If you know me, you'll likely be aware that I had the good fortune to come across a nice Toshiba CRT TV lying on the street, early this summer. I've understandably been tearing through a bunch of lightgun games since then, but a side-effect of this is that I've become a much bigger advocate of the Wii's lightgun-style arcade shooters.

I don't think you're missing out on too much if you have to play them this way, and even if you've got all the gear to do proper lightgun games, these are a more comfortable and casual alternative. There's no fiddling with cables, or calibration, you don't need any special controllers, and you don't even have to sit upright or put that much effort into your aim. And hey, they're wireless! You take that for granted these days, but after messing around with G-Cons and Justifiers, it's refreshingly liberating. There's going to be those who scoff at the thought of playing a lightgun shooter with an on-screen reticle, but to me, that's just snobbery. Lightgun games are great, and this is a nice way to play them.

So what's Ghost Squad like?
ACCEPTABLE!

It's unlikely to leave much of a lasting impression, but it's a fine wee shooter. It attempts to straddle the divide between arcade game and console title with multiple routes and an unlock system. During each mission, you'll come to crossroads where you're given the choice of which path to take. Different routes change the scenario a little, sometimes asking you to rescue hostages, defuse bombs or use different weapons for short segments. About half your time in any given mission will be spent doing something other than the standard shooting. Sometimes it's kind of a cool change of pace, sometimes it feels like a lame minigame.

Having played a lot of these games now, I've realised something - I don't really care for rapid fire. Machine guns kind of dampen the experience. There's a satisfaction and reliability to pistol-based lightgun shooters. Aim well, pull the trigger, and they're down. Machine guns are kind of airy fairy. Kind of vague. Mushy. I'm not into it.

That's kind of the problem with Ghost Squad in general. It's mushy. Picking different lanes feels arbitrary. There's no sense of excitement or tension to it. Multiple routes can work really well in a lightgun shooter, but I think it's only really exciting when it's tied to how well you're playing. The House of the Dead 2 or Time Crisis's "Original Mode" provide alternate routes as an incentive to play as well as you can, and reward returning players who've become more proficient. In Ghost Squad, it's just an option of which minigame you fancy playing this time. It's boring.

That said, Ghost Squad is fine. Inoffensive. It's a fair representation of the genre, has a pleasantly corny aesthetic, and most crucially, it's really cheap. CeX are currently selling it for two quid. If you're looking for a way to play a lightgun game, but you're not that convinced you'd be into them, this is about as accessible as you can get these days.

I'd really encourage you to spend a bit more and get The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return instead, which is about a million times better. But this is fine. Yeah. I'm not going to tell you off if this is your gateway. Just know that there's far better stuff out there.