[.ca] Red Steel

Shoot & Sword - Less than you expect:
I was looking forward to try an FPS (First Person Shooter) utilizing the revolutionary Wii remote unit. Before the Wii, there has been many debates and argumentation how the "regular" console controllers can handle this kind of game experience vs. the PC mouse + keyboard approach. For me, the later turned out to be much more efficient and favorable. So here comes the Red Steel for Wii: a point and shoot approach topped with sword-fight sessions where the motion sensor can work at its best. High expectations. Im not going to comment on the storyline whoever is curious about spoilers can find a lot over the internet. Id rather talk about the visual experience though before getting to the controls and the fun factor. I must say that I cant ignore the fact that were in 2007 (or late 2006 when the game got released) so when it comes to visual experience from consoles or computers I expect a lot. Especially from an FPS type game. The Wii does not come out strong on this point. It is very disappointing to see the simplicity of the visuals, even if I account for the fact that the Wii is not supposed to be a super high-end graphical engine. It is also worth to mention that I played this game both on a 32 regular TV so as on a 60 HDTV. The later one is a full disappointment. In my opinion the Wii should not really be used on large screen TVs since its maximum 480p capability severely limits the visual experience you can get out of it. Back to the game. So how does the new Wii remote control deal with the job? At first its strange but you can get the feel of it. As one progresses and improves things gets better. My personal say however is, that without some re-thinking of the control method, the PC mouse is still unbeatable in precision and enjoyment. The Red Steel solution is very efficient when it comes to shooting at enemies: the point and shoot (you have to aim the remote to the enemy) is great not to mention the fun factor of the impression of using a real gun. The problem comes because the pointing function is also used to make the players viewpoint turn. So if the player points to the right edge of the screen the viewpoint turns right. It was/is very unnatural for me. Id rather use some buttons if nothing else to do that. To further increase complications, if the player points outside of the screen are (the controller looses the screen) the viewpoint gets into a spinning until the pointer finds its way back to the sensible area. When it gets to multiplayer games where screen is halved or cut into 4 quarters this gets even more annoying. What I would have expected to see is more an approach like on the slot-machine shooters with a point-aim-fire system: the player has a fixed path movement around the map and the point is to use the virtual gun to aim only. Obviously this reduces somehow the interactivity but yet could be a better fit to the Wii concept. Swordplay. This is really a point where the program and especially the Wii controller shine. The sword-fights are really fun and enjoyable. Too bad, the insertion of this segment into the game breaks the concept and illogical. As another reviewer on the internet wisely put: since Indiana Jones we know that if you have a gun you dont engage in close-up fight with an enemy who only has a sword. You shoot him from the safe distance. Same applies to Red Steel: equipped with armor and heavy guns why stop to sword fight with a guy who only has a baseball bat???? After all this, with a below average visual experience, simple storyline, and questionable control mechanism in my book this game can not get more than 3 stars. Its a fair work without re-play value except the multiplayer mode. But for that there are much better options than this.

pretty fun:
i just finished this game like an hour ago and its pretty awesome. first id like to say that the controls are hard to get used to but once u no how to use them, there awesome. the storyline is ok a bit of the usual(girl gets kidnapped guy saves girl thing)but with a cool japanese culture twist. as for the graphics there pretty much last-gen with a little twist here and there but while im shooting or swinging my sword for my life, i couldnt care less about graphics. now for the gameplay its pretty cool with all the diff. places and destroyable stuff(water pipes breaking, crates exploding,walls falling apart make for pretty awesome gameplay. graphics 3/5 storyline 3/5 controls 4/5 gameplay 5/5

great game:
I think this is a excellent game. It might take a little while to get used to the controls, but once you've figured it out it's very easy and precise. The swordfighting is quite fun and multiplayer is great. It has a very good storyline, the graphics are good, the music is good, and it does have replay value. I think it's certainly worth buying.