Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Ghost Squad review - Nintendo Wii

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  

  • Ghost Squad review - Nintendo Wii

    Let's get straight to the point: Ghost Squad is the best gun shooter ever made. However, since everyone has different tastes, to qualify this, you’ll probably only agree with this if a) you have eyes and b) like gun shooters. But seriously, if you prefer precision pin-point shooting rather than early House of the Dead-style reaction-time efforts and enjoy improving your score on repeat play, this is gaming nirvana.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	GhostSquad1.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	57.9 KB
ID:	2741731
    There are many areas that set Ghost Squad apart from its peers. Firstly, much like the arcade version it is based on, gun calibration is essential. After performing this simple task, looking down the barrel of whatever pistol grip you are using ensures shots are bang on target. When compared to some other Wii shooters, it’s almost a religious experience.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	GhostSquad3.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	54.3 KB
ID:	2741735
    Then there’s the plot, which draws on and pumps up Time Crisis clichés, providing over-funded terrorists, plots to kill the President and being able to survive helicopter gunship rocket attacks by dusting oneself off. Oh, hang on; this doesn’t set it apart at all, ensuring the genre does not progress beyond the start of the millennium, but it’s what we love and staying firmly in the non-realistic camp allows more scope for silliness and fun.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	GhostSquadBoxart.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	10.3 KB
ID:	2741732
    You'll be leaping around corners in hotels, in the dark using super-cool heat-sensing goggles, making it difficult to pick out baddies from hostages. You'll be shooting objects next to people like you are in the A-Team: useful power-ups such as more bullets between reloads are hidden in various items. Creeping through the jungle, you'll be disarming mines using the government-sanctioned technique of button-mashing (don't try this the next time you are surrounded by claymores, kids!) Hand-to-hand combat crops up occasionally, needing rapid reaction times, as well as correct targeting to block knives and fists – a feature that works surprisingly naturally. Heart pounding sections with long-range sniping or laser-dot single-shot (single-try) under strict time limits boost the variety and look great. Be it clearing room to room on Air Force One or ragging a rigid inflatable sensless down a river while shooting down helicopters and jet-bikes, the visuals are always clean, vivid and colourful, very much in an old-school 'arcade' style by design – because it works.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	GhostSquad5.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	46.4 KB
ID:	2741729
    Some recent gun-shooter outings like Umbrella Chronicles and Overkill have split the genre with their relatively lengthy playtime and slow, tense sections. Whilst you might play these through a few times, you’ll be playing Ghost Squad more times than you can keep track of. Its brief 3 levels have a few branching path choices, some of which are unlockable with progression via repeat play and the highly memorable scenes ensure you can gain the 'knowledge' quickly, leaving time to enjoy the nuances of what’s on offer.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	GhostSquad6.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	51.4 KB
ID:	2741733
    Head shots and quick kills are the scoring priorities, and the aiming system makes these a joy to, well, aim for. Higher scores bring more experience points, which contribute to levelling progression. Levelling up gives new branching paths, some different outfits (that don’t affect gameplay), and a larger arsenal of guns that do affect proceedings. New weapons are not necessarily an improvement on the old, working better at different ranges and having different reload speeds vs. shot power. However, what they do achieve with great aplomb is making the game play through differently with each choice – and in this genre, this is not easy. The other effect that levelling has is to increase the difficulty level so that as you learn the levels it still remains challenging, enforcing more accuracy to survive intact. Superb.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	GhostSquad2.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	44.9 KB
ID:	2741730
    Online score tracking allows you to compare your best efforts with that of the top 1000 and 2-player party modes fill out the offering, with some nice unlockable features. Ninja mode turns guns into throwing stars and the cheese continues with bikini mode, which turns guns into super-soakers, replete with gravity-obeying squirts of water taking out the bikini-clad girls – a nice change from the macho terrorists. Far from being purely gimmicks, these modes add an extra challenge and are essential parts of the package.
    Click image for larger version

Name:	GhostSquad4.jpg
Views:	1
Size:	56.6 KB
ID:	2741734
    Just in case you were finding it all too easy, there is also the score-enhancing option to turn the targeting reticule off. In many other games of this ilk, taking this decision would be suicidal, but the aiming is so good, it’s worth a try to see if you have what it takes.

    We played using the Nyko Perfect Shot pistol grip and can highly recommend this (or the Datel equivalent). The main point of this review is to ensure that any Wii owner with even a passing interest in gun shooters tries Ghost Squad. It has nigh-on perfect aiming, hilarious and fun levels, longevity through skill progression and variety not normally seen in an arcade game. It’s a brilliant example of how to provide what gamers want.

    Score: 9/10
      Posting comments is disabled.

    Categories

    Collapse

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • Motion Gravure Review - Sony PS2
      by Archives
      In this image-obsessed industry, it's critical that a game projects a strong sense of identity. With an identity comes a target audience. Sony have arguably captured the 'twenty-something male' flag and, to consolidate this position, Sony Music Entertainment releases this: a game featuring nothing but scantily clad females. Oh, and some very nice scenery.
      ...
      21-08-2023, 12:13
    • Devil May Cry 3 Review - Sony PS2
      by Archives
      Family reunions tend to follow one of two distinct protocols: everyone meets up, reminisces and has a good old chat and a laugh; or everyone meets up, reminisces and remembers why it’s been so long since they last saw each other, the evening ending in a ferocious argument. Why is this relevant to this Devil May Cry 3 review?
      The latest meeting of the divinely comedic twin siblings of Dante and Vergil falls rather violently into the second category. Something about their murdered mother’s amule...
      06-09-2022, 08:30
    • Silent Hill 3 Review - Sony PS2
      by Archives
      Fear. It’s something that collective consciousness values as a desirable commodity, especially in the pop culture spin of everyday modern life - An element that mainstream entertainment likes to use in distilled form when it comes to getting a rise out of our adrenaline glands. Whether it be watching the latest slasher flick, experimenting with the next extreme sport or avidly reading the current best-selling horror fiction… On the whole, we take pleasure out of being scared. Read this Silent...
      11-07-2022, 13:50
    • Viewtiful Joe Review - Nintendo Gamecube
      by Archives
      Pink Lycra. There just isn't enough of it in video games. So Capcom have bravely stepped-up to the plate and given us a game, starring a Hot Pink hero, clad in a spandex jumpsuit, that isn't afraid to be laid back and humorous in style, whilst containing some rock-solid gameplay at its core. Like a piece of candy with a stone centre, Viewtiful Joe is sweet and tempting to the eye, but underneath is solid rock. Our hero is introduced in the opening cut-scene as a bubble-headed, California-accented Sk8r Boi, o...
      15-05-2022, 11:48
    • Castlevania: White Night Concerto Review - Nintendo GBA
      by Archives
      Castlevania: White Night Concerto is the latest instalment in Konamis Castlevania series. It is the second title for the GBA, but the first Castlevania game appeared on the NES back in 1987. It is ostensibly a platform game, like its predecessors. Certain things have remained constant throughout the series- in all but a couple of Castlevania outings, the main protagonist (in this case Juste Belmont) brandishes a whip. Secondary weapons are also available. Again these weapons are the same as tho...
      03-04-2022, 15:57
    • Super Robot Wars OG Saga: Mugen no Frontier EXCEED Review - Nintendo DS
      by Steven Walker
      For the uninitiated, Super Robot Wars Original Generation Saga: Mugen no Frontier (Endless Frontier) is an action-RPG spin-off from the popular Super Robot Wars series. The player has to use attacks to keep enemies in the air in order to do maximum damage, and string together as many attacks as they can. Timing and knowledge of characters' moves is the key to success. SRW OG Saga: Mugen no Frontier EXCEED is the sequel, and goes to show that a follow-up can be better than the original.
      T...
      04-01-2022, 15:20
    Working...
    X