CHOULISHLY GOOD FUN; Wisecracks and proton packs are back as you become a ghostbuster.

GHOSTBUSTERS. .. .. PS3 WITH

Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis in charge of the script and plenty of quality source material to pillage, Ghostbusters should be a highlypolished all-action romp. While it largely succeeds in delivering the goods, this European PS3 exclusive title is far from the finished article, with a series of niggles preventing it from achieving greatness.

Set a few years after the second Ghostbusters film, you are cast in the shoes of a rookie ghostbuster just as another cross-dimensional rift opens in NewYork City. Essentially a third-person shooter, the player is led from one point of interest to the next, encountering and trapping ghosts in areas which tingle the old nostalgia senses, such as The Hotel Sedgewick and the NewYork Public Library. The ghost-trapping element is at the core of the game and it works well for the most part.

Choosing between one of four modes of fire, the player targets the spectre, depleting it of energy, before guiding it into a ghost trap. While this pattern repeats throughout the course of the game, it never feels repetitive due to the variety of ghosts, the varying locations and the quality of banter between your fellow ghostbusters. Ramis, Aykroyd and Bill Murray all feature here and their witty narrative keeps the story flowing.

The player is usually accompanied by at least one comrade while searching for Full-Roaming Phantoms or Class V Telekinetic Animators, and the one-liners really help immerse you in the game world.

However, it's this game world which is also one of Ghostbusters weaker points. While the locations can be impressive the sloppy textures on display are a sorry sight.While I don't expect every surface and object to be fabulously rendered, I do expect a PS3 game to look significantly better than an upscaled Wii game. Another niggle is also the game length - it took me six hours to see the end credits, which is incredibly short. Unfortunately, the online servers weren't up when I was playing my review copy, but hopefully this will add some much-needed longevity to the game. Ghostbusters might not be perfect, but it is certainly one of the best movie-based games I've experienced. With a bit more love and attention on the visuals, a few more chapters, and a little less linearity, Ghostbusters could have been outstanding.

As it stands, it's still a fun way to spend a few hours.

CAPTION(S):

LIFT YOUR SPIRITS: Team up with the Ghostbusters to snare spooks