![]() ![]() Where it succeeds is translating the chaotic and timing-based feel of the busting in the Ghostbusters movies in a turn-based format: it doesn’t take long before you get the hang of moving your guys around to try and corral a spook into the right spot, so you can drop a trap at just the moment you’ve weakened it enough that it can’t avoid being sucked in. Turning up to a job triggers the combat phase of the game, its turn-based structure and isometric graphics directly inspired by the original X-COM, and as X-COM clones go it’s not too bad. These things are accessible via the map screen, which consists of a (Rather small) sector of London containing all crucial locations and which you use to navigate to jobs, which come in so thick and fast you quickly find yourself debating whether you should do your upgrades now, or answer a call to avoid the risk of losing business. With a small garage and a simple two-door car at hand, you’re severely limited in scope which makes buying a new HQ and a bigger car one of your first priorities. You start off with your headquarters, where you can hire staff, dole out equipment and empty your traps (With ectoplasm residue from the storage unit becoming an important source of extra income). wraps its diverse influences in a routine-based structure that’s reminiscent of David Crane’s classic Ghostbusters game. This means managing and upgrading equipment, hiring staff and trying to keep up with the deluge of calls coming in from terrified residents tormented by the dead. Playing as a small ghosthunting outfit in London, the aim of the game is to build up a bustin’ empire while dealing with increasingly tough spooks and rival companies trying to nose ahead of you. For the most part, they get it working quite well. Harder than it seems apparently, because Application Systems Heidelberg seem to be the first to attempt the combination. Theme Hospital plus X-COM (Yes, the original, hyphenated one) plus Ghostbusters: How hard can it be, right? mines an idea so perfectly attuned to the nostalgia-driven gaming zeitgeist, it’s amazing that nobody’s grabbed it and made a million off it yet. You can read Cav and The Rain Dog’s impressions of this newer version HERE. N.B: Subsequent to this review developer Bumblebee sent us a version of the updated Steam release of this game, which makes several key improvements to the version reviewed below. PUBLISHER: Application Systems Heidelberg ![]()
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