So I bet you were expecting a wisecracking “who you gonna call” one-liner in this piece, right? Happy to disappoint you then, ’cause it’s not going to happen. But what WILL happen is the realization of a dream I had since I was about 15: Ghostbusters III.

I loved the humor as well as the dark elements of the movie as a child, and I couldn’t wait to see a new installment to a vision that had “Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling ... 40 years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes ... the dead rising from the grave ... human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together ... mass hysteria!”

Though not officially the third movie, Ghostbusters: The Video Game — for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Ninteno Wii, Nintendo DS and PC — is as literally close to that vision as anything I’ve seen thus far. Although the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions were also on display at New York Comic Con, we talked to the lead programmer for the Wii version, James Clarendon.

First, the game was co-written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, who actually had writing credits in the original picture, not to mention starring as two of the major roles. That got my attention in a hurry, and as I listened intently at the Con, I was informed that the story was more than just going around blowing stuff up but in fact led to an eventual complex plot of epic (dare I say “Book of Revelations ...”) proportions.

Atari representatives decked out in Ghostbusters uniforms for Ghostbusters: The Video Game at New York Comic Con 2009.

Next, the actors from the original movies voiced the game — everyone from Aykroyd to Murray, to even annoying little William Atherton as Walter Peck, the city health inspector. We’re not just looking at writing credits here but actual lines in the game. Also, it wasn’t just rehashed one-liners from the original movie, but they actually read new lines of fresh dialogue in this production. How cool is that? (That’s a rhetorical question, dumbassl; it’s supercool).

At this point I could hardly care if the game was lame or not, because I really like the Ghostbusters premise and was just excited to see the old gang back together. Luckily, though, the game was really fun.

You play as a rookie and can choose from premade characters, a fact that was somewhat disappointing (mainly as I had plans on how to design my character) but was explained as a necessary evil in a world that so incorporated elements from the original crew via dialogue and character interaction that if a players kept creating new characters, it would get out of hand quickly.

The controls were fairly easy, and the primary objective of the level we were on was to make our way through a library and use our Ghostbusting tools to track down spirits and (obviously) bust them. But it was more than just that, though. As you make your way through the building, the more things you destroy, the more of an overinflated bill you can charge New York City for your services, and that money is used to unlock treats and prizes at the Ghostbusters headquarters: the firehouse.

The firehouse itself is a playable area, and I was informed that it is the nexus point from which the characters are sent on missions, are free to play minigames and replay missions, as well as the hub of which the overarching quest will spawn.

I’m also a fan a of 1930s pulp horror, so imagine my delight and surprise to see that the game conforms your handy Tobins Spirit Guide to actual folklore and occult facts. Real research was done in this field, apparently, because when you encounter a god in the game, you better be damn sure it’s Sumerian not Babylonian. Clarendon also informed me that the pages of Tobin will have simple strategies to beating ghosts but actual historical facts about supernatural elements throughout history.

In fact, the research to supernatural elements is a big point in this game. I was told that a lot of the negative things that happen to your character and equipment were borrowed from such shows as Ghosthunter in which characters get cold chills, equipment will fail at the presence of certain specters and so-forth, which I thought brought a touch of realism into this game.

Subtle hints also suggested that this game may weave into a tie in for an actual third movie, but I can only keep my fingers crossed, since there will be no way to actually know that until it happens.

Final analysis? OK, my opinion is a little skewered because I’m such a big fan of the franchise, but in the long run, when I played it, I had a good time. The Wii version is a little too cartoony for my taste (as all Wii games are), but it manages to pull off a Burton-esque CGI movie look, which was pretty cool. Meanwhile the version for the 360 looked darker and more believable and makes me yearn for a better video game system for this game alone.

In short “We got one!”