Ghost Squad may be making its debut on the Wii now, but it was originally released in the arcades in 2004 (!). The game was developed by Sega-AM2 who arcade fans will know are development veterans. The game centres on the GHOST (short for Global Humanitarian Operation and Special Tactics) squad. The GHOST squad are based in the United States and are operating under the authority of the United Nations. The squad is highly respected, which means they get assigned the most dangerous missions, making sure that after they complete their mission they leave no trace of their presence.
So is this boss from Australia?
Anyone who has played an arcade shooter before knows exactly what to expect from Ghost Squad. The game is what is usually referred to as a 'light gun game', where movement is on rails, with the player only needing to worry about trying to kill as many enemies as possible. The burst of fire can also be controlled in Ghost Squad, so those wanting to conserve ammo will shoot only a few bullets at a time, those who are trigger happy will choose to shoot a lot more bullets with the one shot. Even though players move from room to room topping enemies there are a few parts of the game that break up the continuous shooting. There are hostage situations which will require pinpoint and carefully timed gun work, as well as bosses to take down and even scenarios where you will only have the one shot to take down the enemy. Breaking up the shooting sequences with these small modifications does stop the game from becoming repetitive.
As Ghost Squad is a typical arcade shooter there are very few missions in the game. In fact, there are really only three. The first mission is set in a cabin, the second is in an aeroplane and the third mission is set in the jungle, but unlike your typical arcade shooter Ghost Squad lets the player make some decisions about how they progress. At certain times during the mission, you'll need to decide on the fly on how to proceed through the game. These decisions are relatively simple (search the cabins for hostages or proceed around the corner) but every decision results in a different direction. This means that even though the three levels can be completed quickly, each mission will need to be replayed several times to see everything Ghost Squad has to offer. At the end of the mission the game even shows what percentage of the level you've actually seen.
This looks like something from some fantasy book of some kind...
The Wii also gets an exclusive training mode which contains three different training options, shooting match, quick hit and combat exercise. Shooting match and quick hit are basic shoot the target game play modes that can be played with up to four players. Quick hit is the more complex of the two modes and varies the targets over five different rounds. Combat exercise has complex mini missions that are more time based than health based. The combat exercise mode feels less like a training option and more like a great little bonus and even though shooting match and quick hit won't keep most players entertained for long than one go, combat exercise will definitely warrant a few goes.
One of the wasted opportunities in Ghost Squad is the Nintendo Wi-Fi support. Anyone hoping to be able to play online against their friends or in co-op are sure to be disappointed as the game doesn't contain support for online play at all. In fact, the online support only extends to being able to upload and view other people's high scores on the regional and global leader boards, even though this feature would have been amazing in the 80's for Pac-Man and Galaga these days being able to upload your high score is not that appealing.
So that is behind us, right?
In Japan Ghost Squad comes bundled with the Wii Zapper, while in America the game is a stand alone title. In Australia the game comes with the Power Wave Wii-Qualiser Gun. The Wii-Qualiser looks a little more like a gun than the Wii Zapper and is a little more comfortable to hold. The gun also includes a red laser pointer built it, but it requires two AAA batteries. While the Wii-Qualiser has become our gun of choice the control options in Ghost Squad are suited towards those who use the Wii remote only or the Wii Zapper. So while we wanted the Z button to act as a trigger (for one handed shooting) there are no control options which support this which means players will have to use two hands for the gun. It's also worth mentioning that all demonstrations in the game show the Wii Zapper as well. So while it is great the Power Wave Gun comes with Ghost Squad, we wish that the game was a little more optimised for it.
Ghost Squad isn't a revolution, or even an evolution of the arcade light gun shooter. The game is simple to play and the addition of a few Wii bonus options does add a little more to the package. Anyone hoping for an intelligent, deep shooter is looking in the wrong place, but those who are after an arcade shooter and a quick arcade fix should pick up Ghost Squad.
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