Ghost Squad

"Uh-oh, there are terrorists in my neighborhood! Wish I could call someone to deal with them..."

With the release of the Wii Zapper, you know it was only a matter of time before Wii owners got some light-gun shooting action. While MOH: Heroes 2 and RE: Umbrella Chronicles support Zapper shooting, neither of those games can really be considered a “true” arcade light-gun experience. So in comes Sega to save the day with Ghost Squad, a kind of spiritual successor to the Virtua Cop series, that came out all the way back in 2004. Now, in 2007, Wii owners finally get to know how it feels to shoot virtual terrorists with a hunk of plastic.

STORY SQUAD

Terrorists just don't give up, do they? Holding world leaders hostage, kidnapping the President aboard Air Force One, and keeping weapon scientists captured in the heart of the jungle is just all in a days work for the haters of peace and freedom. Don't worry though, because the Ghost Squad has got the worlds back! Made up of elite soldiers led by codenames Alpha Blue and Alpha Red (or player one and two), these guys will kill the terrorists fast and save the day without leaving a trace of their presence behind…GHOST squad!!! **** yeah!!

It's a light-gun game, it is what it is.

GAMEPLAY SQUAD

Let me just say that I used a Wii Zapper exclusively for this game. I'm sure the game works just as well the normal way with the Wii-mote/nunchuck set-up, but I feel kind of like I'm doing a disservice to a light-gun game by not using something that resembles a gun. Another reason to use the Wii Zapper is because Sega threw in the ability to calibrate the Wii-mote so it aims and handles more like an actual light-gun and remove the cross-hairs from the screen, something Heroes 2 and Umbrella Chronicles severely lacked. Basically, just aim and shoot at two targets on screen and your ready to go. At first, I had some trouble properly aiming at the targets, and would always get a “aiming out of bounds” message when trying to shoot them. However, I decided to try moving the Wii sensor bar to the top of my TV instead of below it, as I recently got Time Crisis 4 for PS3 and the LED things that came with the Guncon3 needed to be placed on the top of the TV for proper calibration. Lo and behold, once I moved the sensor bar and changed the settings in the Wii menu, the Wii-remote calibrated perfectly, and gunshots went to exactly where I pointed the Zapper at my TV screen. I suggest that if your having trouble calibrating, to move the sensor bar to the top of your screen and try that out.

So with a properly calibrated Wii Zapper, it was time to shoot some terrorists. Ghost Squad's main mode is, of course, the arcade mode. Here, you can choose to play one of the games three stages in any order: a villa where world leaders are being held hostage, aboard Air Force One to rescue the president, and deep in the jungle to rescue a military scientist Rambo-style. You shoot enemies on the screen by pulling the trigger, and you reload by pointing off-screen. You have a life bar, which will get depleted if a terrorist that has an aiming reticule appear on him manages to get a shot at you. So that's the basic light-gun gameplay, but Ghost Squad adds in a bunch of variants to the classic formula. For one, your default weapon, a machine gun, has three different firing modes: single shot, burst shot, and automatic, which you can choose between with the nunchuck's analogue stick. You'll get infinite ammo for single and burst shots, but your limited for automatic fire, although you won't have to reload when you use it. There is also a “GS” meter below your life bar, which fills up with each terrorist you kill. Fill the GS meter and your weapon will be upgraded with more ammo or even a new firing mode. There are also parts in the levels where you can choose your own path to take, or as the game calls it, a tactical decision. For example, when the options flash on screen you could take the right option and free hostages, or take the left one and clear an area of enemies. There are even some paths that have three options to them. The game also throws in some action sequences that make use of the Z button on the nunchuck. These range from holding down the button to rescue hostages, or tapping it rapidly to diffuse land mines. You also get sequences where you use a sniper rifle to pick off distant enemies and parts where you participate in hand-to-hand combat. The bosses at the end of the levels in particular incorporate action sequences pretty well. Finally, Ghost Squad allows special items that are hidden in the pretty destructive environments to be picked up, and these include a magazine extender, armor, and a dot sight. So, I give Ghost Squad kudos for changing up a typical light-gun game quite a bit.

After beating all three levels, your score is translated to experience points, which are used to level up your player character. Everytime your player levels up, you will earn extra costumes and even more weapons to use in arcade mode. Weapons include high-caliber pistols that shoot through cover and shotguns that cover wide areas with each shot. Furthermore, successfully beating a stage will allow you to increase it's mission level by one, resulting in more plentiful and tougher enemies, and even unlocking more tactical decisions to choose from. Besides arcade mode, there is also a party mode, which allows up to four players to play through the entire game at once. Beating arcade mode a couple times will also unlock two different themes for party mode: Ninja and Paradise mode. Ninja mode replaces all the enemies with ninjas, and has you throwing ninja stars at them instead of shooting them. Paradise mode has all the enemies replaced by babes in bikinis, and shooting them with a dolphin-shaped water gun. Some fun times, indeed. Finally, you get a training mode that includes target shooting and a short combat exercise.

The main problem with Ghost Squad is that while it does offer you incentives to replay it, your basically replaying the same three stages over and over again, and all three of them can take you about twenty-five minutes to complete. That's about one-and-a-half Umbrella Chronicle stages. A game like Time Crisis at least gives bonuses that are different than it's arcade mode, but you really wont find any of that here. Also, the game gives you infinite continues, and while that's a good reward for completing a light-gun game, having them from the very beginning just makes the game a little too easy from the start. At least, that's how I feel, I'm sure there are some people out there ready to hunt me down for saying that.

GRAPHICS SQUAD

Ghost Squad features some pretty sharp graphics for a 3-year-old arcade port. Environments and levels are pretty well detailed and almost fully destructible, although a few do seem a little bland, especially in the Air Force One stage. Characters and enemy models are pretty good, and they have OK animations. Cut-scenes that appear are also passable for a light-gun game. Effects and such also get the job done. My main gripe, though, is that the game does not support widescreen mode. Those with the option on their TVs can stretch the 4:3 picture to fill the screen, but it's definitely not the same. At least we get 480p support.

SOUND SQUAD

Well, you get decent techno-music and some nice arcade sound effects that make nice use of the Wii-mote's speaker. Voice acting is…well…let's just say it's “light-gun” game quality. Surround sound support is always welcomed.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED?

Sega had one heck of a good idea when they decided to implement worldwide rankings in Ghost Squad. Using Nintendo's Wi-Fi connection, you are able to upload your high scores and compare them to other players worldwide. Definitely another incentive to keep shooting terrorists besides the sixteen mission levels for each stage and the various unlockables. Two-to-four player support for arcade and party modes should also keep the fun factor up.

However, with its short length and three stages, some people may just give up on Ghost Squad after a few playthroughs. It also may be just too easy for some. Those who own a Wii Zapper shouldn't hesitate to add this to your collection, as it's the best use of the piece of plastic yet. Those who don't own a Zapper and just want some quick shooting action can't go wrong with a weekend rental.

Then again, the game is only Thirty bucks. What do you got to lose?

KEWL
+Nice arcade shooting action with cool additions to the formula
+Wii-mote calibration works well if the sensor bar is at the top of your TV screen
+Best use of the Wii-Zapper, hands down.
+Ninja and Paradise modes are pretty funny to play
+Decent Sound and good graphics
+Lots of replay value with unlockable costumes and weapons. Online rankings help as well
+It's only thirty bucks!

LAME
-Even with replay value, it's extremely short and easy to beat
-Playing the same three levels over and over is very repetitive
-Using the regular Wii-mote/nunchuck control mode just isn't the same as using a Wii-Zapper
-No widescreen mode
-Horrid voice acting
-I would have rather had House Of The Dead 2+3 first :(

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/14/08

Game Release: Ghost Squad (US, 11/20/07)