March 2, 2007
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The movie was terrible (except for Eva Mendes), and I’m afraid the game, which picks up where the movie leaves off, might be even worse.
I came across one reviewer who felt Ghost Rider (available for PSP, PS2, GBA) was nothing more than a poor man’s God of War. Another reviewer described playing Ghost Rider as “gaming hell” and “deserving of banishment.” Harsh? Indeed. Right on? Unfortunately.
In the game, Ghost Rider (not really that cool a character to begin with, in my estimation) must prevent archenemies (Mephisto, Blackheart) from unleashing hell on earth in a flimsy storyline, but instead of live action, cut scenes are portrayed in panels, which scroll along as if you’re reading a comic book. The game flips between on-foot and bike missions, both of which grow extremely tedious. The lone objective on foot is to eradicate demons - all of which are predictable and unintelligent - and collect souls.
Once you start playing, you may notice that Ghost Rider does play like God of War in some ways: Ghost Rider’s whip of his chain conjured up memories of Kratos flailing swords chained to his arms, the combo system (in which Ghost Rider uses a series of moves strung together to achieve maximum damage) is similar.
Also like God of War, Ghost Rider features a Vengeance meter, which fills as you successfully land attacks. Each level has an evil word associated with it, meaning you’ll earn rankings of Damned, then Condemned, Brutal, and all the rest that aren’t really worth mentioning. Keep the Vengeance meter filled through to the end of the level and you’ll get a bonus; you’ll also earn more souls and power for defeating enemies while holding a Vengeance ranking.
The enemy will occasionally arrive wearing a vengeance shield, which might be marked with the word Brutal. This means that no damage will be done unto that creature until the shield is shattered (by hitting it while the Vengeance meter stands at Brutal). But this gets tired pretty fast.
To earn higher vengeance rankings, you’ll have to constantly switch up attacks, eventually running through pretty much every combo in your possession, some of which might not be optimal for the enemy currently onscreen. And since the Vengeance meter resets when Ghost Rider takes a hit, tackling a couple higher-level shielded enemies at once can be a massive pain.
Ghost Rider’s Demon Charge strike destroys crowds of opponents with a swift blow. Ghost Rider can also employ retribution, which gives him a brief boost in speed and power, enabling you to inflict the Penance Stare, draining as many souls from foes as possible.
Bike levels help break up the ground action, but they’re too simple. You’ll spend almost all your time jumping over and sliding under obstacles while mowing down enemies. Boss battles are slightly entertaining, but rarely challenging.
While there’s certainly plenty of action, the dull, monotonous settings and boring sound design make it easy to slump into tedium, bashing away at enemies simply because they are there. So if you’re not sure whether to get Ghost Rider, I strongly advise you to ride onto a more worthwhile game.
