 While the Ghostbusters franchise has had its ups and downs in pulp culture over the years, the core idea of paranormal rat catchers has always leant itself to a game, and so Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is here for another round of busting, with an Ecto Edition Switch release of the 2022 game.
 The game is cross-platform, so the pool of players is big enough that you won’t have too much of a wait on your hands, and you can always try a private match with AI if you want to hone your skills before getting out there, but, generally the variety of experience is limited. The game could thrive if it happened to be dished out free on multiple platforms at once, bringing all the Ghostbusters enthusiasts together to have some fun with the experience... If you can get a group of friends together, it’s a different story, combining parts of Dead By Daylight and Left 4 Dead in a package with a few unique quirks. Over time you can beef up your character’s kit, and unlock additional cosmetic options, but otherwise the replay value is limited to a more creature-focused mode alongside matchmaking.  Musically, besides the main theme, the rest of the score is a little heavy-handed, a bit too eager to be playfully fun and a little too loud to really gel with the gameplay (though of course this is easily adjusted in seconds). Technically, this version does show cracks here and there, with some texture pop-in and a few low quality textures in general, but it still plays fairly smoothly and is robust enough to give you an end-to-end experience that isn’t distracted by bugs or crashes.  In all, the game achieves what it set out to do without really showing us anything we haven’t seen before. It feels like the sort of game which could thrive if it happened to be dished out free on multiple platforms at once, bringing all the Ghostbusters enthusiasts together to have some fun with the experience.
As it is, it’s not an essential experience on Switch, but certainly a serviceable one and something which younger players in particular might get a kick out of. Pros
Cons
7/10 Manic Mechanics review | Nintendo Switch14/7/2023  There's nothing quite like frantic same-screen coop action. While there are many similar experiences out there across consoles and PC, nothing quite has the same combination of challenges and chaotic moments as Manic Mechanics, and the Switch is the perfect place for it.
 The 25 levels offer an impressive mix of hazards and challenges to make your time in the garage even more manic, one particular favourite takes place, inexplicably, in a bowling alley, where you must avoid NPC bowlers themselves while flapping around. In the later levels there are even more things to worry about, as you start to reassemble vehicles on a production line, where they will only accept certain missing parts in missing places. This is where the concept of communication really comes into play. While it is possible to play Manic Mechanics yourself, unfortunately without helpful AI pals to assist you the garage can be a very big and unwieldy place – even with the ability to dash and throw items around to help speed up the repair. The difficulty is well balanced...as getting through levels, with a bit of luck, isn’t too tough, but feeling like you’ve really got the hang of it is another story... When combined with three friends though, it really takes the game to a new high, as you panic, rush and generally spam controls hectically, trying to beat both the cog score for the level (basically a one to three rating) and the high scores on the board. There aren’t any individual scores, so your teamwork is what makes the magic happen, and everyone gets to revel in success together. The difficulty is well balanced though, as getting through levels, with a bit of luck, isn’t too tough, but feeling like you’ve really got the hang of it is another story.  Between levels, the overworld has some fun little elements, but no mini games or anything for you to really feel like you need to spend time there. The levels are split into fun themed zones however, and seeing the aesthetics gradually shift and that be reflected in the levels themselves is great fun.
There are a bunch of characters to choose from, but no character customisation, which might have been a nice way to take the character element up a notch without affecting gameplay. In all the experience has just the right amount of moving parts to make each level feel different and gradually build in complexity to its chaotic and, appropriately, manic peak. As a party game, this game slips in right alongside other games in this genre like Moving Out, Overcooked 2 and even one of our forgotten favourites – Catastronauts, as a fun time which has only a few controls to remember but takes a long time to master. Do yourself a favour and pull into the garage to get a full multiplayer service and MOT immediately. Pros
Cons
9/10 |
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