Gaming: Dan Aykroyd back for Ghostbusters; Dauntless launch trailer; more

When it came time to scare up a nostalgic ‘80s-themed expansion for the Planet Coaster amusement ride sim, the creative team at Frontier Developments knew just which famous Ghostbuster to call.

Dr. Ray Stantz is slime-fighting his way into Planet Coaster via an upcoming Ghostbusters-themed DLC pack that — you guessed it — features the vocal talents of none other than original Ghostbusters star Dan Aykroyd. Via Gamesradar+, Aykroyd and William Atherton (who played the pesky Walter Peck in the 1984 classic) will voice their original characters in the game’s upcoming Ghostbusters add-on.

Check out the Ecto-1 crashing the coaster party to the sweet sounds of Ray Parker, Jr,, and not a moment too soon, in Frontier’s teaser below:

Aykroyd’s Ghostbusters crossover is just the latest in a string of ‘80s updates from Planet Coaster, the 2016 heir to the long-running Roller Coaster Tycoon series. Previous DLC packs have also been themed around Back to the Future and Knight Rider. As for Aykroyd himself, he’s more entrenched than ever in Ghostbusters stuff, whether it’s talking up the forthcoming Jason Reitman-directed reboot, spilling the beans on his ideas for a teenaged Ghostbusters prequel series, or simply lending his iconic voice for the Planet Coaster add-on.

Frontier hasn’t revealed when the DLC will materialize like a specter onto PC  platforms, but when it does, it’ll reportedly arrive with its own Ghostbusters-themed amusement ride, the Ecto-1 shown in the trailer, and even a towering appearance from the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. We just hope we’re tall enough to hop on board after ponying up the Ghostbusters expansion pack’s $15 price of admission.

After a year of working out all the bugs in an extensive PC-only beta period, the official release of Dauntless is finally upon us — and the epic action-RPG is promising both PC and console players something that definitely stands out in a free-to-play gaming world that’s long been dominated by battle royale games like Fortnite and Apex Legends.

Colorful, kinetic, deep, and — yep, free, Dauntless lets you level up in both single-player and co-op modes for a meaty narrative journey in a super-stylized sci-fi fantasy setting. Against the mythic backdrop of the Shattered Isles, your goal is to wage set-piece battles against monstrous beings known as Behemoths — towering foes who hoard aether, the mysterious substance that’s vital to keeping the sky islands afloat. 

Check out the launch trailer to get a feel for Dauntless’ vibrant, and definitely different, RPG lore-verse:

Because it’s an RPG, expect plenty of ways to power up your character, with a Monster Hunter-style customization system that delivers a taster’s choice of weapons and gear loadouts, as well as a deep crafting and upgrade system that rewards Behemoth victories by using the components they drop to enhance your weapons’ attack power.

Developed by Phoenix Labs and published by Fortnite maker Epic Games, Dauntless is free to play now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via the Epic Store.

Don’t take out the trash just yet — the Garbage Pail Kids are knocking at the door. Yep, decades after their 1980s heyday as the envy-inducing stars of their own trading card universe, the Kids have returned to stink up your smart phone (and we mean that in the best possible way.)

Developer Jago has just released Garbage Pail Kids: The Game, a mobile version of Topps’ addictively collectible card franchise, bringing Tee-Vee Stevie, Fryin’ Brian and the rest of the grungy gang up to date with animated PvP battles where no blow is too low, so long as you finish at the top of the (junk) heap. 

“[T]hese wacky kids will fight with everything they’ve got — lasers, spray paint, dance moves, nuclear weapons, and anything they can spit, spew, or hurl,” Jago teases — and as smelly a proposition as that might be, it’s hard to argue with GPK’s price of entry — which would, of course, be zilch. 

Yep, you don’t have to dispose of a single penny to check out Garbage Pail Kids: The Game. Free for both Android and iOS devices, it almost smells like the kind of nostalgic trip you just can’t…refuse.