Ghost Rider

5.0
Mediocre

Gameplay	2.0	"Ghost Rider had potential but fell flat."
Graphics	8.0
Sound	7.0
Value	7.0

By Morgan Bates

Marvel Comic’s latest superhero to make the jump to the big screen is Ghost Rider; and in keeping with the misguided tradition of developing mediocre games based on solid movie franchises, Ghost Rider has arrived on PS2 just in time to cash in on the success of the blockbuster. Unfortunately, despite sharing gameplay elements with the likes of Devil May Cry and Mega Drive classic Road Rash, it has turned out to be mediocre - at best.

The introductory FMV does a good job of introducing Ghost Rider, and for those interested in learning a bit more of the comic book background, Ghost Rider features a reasonable amount of extras that will fill in the blanks, including a gallery of concept art, behind the scenes footage, cheats and comics.

The story tells the tale of Johnny blaze, an ex-stunt man who made a deal with the devil to cure his father’s cancer, in exchange for his soul. His father lives long enough to be killed by the devil that saved him. Remember kids: don’t trust creatures with horns, especially evil ones. Understandably, Johnny is a little mad about the raw deal.

Ghost Rider is summoned to Hellagainst his will, and this is where the game kicks off. The similarities with DMC become apparent straight away. You have the same range of moves such as the light attack, strong attack, throw, and a special that charges up with each kill. Along with his powerful melee moves, Ghost Rider has a shotgun. It only has a few shots to begin with, even when fully loaded. However, it can be upgraded, allowing for more shots.

The most notable thing in common is the basic gameplay of moving from one room to the next, slaughtering every enemy, then collecting the points and moving on. It was a problem with DMC3 as the gameplay got repetitive. Although Ghost Rider tries to avoid repetition by using motorbike-based levels, it still feels repetitive with a regular sequence consisting of beat-em-up, riding, and then beat-em-up again.

Being a Ghost Rider game, it’s a given that you would spend a large amount of time riding his Hell Cycle - and indeed you do. This is where the Road Rash-inspired racing kicks in. Taking it on the road, you race over a course dealing attacks to enemies on the track – somewhat suicidal of them isn’t it – and on their own bikes.

Unfortunately, there are numerous obstacles such as jumps and barriers you have to slide under, forcing the rider to slow down instead of racing through at full speed. On top of that, most of the time there is too much happening on screen, preventing a decent view of the course and making you hit barriers you may have otherwise avoided.

The one thing Ghost Rider does do well is capture the mood of the comics in its broody visuals. I said ‘the one thing’ because you have no control over the camera; instead, Climax thought it would be a good idea to use the right analogue stick for dodging. Indeed, you’re moving with the left stick, attacking with the face buttons. You just need a third thumb for the dodging.

In the end Ghost Rider is too repetitive; if by chance you decide to replay it, you’ll find Blade and a couple of other characters are playable. Not only that, but a bunch of cheats that make the game even duller, such as ‘infinite health’ and ‘one hit kills’, are unlockable.

Ghost Rider would have been a brilliant game had it been put in the hands of a studio with more experience in action titles. As it stands, it might appeal to fans of the comic books, but anyone looking for a solid action game should look elsewhere.

NZGamer.com - Ghost Rider Facebook