Sign on Options
Theme:
To Dark

Red Steel 2 cuts March 23 in US, March 26 in EU

Ubisoft confirms stylized pseudo-sequel to 2006's Wii-exclusive sword-and-gunplay actioner will arrive in two months.

More than three years after the first Red Steel was unsheathed on the Wii, its pseudo-sequel has been officially dated. Following a major delay, Ubisoft confirmed this morning that Red Steel 2 will ship in North America on March 23 and in Europe on March 26. In the US, the game will retail for $50 a la carte or $60 with the Wii MotionPlus Wii Remote add-on. Those preordering the title at GameStop will receive two in-game swords as a bonus.

Who was that masked man?

Who was that masked man?

However, like its forebearer, Red Steel 2 will not offer the Kill Bill-style bloodletting its name implies. The game is rated a "high-end" T for Teen by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, which flat-out says that "there is no blood and gore in the game (enemies stagger back instead of gushing apart)."

Given the ultraviolent nature of many Yakuza films, the first Red Steel was criticized by many reviewers for being too tame. However, Ubisoft has sidestepped those metaphorical slings and arrows by turning Red Steel 2 into an anime-like adventure with ultra-stylized cel-shaded visuals.

The new game's setting is also more fantastical, trading the original's urban environment for the futuristic-yet-retro town of Caldera, which blends both Western and samurai film elements. Players will assume the role of the katana-toting, cowboy-hat-wearing protagonist, who is charged with ridding Caldera of malevolent criminal gangs a la the classic film Yojimbo or its Western remake, A Fistful of Dollars.

Red Steel 2's gameplay is built around the Wii MotionPlus peripheral. The add-on improves real-time tracking and adds another axis to the Wii Remote, which players will use both as a sword and as a point-and-shoot gun, depending on the situation. Ubisoft claims that the sensitivity will let the game take into account factors such as the strength of a player's sword swing. GameSpot's latest hands-on preview has more details.

31 Comments

  • shaka_fo00o

    Posted Feb 6, 2010 12:21 pm GMT

    @Dualmask
    It's not that we don't think it can work.. It's the namesake, it promises "redsteel" which we'll see none of. Bit of bad marketing right there imo.

  • gamefreak1822

    Posted Jan 31, 2010 11:37 am GMT

    blood we crave blood

  • Dualmask

    Posted Jan 28, 2010 7:28 am GMT

    There's no blood in the Soul Calibur games either, even though there should be buckets of it spilling out from every attack. No one complains. Namco makes it work. If they can do it, so can others.

  • BigWorld41

    Posted Jan 27, 2010 1:10 pm GMT

    I am really hoping for success on this game.

  • thk123

    Posted Jan 27, 2010 10:28 am GMT

    Does anyone else find it weird that the trailer is rated higher than the game...?

  • St_muscat

    Posted Jan 27, 2010 7:28 am GMT

    @BLuFAlc0n what's sad about wanting blood in a game were you kill people, if anything buying a game about killing people is more than sad than a game having blood. Seriously it doesn't have to have madworld style blood (eg. gallons of it spewing out everywhere) but it does need at least some blood imo. Because there's nothing like cutting through 7 thugs with a sword and then blowing off some other guys head with a gun only for no blood to appear, just like in real life

  • BLuFAlc0n

    Posted Jan 27, 2010 7:06 am GMT

    ...man, I gonna like this game. No blood = awesome, wondeing why? I'm not sad....

  • kavadias1981

    Posted Jan 27, 2010 6:17 am GMT

    You can kill people with swords and guns but we won't include the blood as it might offend some people... isn't that a little contradictory? Anybody else care to comment on that?

  • Anime_Fan1986

    Posted Jan 27, 2010 6:11 am GMT

    This looks pretty good, I like the western feel to it. I'm not a 100% sure if I will get it yet tho. I played the 1st RS and it wasn't too great but this one does look like it should be better. I don't mind too much about it not having blood but blowing peoples' heads off in the wild west would be kinda cool tho. Tho it is possible to have blood and keep a teen rating, look at goldeneye64 people had blood stains when were shot but it didn't splatter everywhere all over the walls

  • Glade_Gnarr

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 7:58 pm GMT

    The no blood thing sucks, kinda like ng sigma 2 but without bouncing boobs.

  • Cruse34

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 6:03 pm GMT

    This game has so much potential but it still worries me because there is such a big fail risk here. But I don't see how a M+ sword and gun fighting game can fail

  • Waldkrieger

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 5:36 pm GMT

    @hatieshorrer

    I fail to see what your point about control pads, thumb sticks, and vibration is. They are not gimmicks, they are essential to a good quality game. It is irrelevant to the subject. I own 13 consoles and over 240 games. I've been playing video games since Pong. I know a good game when I see it. I have played on a Wii and Wii games enough to know that the Wii gimmickfest is inaccurate, glitchy, toiletry. Everyone I know that owns a Wii has 2 inches of dust on it, or it get's used as an exercise trainer. Nintendo is dead to me. I also care nothing for motion sensing gimmicks for PS3 or X360, or anything. Jumping around the room like an ape is not my idea of how to play a game and it never will be. All these Wii games utilize a bad gimmick and simply don't work well.

  • thetravman

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 5:26 pm GMT

    My expectations are high for this. Red Steel was overly hyped and it turned out to be a disaster. Ubisoft better make a great game to make up for it. Don't show a bad example for the motion plus.

  • hatieshorrer

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 5:15 pm GMT

    @Waldkrieger

    Yet just like the Playstation and MS consoles have control pads, thumbsticks and controllers that shake. They will soon have motion controllers as well. Maybe the Wiimote isnt horrid, maybe you dont know a good game when you see it. Maybe its just not your type of game and thats why your so against it.

  • MasterLink31

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 5:13 pm GMT

    I think I may wait and see what the reviews say, I bought the first one, but traded it in, after 2 playthroughs....there wasn't too much to the first one, but this one is looking very promising =)

  • Waldkrieger

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 5:05 pm GMT

    @hatieshorrer

    You want more horrid Nintendo Gimmicks? OK, take a look at The Glove, Super Scope, Virtual Boy. That's what I'm speaking of. All toiletry, as is the Wii MotionPlus or Wii Remote. The controller is not a gimmick, it's a needed aspect to play a game properly. Motion sensing and movement gyro's are not. The only day I will put my controller away is the day they invent a working version of a Holodeck. Until then, count me out. The current gimmick technology is glitchy and crap, as are most of the games that utilize it. That's my opinion, and that's where it will stay.

  • hatieshorrer

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 4:49 pm GMT

    @Waldkrieger

    Yeah look at the other gimmicks Nintendo put out the control pad, thumbstick, controllers that shake. Maybe youd rather play your games with an Atari controller.

  • Sepewrath

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 4:30 pm GMT

    Funny it says February on the back of the NMH2 instruction booklet. Anyway don't really understand why people have such a bloodlust these days. Gore does not make a game better, its great in Madworld and NMH because its meant to be a sattire rather than "see the blood, see the blood, go get it" like other games. It still amazes me that people think a rating makes a game better.

  • HyruleanLink

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 4:15 pm GMT

    You don't need blood to have a GREAT game.

  • XenoLair

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 4:13 pm GMT

    In EU 3 days later, really? Im getting tired of this! Why do they do that? The game is obviously completed on the 1st release date, why release it somewhere else in 3 more days...
    Anyway, I hope it will be better than the 1st one and actually live up to its name - the steel should be red, of blood that is!

  • Huzzaahh

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 3:55 pm GMT

    @ Flint247

    Dude, I remember you saying that you only just got a 360. You can't actually have an opinion on violent games if you only had a Wii before. There are a couple violent, gory Wii games, but you've clearly had a certain lack of exposure.

    Violent games are awesome if done right. Some great examples are the God of War series, CoD: WaW (grenades blowing limbs off ftw), Dead Space, Madworld, No More Heroes, etc. If the games are well made, the violence and gore can contribute a whole lot to the experience. If Red Steel 2 was to be made in a way so that it could be gory, but stylishly done (like Madworld or No More Heroes 1 & 2), it would enhance the game.

  • fon1988

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 3:47 pm GMT

    I can't wait to get this game. It's definitely going to be amazing.

  • wiifan001

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 3:17 pm GMT

    I'm glad it's rated T.

  • Marcster1994

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 3:09 pm GMT

    inb4thisgameshouldbem

    Oh wait, too late

  • Flint247

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 2:45 pm GMT

    T games > M games

    Gore, especially, doesn't have to be in every FPS/etc game there is. Some people want to play an actual video instead of feel like you are disecting bodies. Gross.

    That is what is wrong with this gaming age now, they want ultraviolent video games to be popular only and whenever a casual/non-violent game comes along, they bash it.

    And this is coming from a person who likes shooters and stuff, I just don't want the whole industry to depend on these type of game genres to succeed.

  • CoolDuckGamers

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 2:09 pm GMT

    I can't wait for this to come out! It looks way more improved then it's first game! I'm not so happy about it being T for teen, M probably would have added a little more fun to it. Well hopefully it doesn't make it a bad game.

  • kellqj

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 1:55 pm GMT

    Cool

  • Waldkrieger posted Jan 26, 2010 1:53 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Waldkrieger

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 1:53 pm GMT (hide)

    More bad games on a bad console. I'm not surprised. Wii MotionPlus or Wii Remote are toiletry. "Gimmicks not games" should be NIntendo's new name.

  • flyingteddy

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 1:53 pm GMT

    any chance of this for ps3 with wand thing

  • Jak_Napier

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 12:51 pm GMT

    March 23rd, thats my birthday.

  • Unkoil666

    Posted Jan 26, 2010 12:40 pm GMT

    Sweet! Looks to be soooo much better than the first game! Can't wait.

Subscribe to GameSpot's YouTube Channel

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!