Back when downloadable games cost $5, missteps and cut corners similar to those found in Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime were acceptable.
But with higher prices comes a higher bar, and Slime - which attempts to apply the dual-stick shooter formula to a licence seemingly fit for it - comes nowhere close to touching it.
Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime
For: PS3 (via PlayStation Network) and Xbox 360 (via Xbox Live Arcade). Also available for: Windows PC
From: Atari
Rating: Everyone 10+ (fantasy violence)
Price: $US15
The structure - enter room, doors lock, kill ghosts, doors unlock, leave room, repeat - grows monotonous quickly, in part because the actual act of busting ghosts is hampered by imprecise controls and a proton stream that lacks impact.
But it only gets worse, not better, when Slime provides new weapons, because whatever variety they introduce gets kneecapped by an intrusive contrivance that makes certain ghosts completely impervious to certain weapons.
Once the difficulty spikes and the screen crowds with multiple varieties of ghosts, you're constantly switching weapons according to the game's demands instead of your own preferences.
The resulting chaos is a nightmare when playing alone with three AI-controlled partners: their poor battlefield awareness makes them sitting ducks during boss fights, which, along with the levels themselves, start to repeat during Slime's back half.
So if you must play Slime, you'd best find friends to assist you via co-op play (four players, online/offline).
Just don't bother if it's fan service you're after: Between the flat story presentation (blurry comic panels with too much text, considering the context) and the replacing of the Ghostbusters you know with a cast of unknowns, Slime falls short in this regard as well.
