Ghost Squad Review
First - be warned - this is a very short game - 3 quite short missions to complete - that's all. However, there's a lot of replay value from multiple routes through the missions, new sections within missions opening up after completing easier skill levels, earning new weapons, costumes etc. - but this is a port of an arcade machine, and is very very short compared to most console games. To just play through the basic 3 missions on the easy level without unlocking the extra bits, trying alternate routes, playing the harder verions of each mission that completing the easier ones unlocks etc etc. - could be done in less than half an hour easily.
The plot and voice acting is silly - evil looking henchmen yelling "DIE!!!" as they leap out at you, bosses growling "Prepare to meet your end" before they attack, cliched setups (some terrorists are holding the president hostage for an unknown reason, go and shoot them all - that's about it)- it's not a game you can take seriously at all, just a fun arcade game, probably best played in short doses rather than for hours at a time.
The graphics aren't brilliant, they would have looked acceptable (but nothing special) on the Gamecube, but they work well enough.
Most places seem to be selling it fairly cheap, so if you treat it as a budget release, and don't want a game to be taken seriously, and don't mind how short it is - it's a lot of fun - the shooting is satisfying and well-balanced, the difficulty is well pitched, from nicely forgiving easier levels to challenging harder levels, and it's certainly IMO far more enjoyable to play than Resident Evil - Umbrella Chronicles (which is afaik the only other rail-shooter on the Wii atm so it's worth comparing the 2) - unlikc RE:UC the boss battles in this are actually enjoyable, the weapons feel right, shooting normal baddies is satisfying, you can hold the trigger to fire instead of giving yourself RSI pulling the trigger non-stop, the camera doesn't weave around all over the place unncecessarily - RE:UC does have better plot, better atmosphere, better graphics and more content - but I've played both and IMO this game wins out by being vastly more enjoyable while it lasts.
I'd rank it 9/10 for sheer fun while it lasts, but overall, the fact that it is so short, and the atmosphere and plot is all pretty absurd - imagine a Wii game made by the creators of the A-Team - which might not please everyone -maybe a 7/10 overall.
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Linear Mode
