Double Feature review: light gun games

Ghost Squad and House of the Dead 2 & 3, originally arcade light gun shooters from Sega, made the leap to consoles with Wii iterations. Retaining all the light gun on-rails action, do these games still entertain in this new setting?

Ghost Squad

There's little point in mentioning the story as it is only meant as a weak background to the gameplay. The idea is that you are part of an elite anti-terrorist group, the Ghost Squad, and over three missions you rescue high profile figures including the President of the USA while shooting hordes and hordes of terrorists with poor aim. The core gameplay is fun--using the Wiimote to shoot enemies--and the game does offer branching paths in each of its three levels to entice you to replay over and over to try all possibilities. This doesn't change the fact that you are replaying three levels over and over, though, and they become tiresome quickly. Even the ability to customize your character with outfits and different guns fails to appeal, especially because of the incredible amount of leveling needed to unlock new guns. The concept quickly becomes a chore rather than entertaining. In addition to the main game, there is a party mode with up to four players, which includes bonus versions of the game like ninja mode which has the players throwing ninja stars instead of using guns. It can be a fun diversion but it's still the same three levels again and again.

The controls, of course, fail to go wrong with the Wiimote, and even offers four different control schemes, including nunchuk and a Wii Zapper function. In the end, though, all that's needed is the Wiimote alone, and the Zapper tends to overcomplicate the gameplay. The presentation is clearly half-hearted, and while not a complete assault on the eyes and ears, there are no favorable memories here. Unless it comes from mocking the stiff dialogue and ridiculous victory handshake between the ghost squad members.

Like its arcade cabinet cousin, this is game meant to be played once or twice and then returned, except for the most dedicated players willing to pump in coin after coin to reach level 99. For most, the best use of Ghost Squad will be a one night rental to be played with friends.

6.0/10

The House of the Dead 2 & 3

When you get down to it, this game is about shooting zombies. A lot of zombies. Story, graphics, and sound direction all take a back seat to blowing zombie brains all over the floor. Both HotD 2 and 3 have paper thin plot lines that just barely hold the events of the game in some sequence that equals shooting monsters. The visuals are similarly weak, though they are fairly old games. The voice work, though, is so horrendous that it might be the best thing in the game. The sheer hilarity of hearing a monotone, almost computer voice repeat don't come or thank you for saving me with all the emotion of a can of beans should leave you in stitches. Sure it gets old, but you won't be forgetting those first few lines of dialogue you hear, as blocky as the polygonal characters. HotD 3 does significantly improve the sound, and tries harder with the story and graphics, but they still all exhibit some shoddy craftsmanship.

Gameplay is all about shooting monsters, and without different gun choices and a controller that boils down to press the trigger as fast as humanly possible, there are few distractions from that on coming zombie horde. And you will be using that trigger a lot; the game requires frantic shooting that may leave your trigger finger numb. There are different paths within each game, but they don't affect the gameplay significantly. Additionally both games have multiple play modes, from classic Arcade to Original (where you can use power-ups to ease the difficulty) to a Boss rush mode to Training mode. Though the multiple modes are a nice addition, they are not so different from the main Arcade mode to inspire repeated play throughs from any but the most zealous gamers. Both Arcade modes only last approximately half an hour--it is a straight port of the arcade game, after all--but multiple difficulty levels will keep the die hard fixated for a short time.

While not the most extensive or intriguing light gun game, House of the Dead 2 & 3 offers some classic zombie blasting fun, straight out of the arcade. Fans of the genre will want to check it out, but for others it's charms will be fleeting.

6.5/10