System: Wii
Dev: Ubisoft
Pub: Ubisoft
Release: Nov 2006
Players: 1 - 4
Review by Darwin

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Review Rating Legend
1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
2.5 - 2.9 = Average
3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
3.5 - 3.9 = Good
4.0 - 4.4 = Great
4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
5.0 = The Best

Guns include pistols, rifles, shotguns, automatic weapons as well as a sniper rifle. Using the main controller you aim your gun, pressing a button to raise it and help steady it for more accuracy. The targeting reticle is fairly generous and if you want to zoom in you just point the controller at the screen. The Nunchuck allows you to reload your weapons and also acts as the action command to do things such as open doors and move objects. The Nunchuck also controls the direction of your character. The Wii-Mote and Nunchuck work well and feel comfortable even though you’d think your arms would be exhausted after a few hours of straight play. There isn’t much of a learning curve which is even made all the more easier by the fact that the enemy is so willing to get shot. Sometimes they’ll take cover and other times they’ll just get up in plain view and go for a stroll.

Using the swords requires some different finagling of the control system but it’s equally intuitive. The onscreen sword will mimic the motions you make with the main controller, with the exception of the forward thrust. The Nunchuck will control your character’s movement but it will also be used to block enemy hits. The guns and the sword have a limited assortment of moves which tend to make the gameplay repetitive even though the difficulty ramps up in the middle. To regain your health all you have to do is take cover and rest for a while. In no time you’ll be ready for more punishment.

The single-player mode is a good size but it could have been distilled to a third of that so that it would be less redundant. A four-player, split screen mode is the only multi-player option. It’s fun but it won’t keep you and your buddies interested for days on end due to the lack of depth.

Some of the environments are visually stunning and they manage to take plenty of damage from your gun and sword. But there are also some blurry textures and cheesy character models. Some of the levels look like a shooting gallery with stiff looking characters popping out from behind buildings and doors. The explosions are spectacular if not a little over the top. The sound effects, with the exception of the voiceacting (which is terribly bad), are right on the money. They are well recorded and well balanced. The ambient suspense music is just as good as anything you’re likely to see in an Oscar-winning movie. There are also some decent pop and rock tunes to lighten the atmosphere. In terms of overall graphic prowess, Red Steel definitely looks better than a Cube game without even breaking a sweat and that increases exponentially if you’re playing on a TV with excellent resolution. I’d say that for comparison sake, RS looks on par with some of the best Xbox games available, perhaps even slightly cleaner yet. For those who say the Wii doesn’t have any graphic muscle, I say “Shut yo mouth….Shaft!” You won’t confuse a Red Steel with Gears of War or Resistance: Fall of Man, but it’s clear that the Wii has some power in its corner. It will be interesting to see how it increases with experience in the hands of talented developers.

Don’t wait to get your hands on a Wii system but you might want to wait for Red Steel 2.

Features

A new twist on an old genre. by Cole Smith

During the Nintendo press conference at the Kodak Theater prior to the official opening of E3, we had a chance to see the new Wii system in action with a live demonstration of the new first-person shooter game Red Steel. I was suitably impressed with what I saw and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it - literally.

The Wii features a motion-sensitive control system. Holding two different controllers, one in each hand, you will make your moves with one and shoot with the other. One of the more fascinating aspects of Red Steel is the sword fighting. Instead of pressing buttons you actually slash the controller like you would a real sword. One thing that I can tell you is that it's going to take some practice to get used to.

Being new, this control system requires some getting used to. I imagine that once you get comfortable with a game like this you'll be able to jump into other games with nary a problem. What I found is that the movements don't have to be precise but the window, or perimeter, of each move is not as large as it would be in real life. When using the sword for instance you have to make smaller, less exaggerated moves. The controller must be held up in front of the screen so the system knows where it is in relation to the onscreen action. I could sense that after a half-hour of this my arms would be begging for a break.

The level that I played was a street scene. It was a gritty, seedy, downtown environment with dirty brick walls and desperate neon lights. It was an expansive level that you could explore in several directions. Villains could pop out anywhere at anytime.

Getting around was easy enough using the stick on the left hand controller. The machinegun would be fired with my right hand. As long as the reticle was in the neighborhood you could be assured of gunning down most of the bad guys. The environment is also destructible and you'll see glass flying and bullets taking out chunks of wall. If you tilt your hand the gun with also tilt with it so you can use the sideways gangsta method of gun control.

The AI that you don't take care of initially will try to surround you. They are very crafty and unlike a lot of FPS AI, they don't just stand out in the open waiting to get shot. Using a form of bullet time called Freeze Tag, you can slow time down and tag the enemies various body parts. You can hit them in the head or chest to perform a kill shot or you can just wound them. When you resume to natural speed you can get them to surrender and take them alive.

The graphics were good but nothing that would surpass some of the top-shelf graphics we've seen on the original Xbox. The color palette is capable of a lot more subtle shades but the game still isn't photo-realistic. What I did see ran very smoothly and even though it was night time I had no problem seeing everything.

Red Steel is definitely a lot of fun, but it relies heavily on the controller for that enjoyment. Only time will tell if this game, or the entire control system is going to be more than just a short-lived novelty.

Features: