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 Post subject: Wii - Red Steel
PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 6:15 pm 
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Joined: Sat May 10, 2008 11:51 pm
Posts: 18622
Location: Bradford, UK
XBL Gamertag: Blokeh
PSN ID: Blokeh
Steam ID: Blokeh
Wii system code: 2445-8086-3386-0718
Red Steel (Ubisoft)
Nintendo Wii
1-4 Players
Ages 16+

Red Steel is Ubisoft's first exclusive Wii release, which was ready for the machine's release date in the UK. Billed as a first person shooter, it also promises something that the Wii was more or less designed for - player-reactive samurai sword fighting. But is it everything that ninja-nuts across the world are hoping it is, or is it as entertaining as a sumo sitting on your face? Well, read on....

The story follows the old fashioned "boy meets girl, girl introduces boy to her Japanese mafia father, Japanese mafia father gets gunned down, girl gets kidnapped, boy turns into a gun-toting samurai, boy travels the world looking for girl, boy slaughters millions of hardened Yakuza, boy gets girl back, boy and girl live happily ever after" story that Shakespeare first wrote of in "Romeo And Juliet II: Kung Fu Kaos" and which continues to be repeated by low budget Hollywood studios on a near annual basis. While most obviously clichéd, who could get bored of running around the place capping Japs and chopping up foreigners?

The premise of the game is the same as any old first person shooter. Grab a gun, walk into a room, blow the crap out of everyone in there, move on to the next room, beat boss, rinse, repeat. But that's where the "standard" ends. Once the frankly awfully acted intro scene ends you're thrown into the heat of battle and it becomes clear very quickly that Ubisoft have put quite a bit of thought into this game. The game understands that being shot at by people is Not A Good Thing, so they've put in place a technique that allows a simple flick of the nunchuk to turn over tables, chairs, bookcases, desks, etc, and use them for cover from stray bullets - something that I've not seen in any other FPS. Sure, other cover is always available, but a little extra goes a long way. Movement is a little strange to get used to at first, with the Wiimote pointer being used for both aiming and - once it gets to the edge of the screen - looking around the environment. This can be very confusing to start with and can even be very off putting to FPS virgins, but given enough time you will soon find strafing, headshots and other FPS staples become natural.

"But what about the sword fights?" I hear you all cry. Well, every so often you'll come across a Yakuza who would rather dish out the pain up close and personal than through a sniper scope, and your gun will be replaced by your sword. Unfortunately, it's not the "free reign" that I know you all wanted. Your sword is always in a standard position, but slashing horizontally or vertically will result in a single slash in that direction, and although new moves can be learned, it's still not the experience that we all so desperately wanted.

One of the other things you will notice during gun battles is the sounds that surround you. If you've got a decent enough sound setup (mine goes thru my surround sound system, but outputs in 2.0 stereo) you will hear bullets ricocheting off of objects to both sides of you. Enemies will shout orders to their subordinates. Birds sing in the background. Water trickles. Sounds eminate from everything you can possibly think of, and they're all high quality. Shaking your nunchuk will reload your gun, and you'll hear clicking and sliding coming from your Wiimote - another brilliant idea considering your Wiimote is in fact your gun.

But the best thing - the single thing that separates this from all the other FPS games and into a league of it's own - is the option of disarming your enemies. About a third of the way in you learn a technique that allows you to "pause" time, allowing you to either headshot a room full of guys, shoot the guns out of their hands, or aim for the leader of a group (identified by a symbol above their head) and take them down. If you manage to take out a gang leader, all the other people in the room will throw down their weapons and surrender! This means you can effectively clear a room of 20 guys with one shot! A crafty disarm, then a wave of the Wiimote to dismiss them, and you've just earned a ton of respect and a load of free ammo. Awesome.

Multiplayer mode is a split screen affair a-la GoldenEye on Nintendo Sixty FOOOOOOUUUUUURRRRRR, but is actually very well executed. One of the 4 player mode requires you to hold your Wiimote to your ear like a phone, and you will be quietly instructed as to who your "target" is - one of the other players. You then enter the fray and try to hunt your prey before your hunter gets you. Fun and frantic, but as there's so much detail involved you'll obviously need a large TV to get the best out of it.

While it's no secret that I've got a special place in my heart for this game, it isn't what it could have been. It's still a blast and will often impress you with subtleties such as falling cherry blossom or the quite incredible disarming feature. However, the strange new control method, the god-awful menu system - a drag and drop method that you will easily get lost in - and the "please kill me now I can't stand it any longer" voice acting will most likely stop you from fully enjoying this game.


Ratings
Graphics: B
Sounds: B
Gameplay: B
Replayability: C

Overall score: B-

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