Ghost Rider - the review

If it's not classic television programmes currently being brought to the big screen, it's comic books and Ghost Rider is the latest in a long line of Marvel properties to make it to the cinemas and then the games consoles. It hasn't exactly been a smooth ride for the project though and for a number of reasons the release has been delayed for some twelve months. That, in itself, is no great surprise these days, but what is though is the fact that we have a PSP version after it's bypassed many other platforms including the X-Box. On a more positive note though, handheld specialists CLIMAX are in charge of development so we can only hope that they turn in their usual high quality product.

Ghost Rider (the game) takes place just after the events of the movie and, with a script penned by Marvel writers Garth Ennis and Jimmy Palmiotti, I have to say we were all feeling distinctly optimistic about this game. If you've for some reason missed the whole Ghost Rider thing, star of the game is actually one Johnny Blaze who is cursed to spend his nights as the Ghost Rider after being cheated by the devil, Mephisto. It's not a case of just cruising the streets though, Johnny must hunt down evildoers and punish them for their deeds. The twist here is that Mephisto's son Blackheart and his army of demons are quickly readying themselves for the Apocalypse (one thing which no one wants really). This plays out, initially at least, like a kind of Devil May Cry beat'em up with a good number of combos that help you defeat the demons that continually track you down. These leave their souls behind them, which can then be collected and traded in for upgrades between levels. The problem is that most of the combos are useless except for one in particular (which you are awarded very early in the game) so good it can defeat almost everything in two or three hits. Occasionally you'll encounter a demon with a shield, which can only be dismantled by building up your combo meter in order to become more powerful. Again though this manages to frustrate thanks to the meter resetting for a multitude of reasons.

In addition to the combat there's also a driving section where Ghost Rider takes to the roads in order to defeat the remaining demons. Think Road Rash in Hell! What this boils down to is simply a case of getting to the finish with both bike and flaming skull intact. Unfortunately it all feels very linear and as in the combat sections the enemies are both dumb and repetitive in their attack patterns, presenting little or no challenge. The biggest problem though is not the design but the poor control system, which could render even the best-designed title unplayable. The Challenges are much more entertaining mostly due to their length and simple objectives. There's even a Multiplayer mode but you are unlikely to remain friends with anyone after subjecting them to this game.

You'd imagine that even if the game wasn't up to scratch then at least there'd be something to celebrate from a technical standpoint but even with such rich comic source material as Ghost Rider the developers still seem to completely miss the mark. This starts with Ghost Rider himself who's not nearly as impressive as you'd expect him to be and is neither modeled nor animated particularly well. The various demons are equally underwhelming and their complete lack of variety leads us to believe that they are all related. Then there’s the terribly bland background textures and don't even get us started on the camera angles... let's move on.

The game’s audio isn’t much better and while the sound effects aren't too bad, the soundtrack is both repetitive and instantly forgettable. The voice acting is also rather amateur, sounding like they've reunited the original Resident Evil team. Trust me, if you'd heard it, you'd know exactly what I mean. Overall though the biggest problem is none of this does an awful lot to improve your gaming experience meaning you may as well turn the sound off all together and put on your favorite sounds.

Final Comments: When movies are delayed in some way it generally indicates a problem shoot, which often has an effect on the finished release. From a developer’s point of view it means more time to fine tune graphics, sound and gameplay. The problem with Ghost Rider though is regardless of how much extra time you put into, it the initial product is flawed and extra development time has only made matters worse. After reviewing for years now I’m used to expecting very little from movie licenses but this is worse than normal, boring the gamer into submission. If you must have a handheld version of Ghost Rider, why not check out the GameBoy Advance version, it's far superior to this mess.