Hands-on: Red Steel 2
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Jun 9th 2009 at 5:40PM } 
Unfortunately, MotionPlus' binding to Red Steel 2 doesn't feel particularly effective in combating the original game's flaws. It's a miss, like sticking a band-aid on someone's knee after they've been poisoned. If the MotionPlus makes a fundamental difference to the gameplay, it's not immediately apparent within the framework of a pretty insipid combat system.
Gallery: Red Steel 2 (Wii)
Unlike the franchise as a whole, Red Steel 2 does make a good first impression. The realistic and drab locales of the first game are gone, replaced with a cartoonish, Western milieu, complete with subtle cel-shading and a mishmash of cinema-cool cultures. Doing away with realism has some great side effects: you can jump farther; climb higher; and smash a whole lot of things to bits. It's a great and necessary departure from Red Steel -- but the Samurai Sam aesthetic can only get you so far.
The point-and-shoot gunplay seems to be the most satisfying element of combat. Being able to instantly switch between your two primary weapons (B-button for shooting, a solid swing to summon the sword) is a wonderful addition, but enemy armor will compel you to stow your six-shooter and start swinging. The MotionPlus's biggest enhancement here appears to be the detection of swing strength -- a limp-wristed mini waggle will just result in your sword bouncing harmlessly off metallic surfaces.
There's a neat blocking mechanic that tasks you with orienting the Wii remote either horizontally or vertically in order to deflect specially marked attacks, but beyond that and a simple dodging maneuver, there's not a whole lot of depth to the swordplay. When it comes to the enemies in the E3 demo, the direction of your swings simply doesn't matter. If you swing hard enough, you'll get 'em. Couple that with fairly disposable AI and you have fights that aren't particularly interesting or engaging.
Still, there's the promise of unlockable combos and a variety special attacks later on (including some Devil May Cry-esque launching and juggling), so perhaps Red Steel 2's combat will prove more substantial in the long run. For now, well ... at least it's much better than the first game, right?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw @ Jun 9th 2009 5:44PM
I wanted the first one to be good, hopefully this one is actually good. I have a feeling it's going to suck just like the last one though.
Rumor of Boz @ Jun 9th 2009 6:35PM
I dont know if this 10 min (or less) E3 "impression" really means much. Cuz I am hearing different things from different people who played hands on in LA. My friend (and colleague) said it was actually pretty bad ass...so I until it gets closer to launch and people get some REAL time to play with it im not gonna pass any judgment. though deep down I want to to be as good as it looks Online.
Highlar @ Jun 10th 2009 10:13AM
I agree with Boz above. I've been hearing differing opinions on this one. Some seem to love it, and say its a great game. Others say more along the lines of this review, that the added WM+ doesn't really do too much for the game, etc. I'm going to have to hold off and see what is said closer to launch time with reviews of the whole game before jumping in whole-hog on this one. I DO like how you can instantly change out between sword/gun at any time, and use both throughout the whole game, but combat will need to be changed up some from what I've seen, otherwise it makes it look pretty much like a first-person brawler. I'm still optimistic, but I'll have to see how it goes.
Dopple Boppler @ Jun 9th 2009 5:49PM
Never played the original, and I'm not terribly interested in this, but at least the art style and neo-western setting look great.
iofthestorm @ Jun 9th 2009 9:22PM
Dungeon Man!
meist3r @ Jun 9th 2009 5:52PM
Sounds like this will be a second hand or rental for me. I bought the first one second hand already and was pretty disappointed by the overall gameplay. Now if they have 1:1 motion sensing and still can't make a decent sword fighting experience I think this franchise is done. I was already flabbergasted at the lack of detail in combat of the demos and so forth, not a single drop of blood, no dismemberments, no visible scars or scratches ... pretty awful for something that is supposed to make you want to hack and slash. I'll definitely give it a try just for the art style but I seriously think Ubisoft has dropped the ball here. Hopefully someone will actually use the Motion+ Potential to it's fullest at some point but just after seeing what the E3 has brought about I'm compelled to wait to try one of the other implementations. I used to be a big Nintendo fan but somehow they've managed to make me look into other platforms more now that I can see their puny efforts of appeasing the hardcore. I just hope the next time I turn on my Wii will be before I get to play a Motion+ Zelda.
Tony @ Jun 9th 2009 5:55PM
Wow... this is beyond disappointing! What I have seen so far (just the trailers I guess...) looks amazing. I was expecting 1:1 motion.... guess we are still going to be left wanting. I guess there is still hope, since the game hasnt gone gold yet I would assume.... but at least it looks like there is a new Star Wars: The Force Unleashed in the works... maybe that is where we should be looking for 1:1 swordplay via WMP?
Dirty @ Jun 9th 2009 5:56PM
Why not just drop the red steel and go with a new title.
Mr Khan @ Jun 9th 2009 6:21PM
A valid question, considering how little this has to do with the original (which is not at all, as far as i can see, sans the sword + gun playstyle)
My guess is they're banking on name association to help sales. The original did go platinum, after all
Shagittarius @ Jun 9th 2009 6:04PM
Nintendo is gonna get sued. I just bought Tiger Wood 10 w/wii motion plus and a dildo came in the package!
Chad Vanderbilt (Moptimus in Disguise) @ Jun 9th 2009 6:07PM
Im sure Mrs. Shagittarius was quiet pleased by that surprise
Fernando Rocker @ Jun 9th 2009 6:29PM
Impressions please...
I want to hear some impressions by non Nintendo fans.
Shagittarius @ Jun 9th 2009 6:45PM
I'm not very impressed with the packaging. I'll let you know about the gameplay when I have a chance to play it.
Spartan @ Jun 9th 2009 6:13PM
I enjoyed the 1st RS and look forward to this new one.
Cool trailer.
Lets just hope they work out the bugs this time.
ugg.tryptophan @ Jun 9th 2009 6:15PM
if the e3 demonstration was any indication, the developers just don't understand what makes a good game. i would hate to be an artist for this project, watching as your concepts are butchered by crazy-haired men whose basis for the combat was his 5-year-old desire to 'hit stuff'.
mr nimblewick @ Jun 9th 2009 6:16PM
That's too bad. They are still sticking with the simple gesture control, adding some motion+ gimmicks in there to sell it. My guess is they started development on this long before motion+ was ready and had to tack on what they could in a short time period. It's a pity... they could have really redefined the genre. Well, they could have if they were a different developer...
Mr Khan @ Jun 9th 2009 6:22PM
The game is motion + exclusive, so there's no reason for them not to go whole-hog
Indeed, they're bundling it.
mr nimblewick @ Jun 9th 2009 6:26PM
Just because it's exclusive, it doesn't mean they had time in their development schedule to truly implement it. If they wrote the code at the beginning of the project not knowing motion+ was coming (or having access to it), it could be a huge rewrite to put those controls in there. Bundling it is just a gimmick to get the early motion+ adopters to buy it.
Mr Khan @ Jun 9th 2009 6:25PM
The original was a decent FPS. Not the abomination people made it out to be, but nothing worth writing home about.
Oddly enough, they left out the most useful part of the original game: multiplayer
J-Link @ Jun 9th 2009 7:18PM
Yeah, I thought the Redsteel multiplayer was pretty good, I love playing as Magic Girl!
Tom Cribbins @ Jun 9th 2009 6:37PM
This is the only negative hands-on report I've read, all other reports have been glowing, so I'm taking this hands-on report with a pinch of salt.
WorMzy @ Jun 9th 2009 6:43PM
How hard is it to turn your character around?
Daxoram @ Jun 9th 2009 6:45PM
I agree multiplayer in the first was useful. Useful in that it was the only (and still is I think) shooter with four player local multiplayer on the Wii. It wasn't a fully fleshed out experience, but it was there at least, and me and my friends had a lot of fun playing it. I really wish I could have some more splitscreen action actually. Does anyone know of another game with this mode?
Levi @ Jun 9th 2009 6:49PM
people who look like that when they play video games end up as the Star Wars Kid.
MRLN @ Jun 9th 2009 7:13PM
I hope that this doesn't suck. It looks really nice and has a good concept, so it would suck a LOT if the controls weren't up to par. It's like a waste of creativity.
Max Headroom @ Jun 9th 2009 7:19PM
I have a question. It looks like there is 1:1 motion control when you move the sword around slowly. However, when you swing the sword quickly, it looks more like it triggers a preset sword slash animation in the game. Is that accurate?
Nook @ Jun 9th 2009 7:23PM
I tried the first one over a couple rentals....it never grabbed me. The story was meh and the controls were really jumpy. I passed on a used copy for $5, I think that says it all.
So hearing this is going to put this game into a 'wait and see', no longer a 'will buy'.
Sorry WMP. You'll have to wait now.
RavenLord @ Jun 9th 2009 7:25PM
At least the guy in the commercial was hot! Even if the gameplay is not. LMAO!!
RavenLord @ Jun 9th 2009 7:34PM
At least the actor in the commercial was hot. Even if the gameplay is not....LMAO!!
ticklefist @ Jun 9th 2009 7:44PM
Thank god the guy wore that cool buttoned down style with the three day beard. Otherwise I wouldn't have known he was cool and that this is a game I would like.
BrokenTriforce @ Jun 9th 2009 8:52PM
So in this game you get to play as Vash the Stampede?
ChromeAlchemist @ Jun 9th 2009 9:04PM
My thoughts exactly.
ChromeAlchemist @ Jun 9th 2009 9:07PM
I'm still buying this, however I don't think they would have had enough time to implement motion plus completely to every sword strike, if they only just got the peripheral to start developing with. How am I the only person who is thinking this to be true?
I see forums and whatnot filled with people saying 'well Wii motion plus isn't 1:1 control, look at Red Steel'. It's irritating.
Nook @ Jun 9th 2009 9:27PM
I guess sometimes a product just gets 'caught' in a bit of a hardware shift, look at Twilight Princess. Sucks... yes, usually the quality of gameplay is what ends up suffering.
TheQuickBrownFox @ Jun 10th 2009 4:26AM
Everyone hoping for 1:1 motion in sword combat stop for a second and think about this: How would it work?
Really imagine what it would be like if the wii remote movements directly corresponded with the sword's movement. Your character would look stupid. Perhaps this is acceptable but we are left with more problems.
Imagine trying to come up with a working combat system to fit around 1:1 motion control. If the enemies had attack animations and weapons that looked realistic then it would be an incredibly unforgiving experience since holding your wiimote at the wrong angle by a couple of degrees would mean the middle of your sword would be more than 10 centimetres out. This would be the difference between a good and bad outcome. A more forgiving system would not appear to be consistent on the screen or not follow your own movements perfectly and would therefore be dubbed unrealistic.
Finally, and maybe the least often realised, a swordfight involves two or more swords interacting with each other. They influence each other's position since they obviously cannot occupy the same space at the same time and they change each other's momentum on contact. How would these events be represented on screen while maintaining 1:1 motion control, since the wiimote has no force feedback? It would immediately break the illusion of control and start to feel "waggly".
What I'm getting at is: realistic 1:1 sword fighting in the form that most of your are yearning for it is impossible with wii motion plus or any of the technology currently in development (as far as we know) by nintendo's rivals. This is why the early motion plus tech demo showed rag dolls (lack of workable combat system) getting absolutely shafted by super-human strength swords (lack of force feedback). It seemed to work much better for throwing things.
Perhaps someone will manage to come up with something that resembles fun sword-fighting (and Zelda could be a prime contender for that but don't get your hopes up) but as for the thing you actually want: forget it. It's impossible.
I'm hoping wii-sports resorts will show us there are some other fun applications for motion plus. And having said all that, this looks fun:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wa20-ZN6Ac
Terry @ Jun 10th 2009 9:57AM
I liked the first Red Steel. Not perfect, but I thought its flaws were more endemic of FPS as a genre rather than something RS itself did wrong...
Except for the more advanced swordplay combos. They just didn't work. But I still did have fun playing through the game with the simpler sword moves.
rob @ Jun 10th 2009 10:01AM
I actually really liked the first Red Steel! It had a decent, classic story, the locales were beautiful and it felt like being in an old gangster flik. I thought they did an Excellent job!
Unfortunately, it was a Wii release title, and so nobody had their wii remote skills developed yet, and so all anyone did was complain about the controls. I was fortunate enough to pick it up months later when I already had the skills with the Wii.
Red Steel 1 was a great game; I hope all the whiners didn't ruin the second one.
Heavytoka @ Jun 10th 2009 10:43AM
This game looks like fun
p_ABSO @ Jun 10th 2009 12:42PM
"It's a miss, like sticking a band-aid on someone's knee after they've been poisoned."
Classic
The Alex @ Jun 10th 2009 9:12PM
Ok, I'm not going to get into the fact that the first Red Steel is among the worst games I've ever played (let alone owned - it was day one purchase because I believed the hype Nintendo and Ubisoft were spewing... haven't made the mistake since...).
I'm also not going to get into the whole 1:1 ratio crap, because I don't care for 1:1, I just want a game that actually works, if the manual says a flick of the wrist in one direction will generate a sword swipe - then it damn well better when I flick my wrist (unlike the first game).
My complaint for this post - and one complaint that was with the first one as well, is the friggin' name. RED STEEL - implying that your steel (sword) gets red with blood... and yet again, in this trailer - there's no blood... no "red steel"... I'm just thinking that's a tad too lame. Add a bit of blood and gore and sell this too an older crowd (teens and up). Have some fun with the sword fights! Cut off some limbs! ... I know some idiot's gonna tell me that mature titles don't sell well on the Wii, but wasn't the first Red Steel a Mature title that sold millions of copies?
But regardless of the quality of this game in the end, it's not a purchase for me, only on principle based on the first game. Just can't spend money on a sequel to such a terrible game... I'll buy other Ubisoft games; Assassin's Creed 2 will rock... but this game - just can't do it...
Matias @ Jun 12th 2009 5:11PM
I'm still expecting this to work well with wm+, after seeing that tiger woods can do it pretty well (haven't played it but pretty much everyone on the interwebz thinks so). Also after seeing that sports resort video a few posts above I'm already wanting to buy it, the sword game looks fun (and sort of how a new zelda would play, I think, they even have hearts as life).
Also lol at people complaining about the lack of blood, is that really important? It doesn't affect the gameplay in any way and sometimes it just looks bad, fake or annoying. It's not like a game is more "mature" or "hardcore" only for having blood on it.