Ghostbusters
Bustin' out all over.
As the new guy you're considered expendable, and therefore given the Ghostbusters' newest, untested weapons to try out. Some of these weren't featured in the films: "We wanted to make sure we were staying true to the Ghostbusters universe but we certainly wanted to expand on it," says Goss.
They include a dark matter generator designed to freeze and shatter enemies. Then there's the slime tether, which lets you shoot green goo in a variety of ways. You can use it like super-strong silly string to manipulate objects, attach them to ceilings, lift heavy doors and create traps. Each piece of equipment has a secondary function, and in the slime tether's case it's the ability to shoot balls of slime at enemies.
Of course you also get a proton pack. It's highly detailed, all curling wires, coloured buttons and flashing lights. Terminal Reality has tried to keep the HUD minimal and incorporated some of the features you'd expect to see on the screen into the proton pack. There's a tiny meter on one side, for example, which flashes if the pack is at risk of overheating. Because they don't want you staring at the back of the pack all the time, you'll also get a warning in the form of controller vibration when approaching the danger zone.
There are two types of ghosts in the game: corporeal, which can be dealt with using equipment like the dark matter generator, and ethereal, which must be captured. As in the films, capturing ghosts involves firing a stream of protons at them and guiding them into a trap - but it wasn't just the movies TR took inspiration from in this instance.
"We really wanted to get the ghost wrangling and trapping mechanic to look right, and to get the feel right," Goss says. "So we spent a lot of time taking a look at particularly the ballroom scenes - the characters' stance, how they were acting as they were capturing Slimer - and it reminded us of deep sea fishing.
"A light kind of went off. We had a look at some fishing games out there, and how they addressed a fish fighting to get off the line. That carried across to our ghosts, they fought to get out of the capture beam and traps. So that was really the core for our ghost fighting mechanic."
This comes into play just as you'd expect in the Wii version of Ghostbusters - you use the remote and nunchuk to aim the proton stream at ghosts and guide them into the trap. In the Xbox 360 and PS3 games, you're waggling the analogue sticks. "It's almost like a balance game," Goss explains. "You're trying to keep them in the trap cone. If they get outside of it, they'll break free and run off." So what happens if you cross the streams? "Total protonic reversal, the end of all life as you know it," of course.
But back to the balance game concept. Is there any chance of a Wii mode that works with the balance board? "We haven't tried Wii Fit yet, we just ordered some from Nintendo," says Goss. "I don't know if we'll be able to tie it in in any way. But we'll take a look at it. The remote, though, is just perfect; it's ideal for us."