Marvel games have taken a decidedly huge step up in quality over the last few years, and Activision seems to be the company to thank. They’ve made gigantic strides with the Spider Man license, and the X-Men Legends games are absolutely spectacular -- even Marvel: Ultimate Alliance looks like it’s going to be a quality action-RPG when it comes out. Now, 2K Games and Marvel are teaming up to handle a movie based property, and thus far Ghost Rider is fairly impressive.
The demo on the show floor at E3 was marked as fifty percent done, and it seemed like the game already had a surprising amount of polish to it. There were two levels available for play at the kiosk, one showcasing the on-foot combat levels, and one showcasing the motorcycle-style levels.
The on-foot combat levels can only be described as a God of War clone, though that comment is paid with the highest compliment. It’s also not right to consider it a "clone" in the truest sense of the word either, as Ghost Rider played more simply than Kratos’ adventure. Ghost Rider is equipped with chains for weapons. He’ll lash, smash, and beat enemies into submission brutally using his linked armaments. Enemies come in waves as the player progresses through a dystopian carnival and will have to be defeated to move on to the next area. With each new area comes a new wave of enemies. As enemies die, they release power-ups in the shape of red orbs, again, similarly to God of War, which will likely be used to upgrade attacks and other stats.
Of course, simple objectives are included in the levels, like lever-pulling or destroying objects that are in the way, but overall focus remained on combat and basic exploration. The combat system was fairly basic and could use some additional depth before release. In addition, the enemies seemed fairly limited in selection. Hopefully the final game doesn’t restrict itself to the same four enemies per level.
The motorcycle level had decidedly less polish than the on-foot one, but it still held a lot of promise. Ghost Rider careens along a hellish highway at high speeds, and enemies come from behind and try to attack him. The player can steer the motorcycle freely on the road, and also swing his chains around to attack the ensuing demons. He can also fire a straight-shot hellfire blast incase enemies are in front of him. Obviously, obstacles will need to be avoided, so it’s a good thing Ghost Rider can make his hog jump. He can also slide under obstacles with a nifty power-slide maneuver that doubles as an attack.
A boost will help him clear chasms created by destroyed sections in the highway, and this is the biggest issue with the sequence on the floor. The boost didn’t seem to work reliably, and clearing these fiery pits was more a chore than a cool thing to experience. However, landing the motorcycle, should the player actually clear it, required balancing it in the air. If he lands on a slant the vehicle reacted accordingly it would sometimes sending him flying off his wheels. It added a nice touch to the gameplay.
While several elements conspire to keep the game from being as good as Sony’s Greek masterpiece, that doesn’t mean the game won’t be fun; this build was tons of fun and it’s only half done. Hopefully the issues I ran into can be smoothed out before release. As it stands, Ghost Rider looks like it’ll be a wild, albeit simple ride when it peels out on current-gen systems, coinciding with the release of the movie next February.
