With a story co-written by Dan Aykroyd and the late Harold Ramis, plus the inclusion of stars Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson, Ghostbusters: The Video Game ended up being the perfect sequel. Although Ghostbusters 3 technically never released, with 2016’s Ghostbusters: Answer the Call being a reboot, and 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife acting as a legacy sequel, Atari’s 2009 game is essentially the threequel that was never made. The game picks up just a few years after the events of Ghostbusters 2, and features a loving attention to detail that makes full use of the Ghostbusters license. It translates the atmosphere of the films perfectly, and with gameplay that captures the true ghostbusting experience.
First released in 2009 but later remastered in 2019, Ghostbusters: The Video Game was developed by Terminal Reality and published by Atari. Like the first two Ghostbusters films, the game’s story was developed with the involvement of Aykroyd and Ramis, who also reprised their roles as Ray Stantz and Egon Spengler in-game. They were joined also by Murray and Hudson as Peter Venkman and Winston Zeddemore respectively, with the player taking on the role of a silent rookie protagonist two years after the events of Ghostbusters 2. Gameplay was essentially a Ghostbusters version of a third-person shooter, with players being given access to a new experimental Proton Pack that could fire way more than just the normal proton streams.
Although well-reviewed upon release, Ghostbusters: The Video Game didn’t receive the credit it truly deserved for how authentically it utilized the movie license. This started with the involvement of Aykroyd and Ramis, who helped craft a story that felt like it could’ve made its way to the big screen had Columbia Pictures developed a third Ghostbusters following the release of the second film. Just as good, though, was the presentation. Although not graphically game-changing, the iconography of the films was rendered in acute detail, with Proton Packs looking particularly impressive. Game composers Kyle Richards and Chris Rickwood also utilized elements of Elmer Bernstein’s iconic score from the first two films, which further added to the game’s authentic feel. There were flaws, such as the cliched and non-customizable silent protagonist, but overall, Ghostbusters: The Video Game is fully deserving of being called a love letter to the films on which it is based.
Ghostbusters: The Video Game Shows How Licenses Should Be Used
The 2009 Ghostbusters game works as a third movie primarily because it made full use of the license. Unlike other games based on iconic movie franchises, Terminal Reality’s Ghostbusters game managed to secure the services of the films’ main creative forces. Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd had at the time been trying to develop a third Ghostbusters movie, and many of the elements of scripts developed by the pair made their way into the video game. It very much feels like the version of Ghostbusters 3 that would’ve been made immediately after the first sequel, as it features an early ’90s setting and the younger likenesses of the films’ casts.
Arguably its best achievement, though, is that none of it comes off as overly fan-service-y. There’s an abundance of Ghostbusters Easter eggs and references, as well as a return to iconic locations like the Sedgewick Hotel, but they’re all organically integrated into the story. A fully detailed firehouse also enables players to take a tour back through Ghostbusters history and interact with iconography from the films, whether that be the dancing toaster from Ghostbusters 2, or Louis Tully’s very own Ghostbusters suit. It’s all lovingly implemented, but never to the point where it feels as if the story is drowning in nostalgia. Ghostbusters: The Video Game still manages to contribute to the lore of the films, and never over-indulges in callbacks to its live-action source material.
Boasting the classic Ghostbusters mix of sincerity and humor, Ghostbusters: The Video Game shows how to adapt movie licenses to the gaming medium. It’s also basically the original Ghostbusters 3, having released in 2009 before any of the later sequels. Thanks to the involvement of Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, and the cast of the original films, plus an expert eye for detail, Ghostbusters: The Video Game not only shows exactly how to use a movie license in a video game, but also how to make the perfect Ghostbusters sequel.
