What a distinction a twenty years makes. When Ghosthunter launched in 2004 for PS2 it was met with poor gross sales and combined evaluations from the critics of the time. Usually, reviewers thought it appeared nice, however it was too linear and at a mere ten hours or so in size it was far too temporary. Right now, Ghosthunter seems like a bag of hammers, however we actually admire how the sport simply will get to the rattling level, does not throw 100 meaningless side-quests at us, and is not 40 hours lengthy.
Ghosthunter tells the story of the ludicrously named Lazarus Jones, a detective on his first day on the job who’s investigating an deserted highschool and discovers that there is one thing supernatural afoot. Inside 20 minutes we’re launched to Lazarus and his accomplice, ghosts escape a confinement facility inside the college, and a giant dangerous ghoul voiced by Michael ‘Dumbledore’ Gambon begins throwing his weight round.
Lazarus’ quest, as given to him by an AI face on a tv display screen within the college’s basement — simply go together with it — is to search out the ghosts utilizing magic ghost weapons, cease Dumbleghost, and rescue his accomplice who in fact will get kidnapped by a ghost. Lazarus bumbles his manner from location to location capturing highly effective ghosts as he goes, uncovering mysteries, and assembly unusual individuals each buddy and foe. It is PS2 storytelling and we adore it.
Battling ghosts is considerably clumsily carried out however it’s additionally fairly straightforward so it hardly ever frustrates. As you are working around the globe in normal third-person view, tapping the Triangle button switches you into capturing mode which brings up crosshairs and slows Lazarus to a stroll. We shoot at ghosts with R1 and tapping R2 throws out a grenade which features in mainly the identical manner as a entice from the film Ghostbusters, sucking the spirit in, and confining it so long as you’ve got weakened it with gunfire.
And so preventing ghosts mainly boils all the way down to capturing them a bit after which throwing a grenade at them after which they’re trapped. Later, there are exceptions to this rule, as some ghosts can solely be seen utilizing particular goggles, whereas others cannot be broken in any respect conventionally and you may have to get inventive. Switching from working mode to capturing mode feels archaic as a result of it’s, and not one of the weapons are notably thrilling to make use of, however the basic gameplay loop of capturing and grenade chucking works as a result of battles are often temporary.
The sport strikes at fairly a brisk tempo and that works in its favour as nicely. We reside in an age of single participant video games full of unwarranted side-quests, errands, talent timber, crafting, a number of currencies, expansions, and no matter else devs can consider to pad the sport out. In Ghosthunter we go to a spot, seize a bunch of ghosts, remedy just a few puzzles. after which transfer on to a different place and do it once more. In keeping with the PS5 stats it took us eleven hours to succeed in the top of the sport however we obtained caught on a puzzle for some time as a result of we’re silly so you possibly can most likely do it faster should you’re not.
A few of the puzzles contain using a ghost buddy who can study varied expertise all through the sport to assist Lazarus attain new areas beforehand blocked. These sections are clearly marked by a glyph on the bottom, and so while you see one you understand you are going to have to make use of your ghost pal to proceed. We discovered these moments to be essentially the most difficult elements of the sport, and likewise the least fulfilling.
For instance, when controlling the ghost woman you should use a talent that makes her heavy, permitting her to stroll on the bottom and work together with switches, however you possibly can solely work together with some switches, and utilizing her weight to maneuver objects solely works on some objects. Later you unlock extra expertise, like the power to allure some ghosts and get them to do your bidding. The ghost puzzles gradual the tempo of the sport significantly, and we frequently discovered we did not know what we may work together with to proceed resulting in trial and error.
The digital camera within the recreation additionally feels a bit of wonky, notably in enclosed areas. A dodgy digital camera is to be anticipated when enjoying a recreation from 2004, however that does not alter the truth that enjoying Ghosthunter right this moment may be an train in frustration. Luckily, the aforementioned amiable problem of the sport implies that the digital camera quirks most likely will not end in a dying or misplaced progress, and in the event that they do you possibly can all the time use the power to rewind your gameplay that comes with all PS2 video games on PS5.
What Ghosthunter actually nails is tone and ambiance. It is not scary or tense like a standard survival horror. It is pulpy, and camp. The ghosts designs are cool. They’re enjoyable scary slightly than scary scary. The music feels like one thing you’d hear at a enjoyable home. The ghosts make creepy noises that elevate a smile slightly than disturb. Even when the extent design falters, the ambiance that Ghosthunter conjures is powerful sufficient to maintain the areas attention-grabbing.
Conclusion
When you’re accustomed to the quirks of PS2-era recreation design, you then’ll possible have a a lot simpler time enjoying Ghosthunter right this moment than individuals who aren’t. One individual’s trash is one other individual’s treasure, and so the place somebody could also be annoyed by the unhelpful digital camera, B-movie dialogue, and simplistic stage design, we checked out it with nostalgia. After years filled with huge, bloated single participant video games, spending a weekend with Ghosthunter appears like a breath of recent air.
