Monday 05 May 2008

Start up Ghost Squad for the first time, play it through and gasp at how disappointed you are with the game. Levels are jagged-edged, reminiscent of the Dreamcast era, enemies are identical and hostages are box-headed monstrosities calling out for a mercy kill. Shooting is simple and the three levels to select from are all over too soon… Persevere, however, and Ghost Squad’s simplicity keeps unfolding, handing out more and more goodness of what lies deep inside this lightgun shooter.

The Wii seems, yet again, to be the perfect location for these lightgun games with Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, Link’s Crossbow Training and House of the Dead 2 & 3 cementing this genre on the Wii as something that we’re gonna see more of in the future (don’t be surprised if we see Namco Bandai porting Time Crises 4 to the Wii in the future).

Leveling up and different routes

Ghost Squad stretches back to the days when arcade gaming was the essence of gatherings of the uber-nerds fighting alongside each other to see who would be supreme with the highest score. That exact arcade game is what we have on the Wii, with some decent extras I may add. Yes, the game is still far too short – taking merely 20 minutes or so to go through all three levels, but what keeps dragging you back is the leveling up system and different routes to finish the game.

Slick play is rewarded with new weapons (which really all make a different impact) and new uniforms from Navy Seals to Gulf War to Panda…yes, Panda costumes. It’s SEGA and they still know that us gamers love messing about!

You may be attacking the opening Alpine Lodge for the 9th time, however, the enemies have been relocated in different positions and you have the option to tackle your objective by taking different routes. The more you complete the game the more routes open up to you which provides one with a feeling of ‘freshness’ and thus it lasts you much longer than 20 minutes. The Wiimote lends itself very well to the overall experience and the game does explain very sufficiently how to use it for each unique objective like disarming bombs or saving hostages over and above the wild shooting.

Multiplayer fun

This game really does shine in 2-player mode. Seeing that the three levels take you about 20 minutes to complete it’s perfect for a quick pick-up-and-play kind of game. In fact, I would say that you should strongly consider playing this with another player, as it feels quite lonely all on your own.

Later on when you play this game with your eyes closed you can also add your score to online leaderboards that is a nice addition. If you played this in the arcade (and think you were the bomb) it will be nice to see just how good you are in comparison to the rest of the world.

Resident Evil: UC may have the looks and Link’s Crossbow Training has the quirky license, but this is the only TRUE lightgun game on the Wii. See past the rough edges and there is loads of Old School fun to be had with the game.

Pros: Good old fun game play; loads of unlockables.

Cons: You don’t show this game to a friend to show off the graphics.

Rating:
Contributor:	Dawid

Purchase: