Press, Essex, CT, USA. ISBN 9781493048243.
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Wallace, Daniel (2015). Ghostbusters: The Ultimate Visual History, p. 205. Insight Editions, San Rafael, CA, USA. ISBN 9781608875108.
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Wallace, Daniel (2015). Ghostbusters: The Ultimate Visual History, p. 205. Insight Editions, San Rafael, CA, USA. ISBN 9781608875108. Mark Randel: "We had lots of concepts for a sequel and had a few levels scripted, but a sequel never materialized."
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Venture Beat, "How Saber Interactive remastered Ghostbusters for a new generation," October 9, 2019.
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mp1st, "Saber Explains What Happened to Ghostbusters The Video Game Remastered Multiplayer," November 24, 2021. Tim Willits: "The state of the original multiplayer code unfortunately just didn't cooperate. We did look into it but ultimately had to focus on recreating the single player experience fans were expecting from us."
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USA Today, "Ghostbusters tops 1 million in sales," July 27, 2009.
