Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed Review (Agent Ice0 (Twitch))
I want to start off by saying, I love this game and have been playing it (for a while) on Epic Games platform before it came to Steam. This game actually got me into the Ghostbusters movies, which I had never seen before. (The first two are the best.)
The reason I am down-voting is to hopefully get the dev's attention if they look at these reviews about a couple of issues I am starting to see and my proposed fixes.
The Good
1. Graphics - This game looks visually impressive. I love the art style a lot!
2. Sound Effects – They are absolutely excellent, and if anyone hasn’t really listened to the sound of their proton beams being fired or the noises made by the PKG meter, they really need to!
3. Voices – There aren’t many but they are so funny! I absolutely love the humor!
4. Music – Some of the music is actually from the movies and it feels appropriate, and more importantly, I don’t find it obnoxious.
5. Customization – I love the amount of customization you have with your load-out, weapon parts, and skins as well as cosmetics for your characters. The update also lets you customize a whole team, which will be hanging out in the firehouse doing their own thing. Honestly, it is pretty sweet.
6. Ghost Types – There are several ghost types and several variants within each ghost type with their own abilities. I really enjoy having so many options available as a ghost player. The latest update even added another ghost type. Pretty awesome!
7. Pacing and Match Length – Personally I think the pacing and match length is just right. Matches aren’t too long as you are able to constantly do something. There isn’t a lot of downtime for either team, unless you are hunters having a hard time locating your ghost player or their rifts.
8. Map Design - I love these maps! They are big, but not too big and they aren't over clustered with assets or look empty. They are also visually appealing.
9. Movement - For the most-part i like the movement. Ghosts can float pretty much anywhere. The grappling hook took and ability to climb on many things also help with Ghostbuster movement. It feels fairly free. I do feel bad for the Buster's knees though. I think I heard a pop!
The Bad
1. Balancing - With more people playing the game and people becoming more organized, it feels like ghosts are at a rather large disadvantage for the most part. I will explain…
The Busters tether the ghost with their proton beams so they can move it into a trap. If the ghost “wins” their mini game, they get to fly away and get a few seconds of tether resistance. Personally, I think they should have complete tether immunity and free and maybe faster “sprint” for 5-10 seconds that they can control a bit easier. That way they can either get away or make a counter attack.
As things currently stand, if the Busters are together, they can just tether spam you until they eventually catch you. This creates a very frustrating experience for a ghost player and at times, makes it impossible to do anything. The ghost has to be able to get away and the Busters should be punished for the tether being broken or failing to capture the ghost with a trap. Being able to mob and spam the ghost really is not fair.
I also think the busters have way more stamina than they should. You can chase most ghosts easily through the map for long distances. Again, how does the ghost get away from that? Especially when you have several busters that could be chasing you from behind. They should be able to keep up for a little while, but not as long as they do. That or the ghosts need to be able to move faster/have more energy/better energy regeneration.
I think the new ghost is a bit OP against random teams of new players, but fairly balanced against people that know what they are doing. I survive a lot easier as Overlord types vs the other ghost types that struggle when mobbed.
2. Glitches – Every game has them, but some break the game. Abilities quit working, the ghost gets stuck in a wall, party members crash out and the game eventually ejects the whole party from the match and you get no credit for anything you did while in the match.
3. Performance – In general the game performs well, but if I re-image my computer or quit playing for a while and boot up a game, it lags to the point the game is unplayable until I play all the maps and things get “cached.” I would like an option to let the cache pre-load to help prevent performance issues in game that can cause it to be unplayable for a while.
4. Artifact/rift locations - These need to be more random, especially with the PKG meter detects the artifacts. It is not at all uncommon for the busters to be destroying a rift 15 seconds into the match. I have many games where all three are gone in the first four to five minutes of a game. This sucks because those are your re-spawns and the issues above with organized teams make it that much worse. Furthermore, people will camp the locations to grab you as soon as you re-spawn. I have also noticed lately these artifacts/rifts tend to spawn close to each other, which is not a good thing for a ghost player.
5. No Trench Coat – This is more of a silly thing, but I want a full-length trench coat for my Buster! I’m serious. I’d pay money for it! XD