It’s finally Halloween, time for kids to run around their neighbourhood trick-a-treating while all the adults not keeping an eye on the sugar intake sit down to a scary movie – or possibly a virtual reality (VR) experience. If you are out and about then you may want to get in on the spooky fun with Ghostbusters World which recently launched this month. The augmented reality (AR) title is holding a special event just for today, where ghostly bosses become more prevalent.
Called the Big Boss Breakout, the one-day event will have Big bosses spawning more frequently than ever before on Halloween. No matter where you are in the world you’ll be able to come across the odd spectre or two, with it being useful to team up with a few mates when those larger corporeal beings start appearing like the Stay Puft marshmallow man.
If you’ve not tried Ghostbusters World yet it’s very similar to The Walking Dead: Our World or Pokemon Go, where you need to get up and out the house to explore your neighbourhood for ghosts, capturing as many as possible. Once you’ve done so then you can start testing out the other game modes available.
There are single-player AR battles and multiplayer role-playing game (RPG) elements, players need to find hundreds of different ghosts, all with their own special attributes. These can then be used in the Story and PvP modes, which involve turn-based tactical combat. Ghosts can be levelled up in the single-player section before taking into multiplayer, helping ensure those wins.
The PvP mode is in the Ghost Dimension which also features Gozer’s Tower and the Daily Haunt for more gameplay options.
Ghostbusters World is free to download for iOS and Android devices which are AR compatible. For further updates on the videogame from Ghost Corps and 4:33 Inc, keep reading VRFocus.
When I imagine the perfect Ghostbusters game, a map-based AR adventure isn’t one of the things that comes to mind. A mysterious third person shooter? You got it. A spookily-funny puzzler? Sure. There isn’t really a reason the classic Bill Murray-fueled franchise would work with the formula dominated by Pokemon GO.
Ghostbusters World failed to change my mind. It’s a mobile adventure that dresses basic elements of the genre, popularized by games like Ingress and Pokemon GO, with a Ghostbusters theme. Pokestops are now dimensional doors, Pokeballs are now ghost traps, and obviously– Pokemon are now the famous ghosts found in all corners of the Ghostbusters franchise.
Everything about Ghostbusters World is done well enough, gameplay is tight and responsive, battle mechanics are somewhat deep, and the story mode does a good job of adding meaning to the collect-a-thon that this genre promotes. The issue is that collecting has never been a big part of Ghostbusters, so World doesn’t push me to care enough to walk around the block to a McDonalds for a group Stay Puft Marshmallow Man raid (and even when I did try the game crashed a few times). This game is proof that the franchise doesn’t fit the genre.
Ghostbusters World has two main elements: the typical map-based AR, free-roam gameplay and a structured story mode consisting of short missions tied together with a comic book styled narrative. The combination of those two features, alongside a long list of ghosts and other modes, makes for a meaty package for a free-to-play game. Although progress-slowing microtransactions rear their ugly heads early on.
There are a couple primary types of gameplay in World, one where you capture ghosts on the map by aiming a proton gun with your finger and turn-based team battles where you use capture ghosts to fight other ghosts.
The capture mechanics are simple, ghosts will try to attack you as you try to capture them with various versions of the proton gun, you can counter their attacks with a carefully timed finger tap but there aren’t a lot of consequences if you mess up. It’s a simple back and forth that gets a bit more complicated as ghosts get stronger and you gain access to different types of equipment later in the game.
The team-based battling has a bit of depth to it that’s surprising for a game like this. Ghosts have levels and ranks that can be upgraded through battle (and that process can be sped up through in-game currencies), ghosts are assigned a rock-paper-scissors type classification to make battles less of a punching match and ghosts have other abilities that are used both passively and actively in battle.
World shines in adding a story mode to the game, tying all the elements and progression systems together. It actually feels like you’re working towards something when you collect ghosts and level up– unlike Pokemon GO where it feels like an endless sea of collecting and going back and forth with PVP battles.
I had a good bit a fun battling with other ghosts in the ghost dimension, where many of the story missions take place. The fighting was quick and streamlined with the option to have the game auto-select your moves for the easier battles and boss battles usually requires a bit of additional strategy. However, this is where the games biggest issue kept popping up– I didn’t care about any of the ghosts I had recruited.
Ghostbusters World relies on the nostalgia of the franchise to drive players to collect every ghost they run into, which is the entire purpose of the game. Battling in story missions and asynchronous PVP matches, creating a custom team, and upgrading equipment all revolve around the urge to collect. Ghosts like the zombie taxi driver, living armor, and cat spirit meant very little to me– as the Slimer, Marshmallow Man, and a few others were the only ghosts I actually recognized. Opening up the game while waiting on a traffic stop rarely led to me seeing a ghost I actually cared about– alas, there were no Bulbasaurs in this world.
That feeling will vary depending on your relationship with the Ghostbusters franchise, if you’ve spent time reading the comics and consuming other Ghostbusters media you might find the expansive number of ghosts inviting. But even then it’s hard to see that passion add enough value to the experience to make the game worthwhile for everyone. Like other mobile games a lot of the upgrades to your equipment and ghosts are time-based if you don’t have the necessary coins and gems to upgrade them instantly, making time and money a factor if you want to see the game’s later chapters.
Final Score:6/10 – Good
Ghostbusters World adds a great element to a lackluster AR map-based formula, the story mode would be perfect for a franchise with more recognizable faces. It ties together what would have been a disjointed experience if it were a mere Pokemon GO copy. But I can’t safely recommend this to anyone outside the Ghostbusters fandom.
Since the launch of Pokemon Go, a number of companies have been chasing the same success with augmented reality (AR), such as Jurassic Park Live. Sony Pictures Consumer Products, Ghost Corps along with publisher FourThirtyThree Inc think that the newly launched Ghostbusters World will prove to be a success.
Ghostbusters World is a location-based smartphone AR title, which features well-known characters from the Ghostbusters universe, along with a range of gameplay modes, including RPG elements.
Ghostbusters is a natural fit for an AR title, as it involves searching neighbourhoods for various spooks, using a smartphone camera to reveal the ghosts, similar to how the famous PKE Meter from the movies and cartoons is used.
The developers say that there are potentially hundreds to ghosts available to find, including several iconic ghosts taken from the films, TV shows, comic books, videogames and even theme park attractions.
The title lets players explore solo to enjoy a single-player story campaign, which was written and illustration by the creators behind the IDW Ghostbusters comic book series. Alternatively, they can follow in the footsteps of Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz, Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddmore, and assemble a four-player team to take on massive boss-level ghosts like the famous Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man in a co-operative raid group.
There is also PvP modes available, where players can assemble a team and take on other Ghostbuster teams in asynchronous PvP team battles. Players can get experience that can be used to upgrade equipment, unlock various perks and buy new gear so bigger and scarier ghosts can also be busted.
Ghostbusters World is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, powered by ARKit and ARCore respectively for the best AR experience possible, and can be downloaded for free.
For future coverage of Ghostbusters World, keep checking back with VRFocus.
Location-based mobile AR game, Ghostbusters World, was originally announced about eight months ago. Now, the app is up for pre-registration on Android and iOS for all prospective Ghostbusters. In the game you will collect ghosts, fight against other players, and take down massive boss enemies while exploring an “all original story” set in the iconic Ghostbusters universe.
“Team up with Venkman, Spengler, Stantz, Zeddemore and more as you use cutting-edge AR technology from Google’s ARCore and Apple’s ARKit to hunt down and capture iconic spirits from the films, TV shows, comic books, and video games, as well as brand-new ghosts in your own backyard. Once you complete your collection, train your own ghost squad to bust rogue spirits in the Story Mode, written and illustrated by the minds behind the IDW comic book series! However you play, Ghostbusters World has an ectoplasm-filled adventure to suit your style.”
Sony Pictures Consumer Products, Ghost Corps and publisher FourThirtyThree Inc. are due to launch their augmented reality (AR) title Ghostbusters World later this year. In preparation for release new gameplay details as well as a gameplay trailer have now be revealed.
Featuring skill-based single-player AR battle mechanics and RPG-style multiplayer mode, today’s announcement sees the new Story and PVP modes detailed for the first time. Much like Pokemon GO or The Walking Dead: Our World, Ghostbusters World is all about getting out and exploring the world around you, whilst at the same time catching a few ghosts along the way.
Ghostbusters World allows players to battle and capture hundreds of ghosts from all dimensions of the franchise, fighting them in the streets with their proton packs before capturing them in a trap. Capturing as many as possible is important as players will then need them in the story more or when completing challenges in the Ghost Dimension. Each ghost has their own stats and abilities, with each one able to level up to take on bigger enemies.
The Ghost Dimension features the PVP Ghost Arena to battle other players as well as Gozer’s Tower and the Daily Haunt. Like the Daily Haunt, Story Mode is a turn-based tactical RPG where you choose four of your ghosts to battle it out. The mode also features cut-scenes and a script.
Of course no Ghostbuster videogame would be complete without the Stay Puft marshmallow man, which players can take on together in the Raid mode.
Ghostbusters World uses Google’s ARCore and Apple’s ARKit to bring its spectral world to life, with the title now in soft launch in select countries for Android devices. To check head to the Ghostbusters World official site and see if the Google Play link works.
When Ghostbusters World fully launches worldwide VRFocus will let you know.
Ghostbusters has become a huge franchise since the original move aired back in June 1984, seeing sequels, comics, videogames and of course, the beloved animated series. The Ghostbusters are now hunting spooks in augmented reality (AR).
The launch of the upcoming AR videogame is designed to form part of the celebrations around the 35th Anniversary of the Ghostbusters franchise, with Sony Pictures and Ghost corps announcing a range of special events and new releases.
One of the biggest events is the Ghostbusters Fan Fest, which is due to take place on 8th-9th June, 2019. Ivan Reitman, director/producer of the 1984 film Ghostbusters and principal of Ghost Corps, said, “It’s immensely gratifying to see the way the fans have embraced our movie over the past 34 years, in a way we could never have imagined in 1984. The credit goes to the fans – collected in over 1,000 fan groups globally – who have kept the flame burning for decades. I’m excited to see you all at Ghostbusters Fan Fest one year from today!”
Before that, Ghostbusters fans will have the chance to play the Ghostbusters WorldAR videogame, which has been created as a collaboration between Sony Pictures Consumer Products, Ghost Corps, publisher FourThirtyThree Inc. (4:33) and developer Next Age.
Ghostbusters World will let players face off against hundreds of ghosts drawn from all different aspects of the franchise, including the films, TV shows, comics books and videogames. The companies involves in its creation say it will involve the latest AR technology. Visitors to San Diego Comic-Con in July will be able to try out a public demo build at the event.
During the Google Developer Day presentation at GDC 2018, Product Manager Clementine Jacoby and Engineering Lead Patrick Donelan at Google Maps presented the team’s progress in bringing their technology and data to game developers. Several ‘location-based’ AR games using Google Maps APIs and ARCore are coming to mobile devices this year.
Building large virtual worlds is costly and time-consuming when done by hand. Using the example of Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto IV (2008), which remains one of the most expensive and richest game worlds ever created, Jacoby noted that this was, at launch, it only as big as downtown Manhattan (in terms of real-world scale). Google is now offering an easier route, where even small teams can leverage vast, rich geodata through Google Maps APIs.
The team has built an SDK to bring the technology to Unity which “does all the heavy lifting” with “no Google Maps expertise needed to get started,” and helps developers design interactions around real-world places, which presents a unique set of challenges.
“Doing it well requires knowing a lot about the player’s immediate environment and also their larger context,” says Jacoby. “We help you design gameplay around real-world locations so you can choose places that are appropriate, unique, and fun to play, no matter where your players are.”
Image courtesy Google
Donelan demonstrated how the Unity integration can easily turn the bland, untextured geometry of Google Maps building and object data into stylised settings for game experiences using lighting and textures, or even changing the height of the buildings. Then, using the Playable Locations API, you can create a game with missions and spawn points at prominent locations, and have it work anywhere around the world. “We use a vast array of Google Maps signals to determine the best places for gameplay and AR experiences ranked by prominence and popularity,” says Donelan. “You can request points at whatever density your game requires, and fine-tune the way those points are distributed.”
There are additional features to enable richer detail to the environment, such as ‘nine slicing’ for adding custom-sized textures to buildings, decorators to add extra geometry to rooftops, and borders around roads and buildings to simulate ambient occlusion. The SDK also integrates with Unity’s real-time lighting and physics systems.
Donelan then highlighted some well-polished examples created by a single developer in just a few weeks using procedural rules and modular asset packs. Firstly, two stylised views of city environments were shown, zooming down to street level at an impressive level of detail, with Google Maps data informing the procedural rendering in an organic way. In the final example, a vast area of Glacier National Park in Montana was shown, rendered in Unity using Google Maps elevation data, with procedurally generated rocks and vegetation, showing the SDK is not limited to urban environments.
The overall message: it’s easy to harness Google Maps geodata to build rich game experiences that work on a global scale, using gameplay suitable for the real world, and driving players to popular places, or off the beaten path, depending on the style of game. Finally, three games coming in 2018 using ARCore and Google Maps APIs were featured: Jurassic World Alive, Ghostbusters World, and The Walking Dead: Our World.
Of all the franchises out there set to ape the Pokemon Go formula in the coming years, Ghostbusters seems to be one of the best-fitting. Good news for all you wannabe Venkmans out there, then.
Ghostbusters World is a new smartphone AR game heading your way in 2018. We have very little to go on right now other than the trailer below, which sees phones alert players to an impending ghost hunt before they answer the call and suit up. The trailer’s description promises a ‘state-of-the-art’ AR game with ‘skill-based gameplay’ that has players battling ‘hundreds’ of ghosts that have appeared in the franchise over the years.
It’s pretty easy to envision this being something special, though. Imagine stepping out into the real world in search of ghost-capturing adventures, meeting up with friends to form your own Ghostbuster squad and then using your smartphone just like you would a Proton Pack.
Look for Ghostbusters World to launch later this year. Could this be a contender to Niantic’s upcoming Harry Potter AR game?
With Google officially confirming the launch of ARCore 1.0. today, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Ghost Corps in collaboration with mobile game publisher 4:33 Creative Lab have announced Ghostbusters World, a new augmented reality (AR) videogame coming to iOS and Android in 2018.
The developers haven’t released many details at present simply saying in a press release that Ghostbusters World will feature ‘skill-based gameplay’. Players will be able to battle and capture hundreds of ghosts from all dimensions of the franchise, including the films, TV shows, comic books, theme parks, and videogames. To make the experience that bit more unique it’ll also feature new and unique ghosts to the franchise.
“The Ghostbusters Universe is rich in characters and Ghostbusters World is the perfect medium to get to know these characters in a whole new dimension,” said Ivan Reitman, Principal, Ghost Corps, and Director & Producer of the original Ghostbusters movie in a statement.
Sung-Jin Han, CEO of 4:33 commented: “We are thrilled to work with Sony Pictures Entertainment and Ghost Corps to bring the iconic Ghostbusters franchise to life. Fans will have the opportunity to take a walk through an immersive game environment that merges our everyday world with the many ghosts from the Ghostbusters Universe. It’s an unparalleled experience!”
Ghostbusters Worldwill be demoed during Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018 at Google’s booth, with attendees able to sample a small portion of the many features and mechanics of the final videogame.
The title will be available on iOS and Android devices in 2018. More information regarding the content will be revealed during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) next month.
“Ghostbusters is a legacy brand and we are excited to work with 4:33 to expand the Ghostbusters Universe into an AR mobile game,” said Jamie Stevens, Executive Vice President Worldwide Consumer Products, Sony Pictures Entertainment. “Ghostbusters is the perfect brand and best content to utilize AR technology.”
VRFocuswill continue its coverage of ARCore and Ghostbusters World, reporting back with the latest updates and announcements.
