When the slime begins to rise, if you are troubled by spectres or apparitions, who you gonna call? I’m quite sure you don’t need me to tell you the answer, but rest assured it isn’t “118”. Yes, of course I am talking about the return of the Ghostbusters to console gaming, we really have been spoiled after years of no Ghostbusters games we have now had two in two years. Sanctum of Slime, SOS, is slightly less featured than the full retail game of a few years back, but does that make it any less a game?
The original Ghostbusters have been going through a busy period, raking in the money and busting the ghosts but as a result, they are quite tired. What do Ghostbusters who should now be pushing 60 years old do when they’re tired? Well, they hire younger apprentices who can go and bust the ghosts for them. Yes, that is how the story pans out, told in lovely comic book style between chapters of the game. Ancient evil dude Dumazu the Destroyer is being awakened from his enforced slumber and is about to wreak havoc on the vulnerable New York City. You choose to be one of the new rookie busters who bear a striking resemblance to the original busters, with the exception of a token female character. Once you have chosen your buster it’s time to make yourself feel good and get in to the game.
Viewed from a skewed top down point of view I was instantly reminded of the Alien Breed series. There is also a familiar tint of Geometry Wars, movement is handled with the left stick with firing is controlled with the right stick, familiar controls that will quickly have you blasting beams from your proton pack while you run around the place. The main aspect of the game sees you and the other busters fighting off waves of spirits with your trusty proton packs, soon these are upgraded by Egon Spengler to offer different fire modes, all based on the colours of the spirits. The colour of proton stream you alternate between will be better at shooting same colour spirits and less effective against different coloured spirits. In the latter levels you will find yourself changing between the different streams quite frequently as more and more enemy types attack. At the end of each of the levels you will be confronted by a boss character, which is sadly the only place where you will get to use a trap in the game. When you have beat the boss down enough you will get an indication to deploy the trap and then activate it through following a list of button presses. “One in the box, ready to go. We be quick and they be slow!”
In an attempt to vary the game a little, there are a few driving sections included, but gone is good old Ecto-1 in favour of Ecto 4WD, I know! It doesn’t sit too well with me either. These sections are pretty short and have the car being automatically controlled through the NYC streets as you busy yourself with busting those ghosts. You drive for a bit, get out and shoot, drive a bit more, get out and shoot, that’s pretty much it for the driving sections, fun enough but in reality it would have worked just as well without them. Through the levels there are collectibles to be picked up in the shape of Mr Stay Puft dolls, I’m not sure how they are hidden but so far I’ve only found a few. You can also target random Slimer ghosts for bonus points and occasionally power ups are dropped by the enemies once you have destroyed them. Not hugely game changing but with some offering invincibility for a short while, they can be welcome.
You can play with four people both on and offline, which helps greatly when you need different types of proton streams to fight off the spirits and it is here that I have noticed a few, not terrible, niggles with the game. Firstly, you are not meant to be able to cross the proton streams without there being terrible consequences, due to the type of game it’s kind of unavoidable, yes I’m being a bit anal but still… secondly I’ve noticed that when playing with 3 CPU controlled characters, they play with you really well, right up until the point where you are knocked down. Then more often than not they become shambling zombies, committing apparent suicide so you have to restart the entire level. They have the ability to heal you, but once you’re down they seem to be traumatised at the event and go to pieces, it can prove to be really annoying, especially when fighting a boss.
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