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1[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ghost_squad_logo_1027.jpg]]
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3''GHOST Squad'' is a LightGunGame[=/=]RailShooter developed by Creator/{{Sega}}'s [=AM2=] division and released in arcades in 2004 and on the Wii in 2007. Players assume the role of a special forces operative under the command of top-secret multinational black ops squad. Officially known as the Global Humanitarian Special Operations and Tactics unit under the United Nations' Multiple Operation Program group, they are deployed on a black ops capacity when nations request Ghost Squad presence to help them deal with terror threats before things can get worse. The unit is deployed to take on [[WesternTerrorists a terrorist group known as the Indigo Wolves]].
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5Like in most light gun games, there are stiff penalties if a player shoots a civilian by mistake. Players can find items such as gun attachments, health items and body armor in the course of a mission. These can be obtained by shooting at them. Missions can be selected in any order, according to a player's preference. In addition, the weapons used in the game can be adjusted to fire at single shot, burst mode or full automatic, depending on the situation. There is a grenade launcher attachment, but it's only used when you play at the third and last level of the game.
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7It also has a sequel, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=DCBdX5pYzCg Operation G.H.O.S.T]]''. The game takes place in [[NextSundayAD 2035]], where the Ghosts are assembled to take on the [[WesternTerrorists Blue Wolf]] after intelligence reports indicate that they're assembling nuclear weapons for a [=WMD=] attack. However, Sega has mentioned that there are no plans to port it to any console. Unlike GHOST Squad however, the game is more linear, with weapon selection omitted in favor of [[RotatingProtagonist team-switching mechanic based on the situations]].
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10!!The game features examples of these tropes:
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12* AllThereInTheManual: Promotional material indicates that the GHOST team was secretly created with backing from the United Nations.
13* AnachronismStew: The [=ABG1=] crossbow. Yes, a crossbow, in a game featuring pistols, assault rifles, sniper rifles, shotguns, and even machine guns. It's also a JokeWeapon because arrows don't travel fast like bullets do.
14* ArmorPiercingAttack: Weapons with a "Penetration" property can shoot through objects to hit enemies. Some weapons have stronger penetration than others; the two best weapons at this can hit through ''trees'' and ''mainframes''.
15* AwesomeButImpractical: Shotguns, particularly in hostage segments. Also, the weapon unlocked at level 99 is a 100-bullet rifle with moderate shot penetration...''that takes several seconds to reload.''
16** Also averts RevolversAreJustBetter - Sure, they are, but the magazine size and damage, compared to some of the assault rifles, is wimpy.
17* BloodlessCarnage: Enemies never bleed when injured.
18* BoomHeadshot: Called a "Good Shot" in the original and a "Critical Combo" in Operation G.H.O.S.T., this awards bonus points.
19* BonusFeatureFailure: Turning the difficulty level for a mission past 8 is actually detrimental to your score, in part because enemies take more hits to die now, resulting in less Quick Shots and Medals.
20* ButtonMashing: Some segments require you to detain hostages by pointing your gun at them (''but not shooting them'') and then pressing the [[ContextSensitiveButton action button]] repeatedly to cuff them. A similar segment occurs in Mission 3 where you have to do the same to defuse some mines.
21* CharacterLevel: The carded and Wii versions of the game have you gain levels by playing. Subverted in that the levels only affect what weapons and costumes you can use; it has no effect on the gameplay itself.
22* ContextSensitiveButton: The proprietary gun controller features an action button on the foregrip that performs different actions based on the current situation, like parrying enemies during a Hand-to-Hand segment, detaining hostages, defusing mines, or firing a GrenadeLauncher.
23* DifficultyLevels: You can adjust the difficulty on a per-mission basis, from level 1 to 4 (normal cardless arcade version), 16 (carded arcade version and ''Evolution''), or 20 (Wii version). Changing the difficulty determines how many shots an enemy needs to die, the placement of enemies, how often they fire killing shots, which routes you can take, among other things.
24* DiscOneNuke: The [[AKA47 SPR11]] is an early-obtained weapon but has ludicrous penetration and a burst-firing option.
25* EscortMission: Several optional segments have you protecting your allies from enemy fire or preventing enemies from opening fire on hostages and Secret Service agents that are trying to escape. [[ScrappyMechanic They're not too hard to fail.]]
26* {{Expy}}: The GHOST team is one for [[Literature/RainbowSix Team Rainbow]] from the Creator/TomClancy franchise. By the time Operation G.H.O.S.T. starts, they're a clear expy for the VideoGame/{{Ghost|Recon}}s.
27* FunWithAcronyms: '''G'''lobal '''H'''umanitarian '''O'''perations and '''S'''pecial '''T'''actics.
28* GreaterScopeVillain: Oscar Brazius, the true leader of the Indigo Wolves.
29* GroinAttack: Completing Mission 3's cottage hand-to-hand scene, [[LuckBasedMission if you can get to it in the first place]], has a cutscene where, among other things, your PlayerCharacter punches one of the {{Mooks}} in the crotch.
30* HardModePerks: Many paths are only available if you turn the mission level up.
31* HarderThanHard: Mission levels 17-20 in the Wii version. Levels 5 and up for those used to the 4-level version.
32* HaveANiceDeath: The boss of Mission 2 mocks you verbally if you miss.
33--> "Ha! Don't you know how to aim?"
34* HoldTheLine: A few segments require you to prevent enemies from entering a particular point until the time runs out.
35* HostageSpiritLink: You lose one life. Kill too many, and you fail the segment.
36* ItsAWonderfulFailure: What happens if you fail the last objective of a mission.
37* KindRestraints: Several segments have you detaining hostages with handcuffs, something that civilians often associate with ''arresting a criminal suspect''. But you don't want panicking civilians just running around potentially disrupting a precision anti-terrorist operation (even if they don't mean to do so), and some of those civilians could actually be [[WoundedGazelleGambit enemies in disguise]], which is why you have to detain them.
38* LifeMeter: Instead of lives (like most {{Light Gun Game}}s), you get a four-segment health meter. Certain hazards, as well as being shot while wearing body armor, will take off a fraction of a segment. Regular shots will still take off a whole segment.
39* LuckBasedMission: In Mission 3, you come across three cottages: One holds [=McCoy=] and allows you to move to the next section without resistance, another holds a few mooks and hostages, and another has a Hand-to-Hand Combat scene. You get the most points for doing hand-to-hand, but the three cottages are randomized on every play. The cottage with white smoke is the one holding [=McCoy=], but that simply means you still have a 50% chance of getting the hand-to-hand segment.
40* MacroGame: Playing the game earns you EXP, and leveling up allows you to use new weapons and costumes on subsequent playthroughs. Additionally, completing a mission successfully (as in, defeating its endboss; failing that part is a failure for the whole mission) at the highest level you can play it at unlocks the next lowest level for the next time you play. This feature is exempt on its sequel OPERATION GHOST.
41* MissileLockOn: The boss fight against the helicopter in the Mansion mission equips the player with rocket launchers. Each player has a crosshair that will slowly converge on the target the longer it's aimed at, together with the usual rising beeps and lock-on prompt.
42* NoPlotNoProblem: Even though the GHOST unit is introduced by name in OPERATION GHOST the sequel game, the game has essentially no story with no clear motivation of what the terrorist did.
43* OneHitPointWonder: Most enemies are downed in one hit, unless you're playing with the mission difficulty set to 9 or higher, in which case enemies take at least two hits to die.
44* OneHitPolykill: Some weapons--specifically shotguns and weapons with [[ArmorPiercingAttack piercing]] properties--can hit more than one enemy with a single hit; doing so results in a Double Down bonus. Unfortunately, you can do this to {{hostage|SpiritLink}}s by accident as well.
45* PressXToNotDie: Knife fights, the first boss battle.
46** ''Operation Ghost'' has several scenes that ask you to quickly perform some order like having a teammate throwing a granade or shooting a rope that's holding a large container. You can sometimes ignore those requests with no penalty other than having to deal with more enemies.
47* RotatingProtagonist: ''Operation GHOST'' switches between the teams depending on the vantage points.
48* ShoutOut:
49** ''Ghost Squad'' is essentially a Japanese version of ''Tom Clancy's VideoGame/GhostRecon'' which came out in 2001, only as a light-gun game instead of a third person shooter.
50** One of the costumes is based on a character from ''VideoGame/VirtuaCop''. The Guardian and Guardian II (the default weapons of the ''VC'' series) are available too, but by this game's standards, they're crap, with the lack of penetration not even making up for the fact they're pistols and a 14-bullet mag.
51** The entirety of Mission 2 is one to ''Film/AirForceOne'', right down to having the boss battle with Laccard Zimone take place in the cargo area of the plane, much like the final showdown with Korshunov in the film.
52* SnipingMission: Missions 1 and 3 have sniping segments...[[ScrappyMechanic with a crappy sniper rifle that must be reloaded after every shot]]. Mission 2 requires you to headshot the boss without ''reloading'' (which means each player gets ONE shot in multiplayer) to complete it.
53* SpiritualSuccessor: To both ''VideoGame/VirtuaCop'', ''[[VideoGame/GunbladeNYLAMachineguns Gunblade N.Y.]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/GunbladeNYLAMachineguns L.A. Machineguns]]'', whom the games take cues from. The latter is even more pronounced in ''Operation GHOST'', where one mission (Stage 4) has the exact same gameplay ''albeit on the land''.
54* TrialAndErrorGameplay: Stage 4 in ''Operation Ghost'' has sections where you have to shoot down groups of 2 or 3 high-HP cars in a row. The thing is that they're supposed to be shot on a specific order, but you don't find out what it is until you're halfway done with destroying the wrong vehicle. Then there's the three or so points the game gets outright [[FakeDifficulty unfair]] and jump scares you with a knife-wielding enemy at point blank range with no warning and only an instant to shoot him down.
55* UpdatedRerelease: The Evolution machines and the Wii port. The evolution machines have all the content available from the start, as well as having a hidden ending where [[spoiler: the events of the game were orchestrated by the kingpin responsible for organizing the Indigo Wolves.]] The Wii port is basically the carded machine [[RecycledINSPACE for the home]], except with lower framerate but in return, it has (now defunct) online leaderboards and even more gameplay modes (ranging from training mission to [[SillinessSwitch Ninja and Beach mode]])
56** Target Bravo: Operation GHOST. It's Operation GHOST played in a reskinned Let's Go Jungle Cabinet with new gameplay modes and mechanics.
57* WarmUpBoss: The Mission 1 boss, a helicopter, is easy enough to defeat. You get a homing missile launcher and all you have to do is point at the chopper until the reticule locks on and fire, then reload and repeat. Your NPC allies will likely die in the meantime, but there are no rewards or penalties associated with whether they survive anyway.
58* WesternTerrorists: All the antagonists speaks English without distinct accent, although [[LargeHam hammy]].
59* AWinnerIsYou:
60** Your reward for beating the three missions on Level 16 is you being told to go after [[GreaterScopeVillain Oscar Brazius]], who is planning his next attack. [[NoEnding The game ends before you can do this, however.]]
61** In ''OPERATION GHOST'', there's MultipleEndings, whether you succeed in downing the terrorist leader helicopter or not. Regardless, the only ending cutscenes are very short: either the helicopter escaping with the leader smiling smugly, or the helicopter being shot down.
62* WireDilemma: One segment of mission 1 has you defuse a bomb by cutting a red wire, yellow wire, and blue wire in the proper order. Not very hard on lower levels (unless you have very bad short-term memory or accidentally skip the part of your CO's speech that reveals the wire order), which give you as many as 15 seconds, but later levels give you as few as 3 seconds.

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