The Wii Zapper is a good addon for the Nintendo Wii, the lacklustre Zelda Crossbow Training it came with wasn’t the best title to show off light gun style action though. It has come down to Sega to put out the first really decent Zapper title onto the Wii.

The Ghost Squad is a Special Forces unit established in strict secrecy by the U.N. to combat terrorism and carry out special highly-classified missions without leaving a trace. As an elite member of the Ghost Squad, players will complete dangerous missions such as eliminating terrorist groups, releasing hostages, deactivating bombs, and even rescuing the US President when terrorists hijack Air Force One! Using the Wii Remote or the Wii Zapper, Ghost Squad players will utilise revolutionary selectable weapons including a high powered rifle, sub machine and shot gun, or even engage in hand-to-hand combat.

• 4 gameplay modes – Includes the full arcade version of Ghost Squad, a Multiplayer mode for 1-4 players and more
• 3 dangerous missions to complete - with multiple levels that increase in difficulty as the player progresses. Players will also unlock a variety of alternate routes, different player choice scenarios, and secret weapons and costumes. Time of day for certain missions can also be effected
• Alone or with up to three squad mates, players will rescue hostages, apprehend suspects and deactivate bombs as you eliminate terrorist threats around the world
• 25 different tactical weapons to unlock and use during operations
• Special assistance devices such as night vision, thermo vision and a flashlight will ensure that the operation is a success
• One of the first light gun games to make the leap from the arcades to the Wii – using only the Wii Remote

How Does It play

Sega has always had a good knack of producing light gun titles, with games like virtua cop and suchlike always being decent, if short lived games. Ghost Squad is no exception either, in both ways. The gameplay is pure arcade fun and using the Zapper to take down enemies is excellent and precise. Unlike other games that have made use of the Wii Remote and Zapper, Ghost Squad pleasingly allows you to play the game without any reticule on the screen make it more about aiming skill than pointing and shooting based on the crosshair. I’m glad to say that this works very well in Ghost Squad and there was no need to calibrate the controller either which is good news too, it is a simple case of start the game and start firing.

The gameplay is your basic shooting fair with lots and lots of enemies coming at you at a very fast pace, you will also come up against choppers, disarming bombs and having to rescue hostages instead of shooting them (something that is more tricky than it sounds). The game has a number of different modes available too. There include:

Arcade Mode: This is the main “Story” based part of the title, where you play missions, pick routes and take down the enemies

Training Mode: is where you choose from three different practise games to improve your skills.

Rankings: This is where you can upload your scores from the arcade mode to see where you rank against others off of the internet through the Wii Wi-Fi connection.

Party Mode: This is a co-op game which lets up to four players take on the missions that you have already unlocked during your main story mode.

As I have already stated, aiming in Ghost Squad is pretty much spot on, there are times when it may seem a little bit harsh on you, but most of the time it is accurate, it certainly beats the lightgun Resident Evil game released a few months ago by a long shot. Reloading is done simply by moving your gun to the side and then back to the screen, it works really well. If there is anything bad to say about the game it is that you can easily complete the main Arcade mode in your first play through, although it does unlock other modes for you. This doesn’t mean it isn’t worth playing through again though, especially with friends.

Graphically the game won’t light up the world as it looks more like a dreamcast game than an up to date Wii title, but they do the job and it is easy to see what you should be aiming at. The game is an on-the-rails shooter so I expected slightly better graphics than we have here though. Sound is decent enough with all the right gunfire and the usual over the top Sega sound effects for a lightgun based game.

Final Comments

So overall a very fun title and probably the best game to show off how good the Wii Zapper could be in the future, yes graphically it isn’t that hot and the game doesn’t last anywhere near as long as it should do, it is fun all the way through and even better with a group of people all out to take down the enemies. I would have liked to have seen it at a cheaper price point though due to the game type and length of the title, but if you can pick it up cheap enough, it is well worth it.