Red Steel 2 Review (WII)

Can Red Steel 2 live up to the promise that Red Steel started?

Do you remember when the Wii first came out? There was a really cool advert that showed some guy playing Red Steel. I remember a bit where he was stood there holding the WiiMote aloft and on the screen you could see a fella on his knees, with a sword quivering at his neck. That was the moment I knew I needed a Wii.

Now, as it turns out, Red Steel was not quite all the advert lead us to believe, or at least the WiiMote was not. Reviews of Red Steel all pointed out that the technology let it down. It was essentially a title ahead of its time.

All of this aside, I was very excited to hear that there was to be a sequel, Red Steel 2, and more importantly that it would be using the Wii MotionPlus add on. Could this finally take Red Steel to the next level of immersive sword fighting, and fulfil my ninja dreams?

On starting the game, you are thrown straight into the action, by getting beaten up and dragged behind a motorbike. On escaping, you are given a short tutorial, in the form of a few gun and sword based revenge killings. Instantly you get the impression that if nothing else, this is going to be a fun game to play. The actual story starts when you rescue your old master Jian, and you find out that you are the last of the mysterious Kusagari Clan. You are persuaded to find out what happened to the other members and to avenge them. Let the ass-whooping commence!

It is also a game that gives me faith in the Wii once more

The game plays out in the form of standard missions and side missions. To progress you have to complete the main missions, but side missions can be left until later. Each zone has one or two safe houses where you can buy upgrades, learn new moves and get new missions. As you play through the game, more of the map becomes available and you are free to revisit old areas at will. This gives the game a free roaming feel whilst never really allowing you to get too lost or distracted! For the most part though, you will just be moving forward from mission A to mission B with the odd boss battle thrown in.

The games graphics are very good. I know people moan that the Wii is less powerful than other consoles, but Red Steel 2 really makes the most of what it has to work with. Mixing the old west, with Japanese culture and wrapping it with modern technology, this has a unique and engaging look to it. The environments are nicely details, with lots of background scenery being destructible. In fact, this kind of devastation is encouraged as it earns you in-game currency! A really nice touch are the little bonus boxes – some need to be shot, others stabbed. However my favourite are the safes. You have to rotate the WiiMote back and forth to crack the safe, in a simple, but very immersive movement. Characters are well drawn and smoothly animated, with diverse and interesting main characters, although the bulk of the enemies are based on a few simple types. You have the basic grunt with a sword, an armoured grunt with a sword, and combinations of these with guns of varying types. Every now and again you will get a larger foe or a Boss, with each one requiring a different strategy.

The real question is, how does it feel when you play? Pretty good actually. The Wii Motion Plus is used to great effect, with the gun and sword accurately copying your hand movements. To activate the sword, all you need to do is swing the WiiMote. Each swing is accurately displayed on screen, with harder swings causing more damage but taking longer to reach their target. Special moves are activated with button presses and swinging movements. For instance you can do a dash / jump and over head swing using a double press of the A button and a downwards swing. Timing is essential as if you mistime the swing, you will end up just jumping at your opponent and getting stabbed for your troubles. Not nice. New moves can be bought or earned, depending on the part of the story you are in. Each time you get a new move, you are sent to train with Jian and learn how the move works.

As with real sword fighting, it is not all about attack, you need to be able to defend against incoming blows. Parrying and blocking works surprisingly well – hold A and tilt the sword the right way to block incoming attacks and then quickly follow up with a swing or a stab to catch your enemy. You can also block bullets with your sword, very handy in the more frantic scenes.

It’s not all swords though, you have a gun. Good for longer range attacks, blowing stuff up and using in combinations. There are 4 guns to be had in all, and they can all have upgrades such as rate of reload and power. It is very satisfying to be fighting one sword wielding baddy, then swinging round and shooting another attacker out of the sky as he jumps at you.

You also have finishers. For example, shoot a man in the knees and he will drop to the ground kneeling. Swing left or right and you will finish him with a brutal punch. Shoot him in the head and he will fall to the ground, here you can stab him in the heart and claim victory.

For the most part this all works very well. As ever, the WiiMotion plus can be a little temperamental, with recalibration needed every now and again during game play. It can feel a little bit like you are just flailing your arms in really big fights, but if I am honest this is still part of the fun.

The game looks great, it is really fun to play and the story, setting and freedom to roam all add up to make a good game. Stick in some really frantic boss battles, a few challenge modes and the best use of the Wii Motion Plus since Wii Sports Resort and you have a game that I will still be enjoying many weeks from now. Is this the a new level for sword fighting games? Maybe not, but it is definitely a step up from the rest!

It is also a game that gives me faith in the Wii once more, showing me how more Wii games should feel. And just maybe, it can at times be just like it was in the advert all that time ago….