I grew up with "Ghostbusters." I owned a Proton Pack. My friend owned the ghost trap, but despite my constant begging, my Mom wouldn't buy it.
With this in mind, I stepped into a demo of Sierra and Terminal Reality's forthcoming "Ghostbusters" game with both excitement and dread. What if they screwed it up?
Now I know why "Transformers" fans were so critical of Michael Bay. I get it. Terminal Reality is invoking my childhood memories and playing with my nostalgia.
As Ray Parker Jr.'s famous title track bobbed around in my head, Terminal Reality convinced me I had nothing to fear.
Except for getting slimed, of course.
The company used both an Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 to show off a two-part "Ghostbusters" demo. They wanted to demonstrate that the game is already up and running just fine on each platform -- but look for more on Terminal Reality's unique approach to multi-platform development later this week.
Terminal Reality didn't take the traditional route of licensing the Havoks physics engine for "Ghostbusters." Instead, they developed their own, which allowed them to incorporate different weight calculations that aren't possible in Havok. This is shown by stacking a series of cars on top of table in a room from the famous library scene in the original Ghostbusters. As the cars are stacked, the table fractures and eventually falls apart.
Ghostbusters takes the idea of sliming to a whole new level, thanks to a slew of new weapons created exclusively for the game by actor and writer Dan Aykroyd (aka Dr. Raymond Stantz). Players use liberal amounts of green slime to manipulate the environment. Shoot goop on a car and plaster the other end to the ceiling and up it goes. Shoot some more gloop on another car and you can tether the cars together.
You can imagine this could make for some interesting scenarios, but the developers weren't ready to show off much of that just yet. For now, it remains just a possibility.
The other tech demonstrations included realistic crowds with thousands of A.I. characters running around at once and destroying a monster made of books.
Then, the power went out. They'd been having that problem all morning, said Terminal Reality studio director John O'Keefe.
Instead, I used this time to explain some of my skepticism to O'Keefe. He was sympathetic. And he alleviated some of fears by explaining the own issues that Terminal Reality faces with "Ghostbusters". They're fans, too. If "Ghostbusters" isn't any good, it's their fault. I'll admit -- that's a heavy burden.
While much of the gameplay scenarios in "Ghostbusters" are hidden away, they did give us a glimpse into your battle against the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Gamers are tasked with battling smaller, faster ghouls while the S'more-to-be smashes through walls and makes a big mess. He even leaves goops of marshmallow everywhere.
It's the little touches that did it for me at this point, like the burn marks left on the wall as you unleashed anti-ghost lasers all over the place.
Then it hit me. The question I hadn't yet asked O'Keefe.
"Can I cross streams?" I asked. He laughed.
You can. They thought about it, but opening up a black hole to engulf the Earth every time you violated rule numero uno of being a ghostbuster in the movies seemed a bit much to them.
I agreed, and walked away a happy "Ghostbusters" fan.
Terminal Reality will deliver "Ghostbusters" this fall on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. A separate but similar game for PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS and Wii is coming in the same timeframe from Red Fly Studios.
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