Red Steel serves up some unique action despite being rather launchy in places.

User Rating: 7 | Red Steel WII
By donalbane | Review Date:
Despite the fact that Red Steel was heavily dissed by critics, I wanted a shooter for the Wii, and I already own Call of Duty 3 on the 360, so I purchased Red Steel with some trepidation. There are aspects of Red Steel that amazed me. Many of the levels are gorgeous and well designed, the shooting is almost always entertaining, the partical effects and destructable envioronments are spectacular, the story is engaging, and there is a definate sense of character growth throughout the game that I found very rewarding. However, the game starts of very slowly. Your skills are limited to simple shooting and turning over tables for cover, and the swordplay is so unchallenging at first that it feels tacked on and underwhelming. This was probably not a bad design choice in hindsight, as many people will be playing this game on a control scheme that they have not yet become familiar with, and it makes it that much sweeter when you gain your stronger abilities during the latter parts of the story. The shooting took a while to get used to, but once I got in the groove, it felt very intuitive and fun. It does at times seem slightly more accurate than traditional control schemes, but only by a small maragin.

After a few hours, you are rewarded with some sword katas, which are basically simple combination move to preform with your Wiimote, and focus mode, essentially bullet time, that allows a player to shoot guns out of the enemy's hands while presenting the option to force them to surrender by motioning up and down with the Wiimote. After you learn some more powerful techniques, the game really opens up and starts feeling fresh and exciting. Sword combat gets much tougher, but never really feels as good as the shooting. It is a great concept that wasn't executed well. I found a couple of the sword katas too difficult to pull off consistently, and found myself instead relying on the less powerful, simpler combos.

The visuals are a mixed bag. Some levels definately look better than others (the outside of the Dojo is gorgeous, as is the funhouse level) whereas other bits feel generic and bland (ANOTHER WAREHOUSE LEVEL? How unique!). Lighting is consistently great, however, and the levels are well designed and enjoyable. The worst aspect of the graphics are the cheap, slapdash cutscenes, which are essentially still images presented in a slide show fashion. The story itself is of relatively high quality, but it's presentation feels rushed out the door for launch. Sound is similarly mixed. The music is great throughout, weapon sound effects all hit their mark, but what in the world happened with the voice acting. I guess this is what happens when the French hire Japanese people they think will appeal to Americans. In short, the voice acting is laughable throughout, sporting ridiculous Engrish despite decent writing.

The game was short, taking me probably around 12-15 hours to complete, so given the aformentioned problems it is hard to recommend Red Steel as a purchase. However, for shooter fans looking to peer into the future of shooters on the Wii, Red Steel is a solid rental that will have you proud of your new white box. It's not a system seller, but it's not garbage either. If it weren't on the Wii, it would warrant a much lower score, as much of the appeal is due to the novelty control scheme made possible by the Wii. It's a fun, forgettable experience that anyone who is even somewhat curious should rent. Just don't buy it. This title is trade-in city, and the used game bin will be flooded with copies in a month or two.

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