Ghost Squad

Review from Oracle - Sunday, 24 February 2008 @ 7:53pm

Ghost Squad is a rail shooter which was first released in the arcades back in 2004. Never heard of it? Don’t feel too guilty, neither have I. Sega has taken their opportunity to port their arcade classic onto the Nintendo Wii to use and abuse the aim ‘n shoot craze that is storming the world on the little white box.

The games arcade ‘storyline’ mode is based around two SWAT dudes who love giving out high fives and shooting shit up. That’s all they do, it’s a true arcade game. You start the game off by creating your profile. This is used to keep hold of your high scores, stats (which you’re able to put online) but most importantly holding your newly unlocked goodies which I’ll explain later on.

One of the major downfalls of the game is that you are only given three missions which are practically all the same. One mission is based on Air Force One and you are required to rescue the president, the other is based in a dense jungle which ends with a boat chase and the last one is based in a lesser dense jungle taking down a boss in a helicopter.




During these missions you are able to choose your path as you make your way to the boss, kind of like House of the Dead. Surprisingly it’s not the usual ‘Go this way’ or ‘Go that way’ nonsense. Instead you’re given an abundance of options which include what tactics you’ll use to take down an enemy or how to enter a room (smoke bombs, thermal vision, etc). Unlike other shoot em up arcades you are given mission alternatives for example, you decide if you want to rescue the hostages or risk disarming the bomb. These discissions influence the overall score of the game and make you look awesome.

The game also has side missions which require a little more than just aiming and shooting the bad guys. You will run into scenarios which will require some quick and precise hand eye coordination like fighting hand to hand combat, clicking the active circle on the screen will produce a counter attack. You also will have to disarm claymores by placing your cursor over it and clicking as fast as you can before it blows up. Another cool feature is that you get to change into snipper mode and take down enemies’ long distance. These side missions help brake up what would otherwise be another boring shooter game.

The more you play through these missions the more pathways you are given later on as well as smarter and harder enemies and obstacles. Completing missions will give your profile XP, the more you get the more you level up. As you progress through your levels you are rewarded locked content which include either uniforms or weapons.

The uniforms aren’t really a big thing as you’d guess, but the weapons are something that will keep you coming back for more of the same ol thing. Some weapons will take hours to unlock but you will eventually end up with a collection of shotguns, sub machine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles and a dolphin gun that squirts water at the baddies.




There are two other modes in Ghost Squad; Party and Training mode. Party mode is the same as the arcade mode but supporting up to four players instead of two. Training mode consists of shootable (yes, it’s a word now) targets as well as combat training. This is a first for Ghost Squad and is exclusive to the Nintendo Wii.

Ghost Squad’s visuals aren’t very pleasant to the eye, this will bother you at first but later you’ll be too involved to realise that you’re playing possibly one of the worst looking rail shooters on the Wii (another example of gameplay > graphics). The voice acting during the cut scenes are horrible, so bad that you’ll laugh your ass off (nothing new for an arcade game).

Summary

The game feels good to play and surprisingly its a fun title. Is it worth $100? Hell no but it is worth renting out for the weekend especially if you have someone who is willing to be second player. Two guns is always better than one. What surprised me is that I’d recommend Ghost Squad over Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. Why? It cuts through the bullshit and takes me back to a time when Arcades were king.

Pros

Giving the president a high five, unlockable weapons, being able to fight dudes in bikini’s, point and click works well on the Wiimote (who would have guessed it), it’s not all point and shoot.

Cons

Only three missions, bland visuals, horrible voice acting, failing the mission nearing the end may cause you to cry (not being able to retry sucks).