New Ghostbusters Game Leaves New York Behind & Reveals Multiplayer
Sony has just announced a new Ghostbusters VR game during today’s Meta Quest Gaming showcase, one that promises to leave the franchise’s usual New York City setting in favor of San Francisco. Several virtual reality titles based on existing video games and licensed properties were shown off during the latest Meta Quest event, such as the recently-released Resident Evil 4: The Mercenaries VR, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners - Chapter 2: Retribution, and a VR version of Among Us that will give players a first-person view as they hunt for Imposters in their midst.
Speaking of the scary and the supernatural, the Ghostbusters franchise has seen its fair share of gaming announcements in recent months, including a brand-new title from Friday the 13th: The Game developer IllFonic called Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed. Set after the events of last year’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Spirits Unleashed will see original Ghostbusters stars Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson reprise their roles as Ray and Winston as they mentor a new team of spirit hunters in an asymmetrical multiplayer title that puts four players in the role of the titular Ghostbusters and lets the fifth control the Ghostbusters franchise mascot Slimer. Meanwhile, there is a second Ghostbusters video game in the works, one that will offer fans both a new perspective and setting as they try to trap the undead.
Earlier today, Sony Pictures Virtual Reality announced the tentatively-titled Ghostbusters VR during the Meta Quest Gaming showcase. Developed by nDreams, the award-winning studio behind VR titles like Phantom: Covert Ops, Fracked, and Far Cry VR: Dive Into Insanity, Ghostbusters VR is currently set for release on the Meta Quest 2 and will put players in charge of a new Ghostbusters division operating out of San Francisco. These players will be able to hunt down ghosts using some of the Ghostbusters franchise’s most iconic equipment and join up with friends in four-player online co-op. “With SPVR, we’ve found the perfect teammates to help bring a boundary-pushing multiplayer game to virtual reality,” nDreams Chief Development Officer Tomas Gillo explained in a press release earlier today. “In addition, our close collaboration with the creators of the Ghostbusters franchise at Ghost Corps, combined with our extensive experience creating rich, tactile and immersive VR will blow gamers and Ghostbusters fans away.”
Ghostbusters VR’s San Francisco setting is an interesting subject of note about the new game, as most Ghostbusters media centered around the original film continuity largely stick to New York City - although Afterlife recently took place in the fictional small town of Summerville, Oklahoma. This was true in previous games like 2009’s Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which was met with high praise among fans for its solid plot (penned by Dan Akroyd and his Ghostbusters co-star Harold Ramis) and the fact that all four of the original cast members returned to guide the player through yet another spirit-wrangling adventure.
The idea of the Ghostbusters branching out into other famous cities like San Francisco is interesting, and the Ghostbusters franchise comes with enough creepy spectral enemies to make for a harrowing and memorable VR adventure with either one player or four. Sony Pictures Virtual Reality and nDreams have promised to reveal more information about Ghostbusters VR in the coming months.
Source: Meta Quest/Youtube