What with the unrivaled success and impressive subsequent staying power of Pokemon Go, it was inevitable that we would start to see clones hit the market eventually. One title that hopes to scoop up a bit of the Pokemon player base is Ghostbusters World, an AR reality game that shares much of its DNA with Pokemon Go but hopes to expand its depth with various additions.
The Good
- Chock full of elements and characters to make Ghostbusters fans smile
- Good amount of depth involved in catching ghosts
- Plenty of content to keep you busy
The Bad
- Battles can feel a bit grindy
- If I never hear that song again it will be too soon
Bustin' makes me feel good
The centerpiece of Ghostbusters World will be familiar to anyone who has spent time playing Pokemon Go. You take on the role of a Ghostbuster and set out into the real world where you will encounter a myriad of different ghosts, many of which have been scooped out of the various Ghostbusters properties. As a Ghostbusters fan, I was truly excited when Tony Scoleri popped up near me and I got a chance to take him down.
Where in Pokemon Go you simply toss a Pokeball at your target, there is a little more depth in Ghostbusters world. If you keep your AR on (I turned mine off) you must first move your PKE meter around in order to find the ghost. Once you have it in your sites you blast it with your proton pack in order to lower its health. While you are engaged in weakening the slimy little bugger, it may attack. This is your opportunity to hit the counter button so that you can avoid taking damage yourself. Once you feel your ghost is sufficiently weakened, it's time to throw out your trap and show it how you do things downtown.
I personally really enjoyed the added complexity that is required to catch ghosts. It makes it feel as if there is a little bit more game to the game. As it stands currently, there are 150 different ghosts out there in the world for you to trap. Again, not unlike Pokemon Go, each ghost has a type which helps to dictate how well they will do in combat against each other.
Tell him about the Twinkie
If you are concerned about the volume of content, there are plenty of other things to do in Ghostbusters World to keep you busy. If you want to take a break from busting ghosts, you can always head over and play some Story Mode. In Story mode, you will build a team of four ghosts that you have previously captured and use them to take on waves of other ghosts. As your progress, your ghosts will level up and you can even level them up yourself by spending PKE crystals and upgrade them with Runes.
You can also head into the Ghost Dimension where you can play modes like The Daily Haunt and Gozers Tower. Much like Story mode, these modes feature battles with your own team of ghosts. If that's not enough for you, you can dip into PVP where you can battle your ghost team against those of other players globally. While these modes are great to round out the content in the game, at early levels, many of the battles seem a bit too easy which can lead to it feeling a bit like a grind at times.
It's the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
Oh! You say you want boss battles? Well lucky for you, you can battle one of the coolest penultimate bosses of all time. That's right. While you are out wandering around in Ghostbusters World, it is entirely possible that you might run into the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. He is massive so you are probably going to want to team up with some friends in order to take him down. If you have been too busy collecting spores, molds, and fungus to make any friends, you can always use the in-game chat feature to find some fellow busters to team up with.
I had no idea it would be so much. I won't pay it
Alright, let's get down to the nitty-gritty. It's 2018 and it's a mobile game so of course there is bound to be some microtransactions and of course, there is. The real question is how fast you hit that paywall and how brutal is it. Are you going to have to stop playing if you don't start paying? I am happy to report that it is nowhere near the worst I have experienced when playing mobile games. I had a nice smooth flight all the way from level one to fifteen and never felt as if I would have to take out my wallet. Of course, the option is there if you don't want to rush upgrades to your gear or your ghosts but it doesn't seem to be game breaking in any way. In fact, it feels like it is just about on par with how they do things in Pokemon Go.
Verdict
I actually had an absolute blast playing Ghostbuster World. I have been a fan of the franchise since I was just a kid and this IP actually speaks to me a bit more effectively than Pokemon Go does. I have nothing bad to say about Pokemon. It's just that this is a bit more up my alley. If you have been interested in the idea of playing a game like Pokemon Go but just weren't really into the IP, then Ghostbusters World may be just perfect for you. I know it is for me.
