OK, I'd like to add about 25% more ass to this review...and it's not gonna be pretty.
I have some grievances I'd like to air.
Put a bunch more time on this game, at a launch tournament yesterday and about an hour today.
This game - simply put - is frustrating, sometimes maddening, and not a whole lot of fun.
Most of it has to do with the layout, which seems like it was designed by a masochist for his own pleasure. The double inlanes - unlike what you would see in a lawlor game - seem designed to pitch the ball out. SLimer often results in totally random outlane drains you that happen suddenly and you have no hope of saving. The drop targets...Dear lord, what is the point of these things? These scoleri targets pop up - blocking the two most important shots in the game. Shooting them often means certain death. Or total brick. Followed by certain death. They seem to be there for only one reason - to annoy you. If you aren't already annoyed by the unncecesarilly large center gap, the ridiculous outlanes, or the random nature of the game. You don't even seem to get anything worthwhile when you shoot them and somehow manage to keep the ball in play. How about a multiball for nailing 4 of them or something? How about picking off mode shots. How about ANYTHING that seems to justify the existence of this obnoxious feature?
The left ramp shot has it's own peculiarities. If you miss the shot, there's a good chance the ball will ricochet off the standups, fly into the air, and land on the Sigourney plastic on the lower left, where it will then either roll back into play, or sail into the left outlane. Well, since this is Ghostbusters, it's always gonna sail into the outlane, cause that's what this game does.
The repetitive nature of the modes, which people were saying was gonna be an issue earlier, and I pushed aside as petty whining, has also started to manifest itself. And this brings you to the software issues. Not only do you get really sick of playing these modes (which are all the same) over and over again, you get sick of the "skill shot." The only way to play this game with any kind of consistency is to short plunge in front of Stay Puft, have the ball roll down without validating the playfield, and then try to hit whatever skill shot you picked. If you drain, you'll get a chance to do it again. So every ball starts with often multiple attempts to get the skill shot, which rewards you with often crazy unbalanced scores and the chance to (yay!!!!) play one the modes that are quickly wearing out their welcome. If you miss the skill shot, you get to start slimer, which is basically the only thing lit. Or you can just smash a brick through the glass and place the ball into either outlane or the huge flipper gap, cause that's what's gonna happen anyway once you start slimer.
Multiball is still pretty much an afterthought. In the unlikely event you start it, your multiball likely will be brutal and short. And since most of the points seem to come from modes and skill shots, it doesn't really matter anyway.
I don't know man. It just doesn't seem very fun at this point. Turn off the tilt, and buy whatever aftermarket stuff the mod gang comes up with to make this thing somewhat playable and we might be on to something. But right now it's just very frustrating and gets old fast. Even when I manage to have a good game, there's not much of a sense of accomplishment. I just feel like I got lucky.
Los Angeles, CA
Wellesley, ON
