Quite possibly the greatest action game of all time is held back by some questionable design choices.
Graphics: I love the graphics of this game. They remind me of another fantastic game, Viewtiful Joe, while maintaining a nice atmosphere of tough guy grittiness. The environments, while pleasnt to look at, are rather boring once you walk around in them. (more on that later.) I did love the enemy designs, and Hero's design is pretty much the ultimate tough guy design ever. The attacks in the game are cool to look at, as well, especially since you see everything in 1st person. Although, I do wonder what he would look like in 3rd person... A great acheivment. 9/10
Sound: I didn't really care for the Japanese inspired tunes, but there are some Old West themes that use things like the piano that sound perfect. As far as voice acting goes, I thought there was a decent effort, I don't know what was eating at Gamespot when they reveiwed it. There are some bad voice clips, though, but for the most part a solid effort. The guns sound nice, as well. 8/ 10
Story: This is a dissappointing aspect of the game. There is almost no exposition, and the few characters there are are given no background at all. Also, it's no obvious at all who the antagonist is until the abrupt ending. A certain boss, Okaji, has absolutley no exlpanation at all, and you wonder what he's doing in the game. Also, the clans are given no introduction, either. The weakest part of the game. 5/ 10
Gameplay: The most important part of any game. Now, the reason this is such a fun game to play is because of the Wii motion Plus. Without it, I would have returned this game demanding a full refund because of how short the game is. The controls make you immersed in the game more than anything else. The combat is very responsive, although there is the occasional hiccup. But this is new technology. Anyway, out side of combat there are side missions to take, some fun and some not so fun. The fun ones are the ones that require you to hunt down patrols of enemies, because there is just more of good thing. I also found the treasure hunting ones to be oddly compelling. The not so funs are ones that require you to break wanted posters. Now, outside of that, you can spend your hard earned money on upgrading your guns, type of rounds for said guns, sword, buy new moves, upgrade present moves, armor, life extensions, extra lives and some odd "trophy masks" which extend the time to be able to execute enemies. Oddly enough, I found that I wanted to upgrade my guns all the way the most. Speaking of which, the guns are a blast (no pun intended) to use. The only thing about them is that a) you get far less money b) Late in the game, guns bedome practically useless against most enemies, aside from finishers and c) the only gun that you can use and then get back ammo for is the .357 longarm. Other guns must be used sparingly due to relative lack of ammo. Now, this upgrade system would be nearly perfect, if not for a huge, gaping flaw. After a certain point in the game, there is absolutley no way to go back to stores. When you replay levels in "Challenge mode" the shops are no longer there, which means you have to start the game over if you want to get 100%. Which is odd, considering you become filthy rich in the last level. But even these complaints aside, the game is still extremely fun to play and you should at least rent it to get the experience of this game. (Of course, if you buy it, you can get it bundled with the Wii Motion Plus, which you will need to play Zelda Wii.) 7/ 10
Red Steel 2 is a strange beast. It is so insanley fun to play, you can forgive it for most of its flaws. (Except for maybe the shop thing mentioned above.) Yet, without the Wii Motion Plus, this game would stink worse than American Idol. But because of this periphrial, this game is one of the best, if not the best, action game(s) of all time.
Final score: 8/ 10