Dead End Job: A twin-stick ghoul-buster with style

This week we're looking at some of the gems of Apple Arcade. Next stop, a game about ghosts.

Ghosts and video games were made for each other. This has held true ever since the classic Activision Ghostbusters game for the Commodore 64. The thrill of busting ghosts! The thrill of running a business! The thrill of that map of New York with the Keymaster and the Gatekeeper performing their noctivagant rambles!

Anyway, Dead End Job has a little of that appeal. It's a game about busting ghosts and earning money, all delivered with luxuriously grotesque John K-styled art. And it's a twin-stick shooter! Even on a touchscreen that's generally money in the bank.

So off we go hunting ghosts, taking on jobs and working through themed buildings. Each room has different spooks to take down. Sometimes there's a boss or a citizen to rescue. There's usable loot, which brings a little of ToeJam & Earl's presents into play, as you often don't know what something does until you try it out, but the core of the game lies with managing the cooldown on the gun you use to batter ghosts into a daze, at which point you can sweep in and vacuum them up.

After an hour of playing my main takeaway is that Dead End Job is pleasantly tough. Reader, I have died a lot on my way to ridding even the first office building of ghosts. That said, the whole thing is so breezy and likeable I want to continue. What can I say? It makes me feel good.