Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime - Q&A Feature

Following the endearing shoot fest that was Ghostbusters: The Videogame back in 2009, Atari has now opted for the digital-download route with its successor, Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime. Releasing over XBLA, PSN, and PC on March 23rd (although probably March 22nd for PSN), the title follows a team of Ghostbusting new recruits rather than the classic cast of Venkman, Ray, Egon, and Winston. TVG recently spoke with Atari's Producer on the project, Jonathan Moses to find out whether Ghostbusting really does make you feel good...

Which classic Ghostbusters characters can we expect to encounter? Slimer? Marshmallow Man?

In the story scenes, we see the original characters hand off some of the ghost busting to the new rookies. Slimer will randomly appear in levels and, true to name, will "slime" players if they don't get him first.  Stay Puft has a fun cameo too.  

A central character in the story is Janoz Poha from Ghostbusters 2.

What was behind the decision to have players take on the role of new recruits rather than the original Ghostbusters characters?

We felt it worked well in the last Ghostbusters video game to allow players to be part of the growing world of the Ghostbusters, and we stayed with that. This also helped us create a story that could fit within the Ghostbusters canon, without risk of conflicting what might happen in future movies.

How does the combat work? Are specific co-op strategies required to take down some enemies (e.g. three players hold the ghost with their streams while another lays down a ghost trap)?

There are 3 weapons that are each good against specific types of enemies (distinguishable by colour). However, each weapon also has some advantage against other enemies too... and players will often face against groups of enemies that require strategic choices in which weapons to use as waves will come with mixes of enemy types.  

For example, the Proton Stream is good against red enemies. However, it does continual damage against all enemies, and it slows them down, especially when the creature is tagged by more than one. The Fermion Shock gun can hit multiple enemies at once, and does a lot of damage the closer you are to the target, but specializes in yellow enemies.

So - with multiple players, teams can slow and hurt an enemy with proton streams, allowing another player to get close with the Fermion Shock to finish the job against the bigger creatures. Or, players can each focus on specific colours of the smaller waves.

Are there any competitive elements to the co-op play?

There are always frantic dashes to be the first to collect relics and power-ups, while avoiding the enemies. I like to be the one at the end with the most points.

Did you re-use assets from Ghostbusters: The Video Game?

We did reuse a lot of the art from Ghostbusters: The Video Game.  We had a great relationship with Terminal Reality, and this allowed us to focus and iterate on the gameplay from the very start.

The footage released so far is somewhat reminiscent of old-school arcade titles like Smash TV and Gauntlet. What was your inspiration for the gameplay?

Very much!  Our goal has been to capture that action pacing, build in some great challenges, and have a blast for players to work together or go it alone (online or local multiplayer).

Will there be Move support for PS3?

We're looking at a number of ways to continue to expand the gameplay, and this is something we're considering.  No decision has been made yet.

What Ghostbusting technology can we expect in the game?

Players have some upgrades on the Proton Packs, they'll need to use the Ghost Traps against the bigger enemies, and we now have the new Ecto vehicle (the Ecto-4WD).

How many levels are there?

There are 14 levels.

Egon: "Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light." Isn't it irresponsible to encourage players to cross the streams?

After the intensive training process all rookies go through before their first mission, they all know to instinctively avoid crossing the streams... and the streams really don't touch (just over/under).  From the gameplay side, we iterated on a few different consequences, but in the end felt it disrupted the pace of the action too much.  What we've ended with is a game that is both true to the brand - but more importantly, a blast to play.

Does busting make you feel good?

Yes. Yes it does.

TVG would like to thank Atari's Jonathan Moses for taking the time to speak with us about Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime, which is due out on XBLA, PSN, and PC on March 23rd.