While Ghostbusters: The Video Game acted like a continuation of the original duology, with all the original cast reprising their roles, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed brings the story to the modern day, and seems to pick up right where the most recent movie, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, left off.
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How Ghostbusters: Afterlife Ends
Though it wasn’t met with the best critical reception, currently sitting at a 45% on Metacritic, Ghostbusters: Afterlife actually ended up pleasing a good portion of Ghostbusters fans. It may not have been the most original or tight story, but many fans could set that aside to enjoy the movie for what it was; a continuation of the original crew’s story, told through the lens of the younger generation.
From the get-go, Ghostbusters: Afterlife cements itself in the pre-established Ghostbusters universe. The movie’s opening scene shows Egon Spengler engaged in a pretty terrifying ghost chase, which ultimately ends in his death. The rest of the movie then sees Egon’s daughter and grandchildren work alongside Egon’s ghost to help put a stop to the town’s spectral threats.
Along the way, a few cameo appearances from Ernie Hudson’s Winston Zeddemore and Dan Akroyd’s Ray Stantz are sprinkled in; with the former now being a millionaire business tycoon, and the latter being the owner of an occult bookstore. The big bad of the movie is revealed to once again be Gozer, the ancient god antagonist of the original 1984 movie.
In the final scene of the movie, Egon’s grandchildren lure Gozer back to the farmhouse, and attempt to trap the spirit. Gozer ends up being too powerful for the kids to handle, and in a moment of pure fan-service, the camera pans to reveal the original Ghostbusters, all suited-up and ready to take down the phantom.
Bill Murray’s Venkman is hurling one-liners, Winston and Ray and blasting ghosts with their Neutrona Wand, and the whole cast comes together to defeat Gozer and their ghostly minions. In a bittersweet final moment, Egon’s apparition appears (a pretty convincing CG Harold Ramis), joining the other three Ghostbusters as they all try to trap Gozer. Egon makes amends with his friends and family, and his spirit disappears into the night’s sky.
Just before the credits roll, the camera pans down to New York City, revealing the Ecto-1, sirens blaring, speeding along the road, all while the iconic Ray Parker Jr. Ghostbusters theme plays. The final post-credits scene of the movie shows Winston walking into the old Ghostbusters firehouse, the Ecto-1 being brought in behind him.
A Team of New Recruits
Based on the recently released trailer, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed seems to be directly following the end of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, with its general premise being that the player is taking the role of a new Ghostbuster recruit in Winston’s new Ghostbusting agency. In a bit of a departure from Illfonic’s previous games, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is going to have a narrative through-line.
Between each 4v1 asymmetrical multiplayer match, players will be able to freely explore the Ghostbusters firehouse. Here, they can upgrade their equipment and gear, and talk to Winston for advice. Players can also head to Ray’s bookstore, where they can learn more about their ghostly opponents. Ernie Hudson and Dan Akroyd are reprising their roles yet again, so it does seem that Spirits Unleashed is acting as somewhat of a sequel to the latest movie.
Ghostbusters: Spirit Unleashed releases in Q4 2022, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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