Ghost Control Inc. (PC)

I bought this game as a result of impulse purchase on Steam sales and it turned out to be a good investment, although it is a bit simplistic for my taste. The reason why I bought it was not because I was looking for an X-COM clone with ghosts, but because ever since I was a kid I wanted to play a good Ghostbusters game. Technically speaking Ghost Control Inc is not a Ghostbusters game - no doubt due to licensing issues - but it is as close as it gets and it is actually pretty fun as long as you don't expect anything deep or complex.

This trailer pretty much explains what the game feels and looks like

The good

The only thing this game has going for it is it's Ghostbuster theme. It is goofy enough not to be taken too seriously and it has more gameplay than any other Ghostbusters game that I have ever played, which is not saying much since every other Ghostbuster game sucks balls. Basically, you get to create your own ghost hunting company, hire some ghost hunters, build a laboratory and a training room, buy and upgrade your equipment, buy new vehicles to get an upper hand on your competition, and then hunt some ghosts. Each time you succesfuly complete a mission you get payed, so that you can buy better equipment, better vehicles and hunt some more ghosts. The game is actually pretty repetitive, but it has a certain charm to it that goes beyond its simplistic gameplay.

The difference betwen your base at the beginning and in the stages of the game

World map with obligatory used cars salesman

The bad

My main complaint with Ghost Control Inc is that it is very simple with a lot of missed opportunity for creating a true classic. First of all, the game suffers from weird design decisions. For example, you can choose the look of your character only by going through a random selection of 6 characters at a time, instead of the game just allowing you to filter all character portraits at once. Secondly, your main character begins with a random set of attributes which can range from amazing to horrible and I was forced to restart my game at the very beginning quite a few times just so I would get a satisfying character. All of this could have been avoided with a standard character creation screen, and I really don't understand why this is not a part of the game. Furthermore, you are allowed to create your own company name, but whenever you answer a call the text still says Ghost Control Inc. It is issues like this that make me think the game is still in development.

There are quite a few ghost types in the game and...

... even the Slenderman makes an appearance.

Another problem I have is that there is only one city to choose from (London), there are only two bosses in the whole game as well as only two rooms to build. When you compare this with games like X-COM, Ghost Control Inc strikes me as severely limitting. There are also some bugs with enemies clipping through walls or getting stuck on screen so that they appear on every map until you reset the game, weapons disappearing, etc. Nothing too serious, but it needs to be mentioned.

Conclusion

Despite it's very simplistic and repetitive nature, I cannot help myself but liking the game. Hunting goofy ghosts feels satisfying, and my longtime childhood dream of playing a good Ghostbusters game has finally been realized. Something to note is that the developers actually made contact with me upon finishing the game. Apparently they are patching the game from time to time and there are two more maps in development. Until that happens my final score is 6.5/10.

For more screenshots click here.

Final score: 6.5/10

The End

I made it! I saved London from being overrun by nasty spooks!