Ghosthunter Overview (PS2) | Push Sq.

What a distinction a twenty years makes. When Ghosthunter launched in 2004 for PS2 it was met with poor gross sales and blended evaluations from the critics of the time. Typically, reviewers thought it seemed nice, however it was too linear and at a mere ten hours or so in size it was far too transient. At the moment, Ghosthunter seems to be like a bag of hammers, however we actually recognize how the sport simply will get to the rattling level, would 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 companion, ghosts escape a confinement facility throughout the faculty, 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 within the faculty’s basement — simply go along with it — is to search out the ghosts utilizing magic ghost weapons, cease Dumbleghost, and rescue his companion who after all 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 folks each good friend and foe. It is PS2 storytelling and we like it.

Battling ghosts is considerably clumsily carried out however it’s additionally fairly straightforward so it not often frustrates. As you are working around the globe in normal third-person view, tapping the Triangle button switches you into taking pictures 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 combating ghosts mainly boils right down to taking pictures 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 artistic. Switching from working mode to taking pictures mode feels archaic as a result of it’s, and not one of the weapons are notably thrilling to make use of, however the common gameplay loop of taking pictures and grenade chucking works as a result of battles are often transient.

The sport strikes at fairly a brisk tempo and that works in its favour as effectively. We stay in an age of single participant video games full of unwarranted side-quests, errands, ability bushes, 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 a couple of puzzles. after which transfer on to a different place and do it once more. Based on the PS5 stats it took us eleven hours to achieve the tip 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 if you happen to’re not.

Among the puzzles contain the usage of a ghost good friend who can study numerous abilities 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 if 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 probably the most difficult elements of the sport, and likewise the least pleasurable.

For instance, when controlling the ghost girl you should utilize a ability 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 abilities, like the flexibility 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 might work together with to proceed resulting in trial and error.

The digital camera within the sport additionally feels a bit of wonky, notably in enclosed areas. A dodgy digital camera is to be anticipated when enjoying a sport from 2004, however that does not alter the truth that enjoying Ghosthunter at present may be an train in frustration. Luckily, the aforementioned amiable issue of the sport signifies that the digital camera quirks most likely will not lead to a dying or misplaced progress, and in the event that they do you possibly can at all times use the flexibility 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 reasonably than scary scary. The music seems like one thing you’d hear at a enjoyable home. The ghosts make creepy noises that increase a smile reasonably than disturb. Even when the extent design falters, the ambiance that Ghosthunter conjures is robust sufficient to maintain the areas fascinating.

Conclusion

In the event you’re aware of the quirks of PS2-era sport design, then you definitely’ll possible have a a lot simpler time enjoying Ghosthunter at present than individuals who aren’t. One particular person’s trash is one other particular person’s treasure, and so the place somebody could also be pissed off by the unhelpful digital camera, B-movie dialogue, and simplistic stage design, we checked out it with nostalgia. After years stuffed with large, bloated single participant video games, spending a weekend with Ghosthunter looks like a breath of recent air.