GHOSTBUSTERS: SANCTUM OF SLIME (video game review)

Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Somebody Else…

Telltale sign that a game might suck?

You would rather spend most of your time in the Menu screen listening to Ray Parker Jr. than actually playing through it.  And that’s exactly where I found myself.

Now I swear to you, I tried to play this game.

I really truly did.

Only God knows how I managed to make it to Level 3 (it’s all a bit fuzzy since I had my roommate punch me in the face every few minutes to dull the pain)…

This game is monotonous with a capital FU.

You enter a room, the door seals, you blast everything in the room, which prompts another door to open, then you enter another similar looking room, the door seals, you blast everything in the room, another door opens, you enter that room — okay you get the point.

Sure, you could say “others game are like that” and you’d be right.  But when there’s no flair to the level design or overall execution, all is pretty much lost.

Maybe if it had Bill Murray and the Boys reprising their characters and spouting off one-liners the repetition wouldn’t be so taxing, but it doesn’t.

Bill Murray does not appear in this game.  Even Dan Aykroyd didn’t bother.

Instead we’re introduced to four new, completely interchangeable recruits because the original Busters are busy doing something else.

And with the story unfolding via Comic Book Panels (forcing you to read all the dialogue instead of hearing it) you’ll find yourself busy doing something else, too — hitting the SKIP button.

Which will unfortunately deprive you of the 20 Achievement points you would have gotten for simply watching each comic in its entirety, if you’re even still around after the Training Level.

The basic mechanics of the game find you with a Proton Pack and three different color-coded firing modes — the classic stream, blue Tapioca balls, and yellow microwaves.  A color-coded baddie appears, you switch to the matching firing mode and voila you’re running around in circles in a locked room waiting for your AI teammates to do something stupid, which usually involves someone getting knocked down and your comrades getting killed over and over trying to revive him or her while completely ignoring the deadly swarm of ghosts that dropped your buddy in the first place.

Even the screenshots are monotonous!

That being said, if you have to play…play with three other friends in co-op mode (so you can at least control the stupidity, unless your friends are really dumb).

I don’t have three friends, so I was shit out of luck.  Now, could somebody please punch me in the face?

Do yourself a favor, hit the B Button and Skip this game.  But if you’re still thinking about plunking down $10 (800 MS points) on Sanctum of Slime, beg, borrow, or steal another 10 and buy Ghostbusters: The Video Game instead.

It’s a hundred times more entertaining and currently under $20 on Amazon.

Happy Bustin’.