Friv2Online has gained a lot of experience in asymmetric multiplayer games for well-known franchises - think of Friday the 13th: The Game and Predator: Hunting Grounds. The team's new project, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, mixes fun multiplayer shooter gameplay with the equally fun Ghostbusters universe. It turns out pretty good. Details are in our review.
You don't expect a good story from a multiplayer game, but Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed has something to surprise. There is a fun campaign here, in which you join the ghost hunters, and then try to free the city from the spirits that have escaped to freedom. Fans of the franchise are waiting for cameos of familiar characters, who are accompanied by new heroes, including your protagonist with a customizable appearance.
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed has cutscenes and voiced dialogue, and it's really fun to dive into the story. Even though it takes only three or four hours, it mainly introduces the gameplay basics and breaks off in mid-sentence, leaving a reserve for future DLCs, it's better than it could be. In the end, for a low-budget multiplayer action game, it's just great.
However, the adventure of the newly minted ghost hunter in any case leads him directly to his occupation. For this, half a dozen cards have been prepared in the game, where you can go from the fire station, which serves as a hub for the main character and his partners. The list of locations includes a museum, a prison, a brewery and other areas terrorized by ghosts.
The task of the hunter is to capture evil spirits. To do this, he has a proton pack with a particle emitter, as well as a ghost trap. Everything is according to cinematic canons: first, weaken the ghost with a beam of emitter, then drive it into a trap.
However, the enemy still needs to be found: he skillfully disguises himself as objects of the environment, teleports between portals, and if he is still overtaken, he strives to throw a lump of mucus at the hunter, disable his satchel and sneak away under the guise. Therefore, in Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed it is worth playing in a team, and preferably in a well-coordinated one - a squad whose members go about their business and do not pay attention to their comrades will quickly be neutralized and defeated. We recommend inviting friends to the game, since crossplay allows users of different platforms to meet in places of paranormal activity.
The ghost has a different goal - to intimidate as many civilians as possible in order to "capture" the building. The tools for completing the task are different: you can move into objects and “revive” them to frighten the townsfolk, summon minion spirits, throw mucus, and if it gets hot, use an “ult” like a terrible ghostly tornado, which allows you to get rid of opponents.
While the hunters act as four, the ghost is a solo player. And if the gameplay for human characters is quite easy to master, then playing as a spirit is somewhat more difficult - you have to spend a couple of hours to get used to wayward controls and invent tactics to counter superior forces. On the other hand, it's a lot of fun to catch newbies one by one and get on their nerves with your otherworldly tricks.
As you participate in online matches, heroes gain experience and level up, which opens up access to new cosmetic items, as well as allows you to upgrade equipment. In addition, players have access to contracts - chains of tests, the completion of which gives an increase in experience and new clothes.
There is almost nothing to say about wardrobe items - the list of customization items is scarce and definitely does not act as a motivator for the player. On the character, you can put on several jackets, gloves and boots, as well as paint them in different colors. It’s just that it’s kind of stupid to show off in this, and the prospect of getting a cool color scheme for clothes at level 100 is not at all impressive.
With equipment, things are a little better, if only because upgrades affect gameplay. You can make the particle emitter a little more powerful or more resistant to overheating, or increase the attraction of the trap, or whatever. This allows you to get at least some sense of progress.
Finally, upon reaching a certain level, the player's account will have access to a new ghost. There are only five of them, and each has its own characteristics, strengths and weaknesses, and it cannot be said that the character that opens at the fiftieth level is better than the base one - they are just different.
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is not the kind of game you want to spend all your free time playing. Rather, it can be called a game where you go from time to time to hang out, have fun with friends, discover a new piece of clothing for a character, or immerse yourself in your favorite universe after a nostalgic viewing of some movie from the Ghostbusters movie franchise. For better or worse, it's up to you: there are more interesting multiplayer titles, but as an entertainment that you will periodically return to, Spirits Unleashed will more than do.