Ghost Squad Preview

Lewi T · 09-11-2007, 02:58 PM

Here are the first impressions of Ghost Squad by Eurogamer:

Quote:

Light gun shooters haven't always been popular at home, and not just because pointing the gun off-screen to reload sometimes incurs collateral damage ("why is my plant pot in the fire"). Instead it's the old dichotomy of arcade and home - what's brilliantly brief in amongst the slots is bewilderingly insubstantial when your receipt says 39.99.

Making your arcade game work in the home is difficult to do, as SEGA will grimly attest - but SEGA's also one of the best examples of a publisher figuring it out, having delivered OutRun 2006 to universal acclaim. That game offered isolated, untouched arcade versions alongside modified and expanded adaptations that built on what we liked about the coin-op originals without betraying their memory.

Doing the same for a light gun game might seem harder, but Ghost Squad's set-up suggests it could succeed - and the game's Wiimote controls are a surprisingly splendid substitute for the massive assault rifle weaponry hooked up to the game down the pier.

In it, you take control of a member of the Global Humanitarian-Operation and Special Tactics Squad (a backronym that's only outdone by our own sadly non-fictional Serious Organised Crime Agency), and it's up to you and up to three comrades to take down some of those pesky terrorists you hear about on the news. These ones are a bit more successful than ours though, and have managed to do things like smuggle about 48 of themselves onto Air Force One.

So, you get in there in the manner of that anti-terrorist film with the tube between the two planes and it blows up and one of them falls out but we can't remember what it's called, and then you point the Wiimote at the screen and hit the B button until they're all dead. Executive Decision. That was it. You can also use the Wii Zapper with the Wiimote, although, as we'll discover when I write the next paragraph, the lack of it is no inconvenience.

That's because, perhaps thanks to countless hours of trying to navigate YouTube using Opera for Wii, we're quite good at quickly pointing at things accurately while holding the Wiimote like a TV remote. In Ghost Squad, that's a skill that makes all the difference, because the game recognises quick kills and headshots and rewards them heartily. As they scramble on-screen they're dead in an instant as our quick-draw gunplay downs them with alarming efficiency. We didn't know we had it in us, but it bodes well for the game.

Ghost Squad also introduces a certain amount of variety into the traditional on-rails amble, and that's where it starts to paddle into the choppy wake left by successful arcade ports like OutRun. As well as having 25 unlockable weapons, online gameplay and a four-player mode, you can also opt for different objectives within a level (save all the hostages or kill all the terrorists, for example). In the Japanese arcade original, a sort of save-game ID card system let you experience the game differently with alternate enemy positions and pathways, and that should endure here too, all of which feeds into the potential for replay.

Gunplay isn't all you do either, with a bit of bomb-defusal at one point, while another of the missions we've played culminates in a boss fight with a helicopter where the idea is to hover your aiming reticule over the chopper long enough to get a lock-on before firing, proving once and for all that those impressive buzz-bar skills we built up at school fetes were in fact excellent training for surface-to-air super-murder.

All of which adds up to an experience that will probably prove insubstantial in the manner to which we've become accustomed, but which ought also to generate a bit of repeat play, and less of a sense of repetition - helped along, as in other genre classics, by delightfully daft dialogue of the trembling finger held aloft while growling "Yooooou!!!" variety. Plus: acting. In the final moments of our hands-on demo, when we took down the chopper, we high-fived with our squad-mate and then stood looking into his eyes intensely while the camera panned out and the level ended.

And in the game. Which is due out this winter exclusively on Wii.

[Source]

It sounds pretty good I think. 25 unlockable weapons, online, and a four-player mode...I might pick this up. What does everyone think?

Byuakuya · 09-11-2007, 04:57 PM

I am also looking forward to this game. The Wiimote is a perfect controller for this kind of games, so I hope that the final product turns out well. Anyway, thanks for that small but interesting piece of info.

weedude · 09-11-2007, 05:01 PM

Looks to be a groovey game....
Are we talking 07 or 08?
Any specific date?

Thanks

Cpt.McCloud · 09-11-2007, 05:04 PM

Wow.

I wasnt going to pick this up but now after reading this I think I might.

The game looks pretty good, online gameplay, 4 player multiplayer and the whole reward system for head shots and such.

It is much deeper then I first thought.

-Never going to purchase one of the big 3 due to lots of other games I would prefer

-

Lewi T · 09-11-2007, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weedude

Looks to be a groovey game....
Are we talking 07 or 08?
Any specific date?

Thanks

It says winter, so I imagine Q4 07/Q1 08.

jjrules352 · 09-11-2007, 05:05 PM

sweet! even though that's the first time I heard of that game. When is it comming out?

Lewi T · 09-11-2007, 05:09 PM

This game was only a maybe for me, depending on the price with the Zapper inclusion and how much the Zapper was on it's own. But now this is a game I'm really looking forward to getting! Is it still being packaged with the Zapper? Or has that idea been jibbed with the news of the Zelda + Zapper package?

Cpt.McCloud · 09-11-2007, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lewi T

This game was only a maybe for me, depending on the price with the Zapper inclusion and how much the Zapper was on it's own. But now this is a game I'm really looking forward to getting! Is it still being packaged with the Zapper? Or has that idea been jibbed with the news of the Zelda + Zapper package?

Nope.

I think that the zelda game is only like a little mini game so that is when you buy the zapper by it's self you get the game.

I dont think you can buy the zapper fully by itself.

Umbrella Chronicles is still having a zapper package so I would imagine so for this and MOHH2.

Byuakuya · 09-11-2007, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cpt.McCloud

Umbrella Chronicles is still having a zapper package so I would imagine so for this and MOHH2.

You will NEED the Zapper for that game.

Cpt.McCloud · 09-11-2007, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Byuakuya

You will NEED the Zapper for that game.

I will need the game anyway.

That game is my main priority.

You can the play the game without but yeah, the gameplay is severely enhanced with the zapper.

Byuakuya · 09-11-2007, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cpt.McCloud

I will need the game anyway.

That game is my main priority.

You can the play the game without but yeah, the gameplay is severely enhanced with the zapper.

Yeah, the gameplay will be much more involved. Same with Ghost Squad as well. With the Zapper, both games will feel like arcade classics rather than simple point and click mini-games.

Cpt.McCloud · 09-11-2007, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Byuakuya

Yeah, the gameplay will be much more involved. Same with Ghost Squad as well. With the Zapper, both games will feel like arcade classics rather than simple point and click mini-games.

Very true.

I think using a normal controller defeats the purpose of most on rail arcade style shooters. However, with the Zapper, the Wii is the perfect console to carry on the classic tradition of arcade shooters with lightgun attachments and such.

Lewi T · 09-11-2007, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cpt.McCloud

Nope.

I think that the zelda game is only like a little mini game so that is when you buy the zapper by it's self you get the game.

I dont think you can buy the zapper fully by itself.

Umbrella Chronicles is still having a zapper package so I would imagine so for this and MOHH2.

Sorry I wasn't very clear there, I didn't mean on it's own literally, I meant like the standard price, which includes the Zelda game. But anyway, thanks, I was just making sure that it still came with this game.

The question is now, do I buy each game with the Zapper to save on the Zapper as an individual unit (assuming that the inclusion of the Zapper will be less than an extra $19.99 (working in dollars because that's the only given price I know of...has the English price been announced?), I imagine it will be like). This will total three Zappers (and maybe a fourth if I get the one with the Zelda game). However I only currently have 2 Wiimotes and Nunchucks, and I'm not sure when I plan on getting more, as another two sets will cost £90! Worth it to invest you reckon?

Also, how much extra do you think the Zapper will be with the games?

Man I need to proper sort my funds out to save as much as possible, I'm going to be spending so much on games in the near future, there's A LOT that I want!

Cpt.McCloud · 09-11-2007, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lewi T

Sorry I wasn't very clear there, I didn't mean on it's own literally, I meant like the standard price, which includes the Zelda game. But anyway, thanks, I was just making sure that it still came with this game.

The question is now, do I buy each game with the Zapper to save on the Zapper as an individual unit (assuming that the inclusion of the Zapper will be less than an extra $19.99 (working in dollars because that's the only given price I know of...has the English price been announced?), I imagine it will be like). This will total three Zappers (and maybe a fourth if I get the one with the Zelda game). However I only currently have 2 Wiimotes and Nunchucks, and I'm not sure when I plan on getting more, as another two sets will cost £90! Worth it to invest you reckon?

Also, how much extra do you think the Zapper will be with the games?

Man I need to proper sort my funds out to save as much as possible, I'm going to be spending so much on games in the near future, there's A LOT that I want!

Well, due to current rates with games and such I am going to go with around £15-18 for the Zapper with the crossbow game.

I am guessing with a full game such as ghost squad it will be £40-50, more around the 40 mark imo.

Well for shooters I think you will only need the two Zappers as I dont see you and 2 friends all playing together at the same time. I would suggest just getting the two Zappers then at least you can do co-op and multiplayer and then once you know your getting/have another knuchuck and wiimote then plan on getting an extra Zapper if you need.

Lewi T · 09-11-2007, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cpt.McCloud

Well, due to current rates with games and such I am going to go with around £15-18 for the Zapper with the crossbow game.

I am guessing with a full game such as ghost squad it will be £40-50, more around the 40 mark imo.

Well for shooters I think you will only need the two Zappers as I dont see you and 2 friends all playing together at the same time. I would suggest just getting the two Zappers then at least you can do co-op and multiplayer and then once you know your getting/have another knuchuck and wiimote then plan on getting an extra Zapper if you need.

I was thinking around those prices for the Zapper, which is decent I suppose.

I think somewhere like play.com it will be around £40, but the RRP will probably be more towards 50.

Yeah I was thinking about it since I posted the question, and unless I find I have some extra cash and pick up a third set of controls, I'll just get two for now. Out of the three on-rails games, only this one has four-player, Umbrella Chronicles has just two, and am I correct in believing that Heroes 2 doesn't have an offline multiplayer? I can't remember and can't be bothered checking! So it's pretty logical just to get two.

Warrior · 09-11-2007, 06:11 PM

How will online play work? Just 1-4 crosshairs shooting? It seems ok, but i duno if ill buy it.

Lewi T · 09-11-2007, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warrior

How will online play work? Just 1-4 crosshairs shooting? It seems ok, but i duno if ill buy it.

Probably, or maybe split screen, as each person would be one of the four team members and they may split up and things.

blankconnection · 09-11-2007, 07:19 PM

it looks alright nothing special, i would rather be playing time Crisis, it does not look this gen, but the gamelay looks really fun.