Rating
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed
An all-ages take on its brand of four-versus-one asymmetric multiplayer games, where you play as your own original Ghostbusters team — or take on the role of a ghost hellbent on wreaking haunted havoc.
Similar Games
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed Reviews
Professional reviews from gaming critics
While not quite the best game in the franchise, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed - Ecto Edition douses its thoroughly serviceable online 4v1 gameplay in positively charged psychomagnotheric nostalgia slime. From small touches in the visuals to snippets of dialogue, the detail and care that has gone into recreating the Ghostbusters’ world here made us forgive the occasional visual glitch and basic, predictable plot. If 'busting makes you feel good, you'll have a great time.
Being a Ghostbuster has never been this fun on a console before. Illfonic unleash a multiplayer romp that is sure to be your new Saturday night fix.
Asymmetric games are nearly always a cult favorite amongst a particular audience. The heady, confusing, and completely unbalanced days of Alien vs. Predator 2 and Timesplitters 2 infection mode inspired a generation of players. The modern lockdown beating efforts of Among Us and the countless multiplayer horror games vying for attention have carried the wavering torch into modern times. But none of them are Ghostbusters, are they?
If you’re a big fan of the Ghostbusters IP, then I cannot recommend Ghostbusters Spirits Unleashed enough. Sure, it’s not the greatest game you’ll play, but it’s certainly one you’ll have fun with. Playing with friends of course may be the key to that enjoyment, but the game itself is pretty solid for what it offers. It’ll make you feel like a real Ghostbuster if that’s what you’re seeking, and I adored the attention to detail that Illfonic has once again delivered with yet another big movie IP.
Ghostbusters is a franchise powered by nostalgia. The seminal 1980s comedy film about blue-collar paranormal exterminators still thrives within the collective consciousness. Beyond its sequels, toys, and Saturday morning cartoons, the franchise has been adapted into a handful of video games across numerous platforms. The latest is an asymmetrical multiplayer game by Illfonic, the developers behind Friday the 13th and Predator Hunting Ground.
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is the latest entry in the licensed asymmetrical games genre. This time, its four ghostbusters versus one ghost. Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is made with a love and affection for the source material, but where it stumbles is keeping players invested in the constant loop of ghost busting and ghost haunting.
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is a 4v1 hunt-or-haunt, supernaturally charged, asymmetrical multiplayer game.
Upon booting up Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, I was sadly reminded of the “Ghost Corps” logo, a shoddy initiative by Sony Pictures to turn the Ghostbusters franchise into a heavily exploitable multimedia empire. It’s safe to say that, so far, this hasn’t garnered the results that Sony was expecting. Two movies, one of them drowned in unnecessary controversy and the other relying way too much on nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake, and that one terrible Activision game were all that ha...
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed has potential, but game balance, a lack of content and some uninspired gameplay makes me want to come back to it after a few updates. Busting ain’t making me so feel good right now.
When supernatural hauntings take place, you call the Ghostbusters. Unfortunately, it’s been a while since the main team took care of crises, and fresh blood is needed. That’s where you come in, as a new trainee looking to be the next generation of Ghostbusters.
Bustin’ will not make you feel good in this shallow and repetitive asymmetric multiplayer, that is one of the worst of the recent crop of 80s movie homages.
When IllFonic released Predator: Hunting Grounds in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, its impressive visuals and progression path kept me hooked, although it failed to see substantial growth in its live service elements and didn't receive high praise from critics. Fast forward two years and two games later, IllFonic is trying again with Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed.