Ghostbusters Sanctum of Slime Preview

My nerd PKE meter is off the charts!

This could really just be the shortest preview I’ve ever written.

Two words: Gauntlet Ghostbusters.

There. That sums Sanctum of Slime up completely. Go on, go about the rest of your day. What, you want more words? Ok, here’s two more:

Gauntlet Ghostbusters!

Happy yet? No? Alright, fine. My bosses probably wouldn’t appreciate ending a preview here (even though I totally could).

Gauntlet Ghostbusters!!!

Yes, later this month you’ll be able to download a game that combines two separate yet equally influential components of great nerd history. Sanctum of Slime is a four player co-op dungeon crawler a la Gauntlet (or Smash TV, or Diablo, if that’s more familiar) featuring four new Ghostbuster recruits who need to put the next big ghost epidemic in New York in the containment unit where it belongs.

You’ll start with just the regular red proton beam, but as you progress you’ll unlock extra weapons: a yellow spread shot that functions like a shotgun blast, and a slower, powerful blue projectile that bounces off walls and slows ghosts on contact. To complement the weapon types, most ghosts come in red, blue, and yellow varieties, each weaker against beams of their respective colors. It might sound simple, but when multiple waves of varying colored ghosts start swarming your paranormal mercenary squad, the action gets frantic (play with friends to revel in the desperate shouting and joyful cries that only four-player co-op can provide).

We got to see a few levels, including a wrecked hotel, a trip through the sewers (would you expect anything less from a game called Sanctum of Slime?) and a hectic drive through the Manhattan streets on the next generation of the Ecto-1. Every level has a healthy offering of destructible objects that you can blast for bonus points. Despite the competitive nature of a point system, there’s also a definite sense of camaraderie as you can bring your downed buddies back to life if you kneel down to help them long enough. This becomes paramount in the harder areas, because if the whole team gets knocked out at once you’ll get sent to the last checkpoint.

Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime will be released later this month, so you’ll soon be able to get your fill of the most ectoplasmic, proton pack-iest, stream crossing-est dungeon crawler ever made. But after all that, only two words need be spoken – it’s (say it with me now):

GAUNTLET GHOSTBUSTERS!!!