One of my guilty pleasures is watching ghost investigator shows and silly paranormal stuff like that.  So I’m always up for playing a game about ghosts, too.  In Polterguys, you play as a cute little spirit who can possess different objects.  In the game you must possess items and gather ecto energy and other power-ups to keep away from a bigger, meaner, shadowy ghost and be the last one standing in this multiplayer focused title.  Polterguys: Possession Party is available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.

In the game you and a bunch of other ghosts can move around in 2D top down spooky locations.  You can press the R1 button to possess objects and hop out of them with the same button, too.  But you’ll generally want to be possessing something.  Shortly after starting a level, a shadowy monster will start chasing everyone.  You must collect ecto energy to use the abilities of whatever you’ve possessed to get away.  So for instance, you can fly while possessing a desk fan, or shoot projectiles as a toy robot.  You can also use ecto energy to manipulate parts of the stage or hide from the monster.  There are also power-ups you can collect that can do things like slow down other players or speed you up.  If you get hit by the monster a couple of times, you’re out of the game.  The last one standing, wins.

I don’t have a PS Online account so I wasn’t able to do much with this game aside from play against bots.  This is supposed to be one of those pick up and play multiplayer titles, but the button layout does take a little bit of getting used to.  And it was hard to see my ghost sometimes amidst all the chaos.  And it felt a little grindy since it takes a while to unlock things.  But if you do have the ability to play this one online, I can imagine it could be some fun for a while.

Kid Factor:

Polterguys: Possession Party is rated E-10 with an ESRB descriptor of Fantasy Violence.  Younger gamers may be a little scared of the shadow monster, as it is a bit creepy.  But most everything else is silly and cartoony.  If you get hit, your ghost just splats on the floor as a puddle.  Reading skill is needed for the text, and younger gamers may need help with the controls.

Tags: Game Reviews