Disclaimer: Copy was provided by the developer for review purposes.

Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed was a huge wildcard when Columbia and Illfonic first announced it. A new high-quality Ghostbusters game is a rare thing indeed. We haven’t had a real effort like this since 2009, with years of mediocre mobile and budget digital games that didn't to justice to the franchise.

Well, the wait is finally over. Illfonic has not only brought Ghostbusters into the 4v1 competitive asymmetrical multiplayer space, but they’re managed to make it feel fresh. Spirits Unleashed achieves the equally astonishing feat of combining Turtle Rock’s Evolve with Splatoon to great effect, crafting an accessible, replayable ghost-em-up.

There’s no desperate attempt to craft an eSport or a thousand microtransactions here. Instead, Illfonic has simply made a multiplayer game that you can play easily in co-op or competitive modes with friends. This shouldn’t be a bold approach, but in this era of games scrambling for the live service throne, it’s intensely refreshing for one to be humble and focused. You log in, bust some ghosts, haunt the joint like a chaotic troll, and have a laugh a minute.

The rules are simple: four people play as Ghostbusters, one plays as the ghost. The ghost ratchets up points by doing ghoulish things like possessing everyday objects and kicking up a racket to terrify the NPC crowd, while the busters must corner and capture the ghost, calm the crowd, and maintain some semblance of order amidst the chaos.

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What’s all the more endearing is how relaxed everything feels. Sure, sometimes you’ll find a match with a tryhard or two, but in my hours playing, they were rare exceptions. Matches tend to remain brisk but with tons of breathing room.

The ghost has multiple avenues of defense and escape if cornered, while the Ghostbusters can just as readily pick each other up from being slimed. Outside of the ghost escaping through rifts if caught early in a match, there’s no other respawning to speak of. The emphasis is instead on the best part: the thrill of the hunt!

Illfonic has thought of pretty much everything.

Every chase flows organically across the map. Breezing away costs ghosts precious energy better spent on attacks and haunting, encouraging tactful flanking. Meanwhile, busters can be tipped off by not only their P.K.E. meter (with visual prompts for the auditorily impaired), but fleeing civilians are a dead giveaway. You and your allies can easily ping with the click of the right stick, while ghosts are alerted the moment they’re spotted.

This is made all the more challenging given ghosts can possess not only simple objects, but giant statues and machinery. By 'haunting' other objects into floating about, you can leave the Ghostbusters scrambling after red herrings as you slip away. There’s the double-edged sword that you can smash all those expensive objects to root out the ghost… at the cost of bonus experience points for minimal property damage. You can also calm civilians down, at the cost of wasting time on them while the ghost can sow more havoc out of view. Dividing your team's priorities is crucial when fighting a clever phantasm.

Your secondary gear, which includes a grappling hook and area denial mines, can massively alter your playstyle as a Ghostbuster. There’s a wide selection of ghosts you can play as, each boasting several sub-variants featuring great perks. All of this is unlocked at an astoundingly rapid rate, with an old-school leveling system with optional simple challenges for more esoteric upgrades. No angling for microtransactions or crafting or battle passes - just a simple, fun progression system that rewards experimentation.

In matches, the usual hesitance towards taking risks vanishes in seconds. Each match is over in a handful of minutes, spread across distinct levels and a rotating roster of players taking the role of the ghost. Throw in offline play and co-op vs an AI ghost, and you’ve got a spectacular time for every kind of multiplayer fan. There's seamless crossplay too, which worked flawlessly for me across multiple sessions.

A few more maps would be nice, but the ones included at launch are highly replayable with great layouts that keep matches flowing. The HUD could be a little less cluttered for ghosts, but you come to grips with it in a handful of matches. Illfonic has thought of pretty much everything.

There's even a jovial story to find in the fully explorable firehouse lobby, with Ernie Hudson and Dan Aykroyd reprising their roles as Winston and Ray after the events of Ghostbusters: Afterlife. It’s in no way going to alter how you look at the Ghostbusters-verse, but the writing and performances are undeniably charming. You can just as easily ignore most of it if you’d prefer to get right to multiplayer, yet it's great to have something to sit back and watch after you've gone several thrilling rounds online.

Other than that? Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed is just good fun. It’s the perfect goofy yet spooky party game to play with a couple of friends. A small install size also means no waiting for long updates when partying up. The warm visuals and all-ages-friendly writing also make this a perfect game for kids. The only thing parents need to be mindful of is that voice chat is open to all five players constantly, so maybe mute mic chat or have them stick to talking with friends on Discord.

Easy to learn, intuitive to play, with hours upon hours of new toys to play with, Spirits Unleashed is a real labor of love. For a franchise that’s long struggled with a consistent margin for quality, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed goes above and beyond to answer the call. Now if someone can just convince them to incorporate some ghosts and levels from the IDW comics, then it’ll be darn-near perfect!

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