In Ghostbusters: The Video Game, the player takes on the role of Rookie, the unidentified newest member of the Ghostbusters team. This game is an official sequel to the first two Ghostbusters movies. The Ghostbusters are called into action not long after they are employed when an unexplained ghostly shock wave sweeps through New York City. This causes the Ghostbusters to initiate an investigation. Throughout the game, they will visit several locations from the films and meet characters from those films, in addition to seeing some new locales and meeting some new characters.
The player, playing the role of the Rookie, is tasked with exploring levels to locate and eliminate any ghosts that may be there, with the assistance of their fellow Ghostbusters who pursue them. The player or his teammates must first use one of the proton-pack weapon modes the ghost is susceptible to weaken the spirit. Once the ghost is stunned, the player must drag it to a trap set by the player or their teammates. Other foes can be defeated by either locating and exploiting a vulnerable spot on their body and then destroying it with the proton pack’s blast stream or by inflicting a sufficient amount of damage upon them. If the Rookie takes too much damage to themselves, they will pass out, and their companions will try to come to them and help them get back to their feet. The Rookie can do the same thing if any of their comrades are rendered unconscious, and the game will restart from the most recent checkpoint if all of the active members of the team are rendered unconscious. Scanning adversaries and objects in the area will yield information about those things, and finding hidden pages inside the levels will lead to the discovery of concept drawings for the entries in the journal. Throughout the game, the Rookie will automatically acquire improvements to their proton pack. Additionally, if they collect enough scanner entries, they can enhance their health.
There are some critical differences between the XBOX360/PS3/Windows version of Ghostbusters: The Video Game and the Wii and PS2 versions of the game, even though these versions use the same basic plot, level settings, and the vast majority of the language from the original. The levels are getting shorter, changing, and sometimes even erased. Due to the switch to a more cartoon-like aesthetic for the graphic assets, some of the game’s bosses were given new looks. Even though this version does not have an online mode, the Wii release makes it feasible for two players to go through the story mode together, which is impossible in the high-definition version of the game. Finally, the player is allowed to take control of a female Rookie. However, doing so has no bearing on the plot (and some of the game’s characters continue to refer to the Rookie as a man).
