Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord Critic Reviews

Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord nails aspects of the experience but its lack of structure hinders the overall package. Using the famous tools from the franchise has never felt better and faithfully captures the feeling of being a Ghostbuster, however, the lack of focus on the narrative gives no context to missions. Fighting against spirits is a blast with friends but doesn’t hold up in single player. Although busting feels good, more attention to the story and its progression is needed.

Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord encapsulates what it feels like to be a Ghostbuster but seems to be aimed at the younger audience, and may therefore feel a little underwhelming to hardcore gamers. Having said that, it's still a fantastic addition to the wider franchise, and with updates just around the corner, things could become even more interesting.

Good points that lack the overarching structure to be fully realised: Ghostbusters VR would probably have worked better as an adult-oriented game with a dedicated campaign. As it is, the game is only suitable for short play sessions, and the long-term motivation is unlikely to be there for most gamers.

Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord should be a fun hang for a few hours with a dedicated four-person squad, but it would have greatly benefited from a lower cost on PlayStation VR2, and even a four-pack discount would help. As it stands, it could use more content to justify its cost and some additional gameplay surprises to sell the franchise fantasy. There's a good foundation here for a more inspired experience, and some mechanical adjustments to the gameplay could make the teamwork feel more like dreamwork. We'll see whether the content rollout in the coming months keeps proton wands at the ready.

It may have a promising gameplay premise but Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord would have been better as a story-driven adventure.

The problem is that these mechanics don’t evolve.

Sony Pictures VR and nDreams have built a solid foundation for a decent co-op multiplayer experience with Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord. We've found good mechanics and an overall engaging presentation in what we've played so far, but we'll need to play more to report properly on the online multiplayer experience and performance across different headsets. The biggest lingering question is whether there's enough variety to sustain players coming back for multiple sessions across the main campaign, let alone beyond that.

Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord is a great idea. Playing as a Ghostbuster recruit in VR is exactly what you’d have hoped for when you heard of this game, from the proton pack to the Ecto-1. Until a fix is discovered for the audio, however, the ghosts will continue to inhabit the streets of San Francisco, completely unrestricted.