Ghost Squad has made me a Sega lightgun fanboy again

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
So I decided to check out the arcade today since I felt like wasting money and saw that Golfland had a new game that I haven't seen before. Ghost Squad, Sega's newest lightgun game to hit the arcades.

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Although this game has no pedal action like my favorite Time Crisis series, it offers some new stuff into the lightun genre. For one, the lightgun itself isn't a pistol but a fully automatic machine gun, just like the one pictured above. There's two triggers on it and a switch that allows you to switch between single burst, three burst shot and fully automatic. Reloading works the same way as the Virtua Cop series, point off the screen and pull the trigger. Automatic mode has a limited number of bullets though, so it isn't wise to leave it on full automatic. There's 1 trigger for firing and another trigger place in the front where you hold the gun. This is the action trigger, which does a number of things. For example, in one part of the first level, you have to rescue 5 hostages while shooting the baddies, but of course you have to avoid shooting the hostages. The hostages are restrained though, and to save them you have to point the gun over them and hold the action trigger. Once that happens, a meter will appear above them and you have to hold your aim and the action trigger until the meter is finished.

Going through the levels is pretty much like Virtua Cop. Shoot them before they shoot you. I only played it for maybe like 5-8 minutes since I sucked at it so I didn't see too much of the game. Unlike Virtua Cop, it seems like you're actually in a squad this time, hence the name of the game. You'd hear radio chatter from your squad and you'll actually see them engage the enemy. I think they even have their own life meter but I forget. The gun on the actual machine itself has recoil when you shoot, and it feels better then the pistol in the Time Crisis series. You also have a life bar in the game instead of the 3/4 hits you see in other light gun games. I assume some attacks hurt you a lot while other hits only deplete a part of your life bar. There's this pretty cool part in the first level where you have to snipe guards from this house, and you have to reload after every shot you make. It's a bit tough too since your game view would bob up and down, which tries to make it realistic I guess. A laser pointer appears on the screen to help your aim and you have to shoot down a number of guards in a certain time limit. I died at this part though cause my aiming sucks ass, especially since you have to reload every shot.

So yeah, didn't get to play it too long but I think it has made me a Sega fanboy again. Graphics are really good too, using the Chihiro arcade board. I'd rather have this game get ported to the Xbox than Virtua Cop 3. Or even better, put both of these games on 1 disc. I'd buy it for sure
 
Can't find good high-res screenshots of this game. Found a pic of the lightgun though. It's pretty huge. You hold it against your shoulder just like in the movies!

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I played this in the arcade last week with a friend. Definitely worth the 3 tokens we each spent. I liked how you're allowed to customise your character's looks in the beginning and your weapon of choice too. I went with a shotgun + cowboy getup while my friend took the Rambo-wannabe + submachinegun. I died just after the sniper part you were talking about (shot one too many civilians, oops) and my friend ended up finishing the level. You get a rocket launcher for the final section where you fight the boss in a chopper; to beat him, you gotta keep your sights on him long enough for a lock-on and then keep it on him once you've fired the missile.

Overall, it was a lot better than Time Crisis 3, and even Virtua Cop 3. Ghost Squad has usurped VC3 as my favourite light-gun game.
 
Oh yeah, I forgot about the character setup. You can change your player's costume, like jungle and cowboy, haha. I chose the first gun since I didn't really know which gun to use. It shows you how difficult it is to handle the gun too, so the game has some good replay value if you're into that kind of stuff.

Recoil seems great to me, better than the TC gun's imo. The feel was satisfying when I was shooting in that sniper part
 
Well,I guess i'll have to go to my arcade to see if they have gotten it in. Sounds awesome. I haven't played a great lightgun game since I tired myself of TC 3 early this year. :lol
 
Wario64 said:
So yeah, didn't get to play it too long but I think it has made me a Sega fanboy again. Graphics are really good too, using the Chihiro arcade board. I'd rather have this game get ported to the Xbox than Virtua Cop 3. Or even better, put both of these games on 1 disc. I'd buy it for sure

If Sega made a decent light gun to compliment the disc, it would be excellent. The gun is really what makes or breaks a game like this.
 
I love sega shooters and this game just looks so cool. I just wish I had a good Arcade near me to go play it. I also wish Sega would put this game on the X box along with VC3. I know they would not sell great but I don't care....I just want the game.
 
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