E3 2008: Ghostbusters: The Video Game First Look

There was no Stay Puft Marshmallow Man this time, but Red Fly Studio and Sierra did stop by to give us a tour of the famous library scene from the original Ghostbusters movie back in 1984. With PKE meter in hand, we got a chance to see an early build of the Wii version as the developer made his way through the library to trap the pesky ghost. Unlike the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version, the Wii and PlayStation 2 editions are aimed toward a younger audience, so the graphics have a cartoonish look to them. You have the ability to pick a male or female new recruit to tag along with the infamous Ghostbusters.

The storyline, written by the original crew from the movie, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, takes place two years after the events of the first movie. We were given a demo of the third level of the game, where we enter the great library. The game is played in the third-person view with a meter at the bottom left of the screen to indicate when your proton pack is overheating.

The proton pack provides an endless proton stream of energy to hold the ghosts long enough for you to release a trap and box them. The tougher, more stubborn ghosts will take a bit of effort because you need to hold them in your proton stream while slamming them against the ground or the wall to knock them out long enough to move them over to the trap. Controls haven't been finalized yet, so we're not sure how much wiggling and waving of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk are necessary, but as of right now, shaking the Nunchuk will de-slime you if you happen to get covered with goo.

There are many puzzle elements to the game as well, in which you'll have to use your equipment in various ways to get through doors or spiderwebs. For example, you can freeze webs and then use your shock blast to get through, or you can slime a door and wrangle it off. Even though you can't jump, there are moving platforms that you will need to align yourself with to get across. We were also shown a level near the end of the game in which you're walking through a hotel, at which point everything is shifted onto its side and you're walking through the hallways on the wall and falling through doors to the other end of the room.

The environment seems less cluttered when compared to the PS3 and Xbox 360 version, but objects can still be interacted with and tossed around. Some great artwork is displayed during loading screens, and the game is accompanied by original music from the movie. Furthermore, 70 minutes of music that never made it into the movie will be included here. The Wii and PS2 version will be available in the fall, so check back soon for more coverage.