11-19-2006, 10:42 PM
Red Steel seems to be slightly under Zelda and Excite Truck in terms of anticipation for the Wii. It's hailed a stylish first person shooter and slasher with fast paced action game play. How does it stand up outside of hype though?
Story: Simple to follow rescue the girl plot. Your girlfriend has been kidnapped and simply put are you a bad enough dude to save her? The writing of this Yakuza story doesn't have Takashi Miike worried - the dialog and voice acting is horrible. I'm talking where-the-hell-is-the-skip-button bad, and that button is sadly missing.
Graphics: First let me explain my set up. I'm using a standard definition TV and not a very big one at that so I'm going to be extremely lenient here. There is definitely some style to the character designs however in that graceful ambivalence most games share the environments and some of the less noticeable baddies are mundane is quality. There are some neat explosion and bullet-to-environment effects, but for the most part you'll be too caught up in tearing apart your enemies to really take notice. Nothing really jumps out, but it's not bad at all.
Controls: I'm not going to make this the least bit saccharine - you will hate these controls at first. When I first started playing my cursor was darting all over the place and was starting to affect my real world balance. I was considering just slamming the controller(s) down in disgust but I kept playing with that $50 I spent poking the back of my brain. I set the sensitivity to the bare minimum and persisted. Really it was like orienting yourself correctly after the blood rushes to your head; after about thirty minutes it was second nature. I cranked up the sensitivity and began trick shooting. I tilted the gun sideways and gangsta capped a shotgun wielding Mafioso. I shot from the hip quick draw style, hell I was even doing embarrassing through the legs and behind the back shots. The sword handling shamefully takes a backseat to the gunplay. No it's not 1-1; it's similiar to Zelda style sword fighting with parrying and a quick dodge. It's like a fun minigame that pops up every once in a while.
Sound: I've truly never played a game in which the sound bothered me tremendously. This is no exception. All except the aforementioned dialog and voice acting problems is acceptable. Bullets sound like bullets, the soundtrack is manageable, and the Wiimote's speaker even sees some action.
Gameplay: I'm torn over this. After adjusting to the controls the game gets pretty fun, but it's never the true elation you experience with -great- games. My best comment to put here would be it's a fun launch title, but don't take it at more than face value. The depth just isn't there. You will learn new techniques, there are some exceptionally intense scenes, and at times will you get swept up in it. The moments are there. It's just not on the same level as some of the previous generation's FPS's.
Closing thoughts: This would be a great rental, and a great showpiece to your friends once you can claim mastery over the controls. The multiplayer is -alright-, but it simply is at best a first attempt for the Wii that falls tragically short of greatness. With the proper tuning a Red Steel 2 would be a blockbuster. Since scores are customary to reviews on the internet I'll slap a 7.5 on this and call it a done deal.
Story: Simple to follow rescue the girl plot. Your girlfriend has been kidnapped and simply put are you a bad enough dude to save her? The writing of this Yakuza story doesn't have Takashi Miike worried - the dialog and voice acting is horrible. I'm talking where-the-hell-is-the-skip-button bad, and that button is sadly missing.
Graphics: First let me explain my set up. I'm using a standard definition TV and not a very big one at that so I'm going to be extremely lenient here. There is definitely some style to the character designs however in that graceful ambivalence most games share the environments and some of the less noticeable baddies are mundane is quality. There are some neat explosion and bullet-to-environment effects, but for the most part you'll be too caught up in tearing apart your enemies to really take notice. Nothing really jumps out, but it's not bad at all.
Controls: I'm not going to make this the least bit saccharine - you will hate these controls at first. When I first started playing my cursor was darting all over the place and was starting to affect my real world balance. I was considering just slamming the controller(s) down in disgust but I kept playing with that $50 I spent poking the back of my brain. I set the sensitivity to the bare minimum and persisted. Really it was like orienting yourself correctly after the blood rushes to your head; after about thirty minutes it was second nature. I cranked up the sensitivity and began trick shooting. I tilted the gun sideways and gangsta capped a shotgun wielding Mafioso. I shot from the hip quick draw style, hell I was even doing embarrassing through the legs and behind the back shots. The sword handling shamefully takes a backseat to the gunplay. No it's not 1-1; it's similiar to Zelda style sword fighting with parrying and a quick dodge. It's like a fun minigame that pops up every once in a while.
Sound: I've truly never played a game in which the sound bothered me tremendously. This is no exception. All except the aforementioned dialog and voice acting problems is acceptable. Bullets sound like bullets, the soundtrack is manageable, and the Wiimote's speaker even sees some action.
Gameplay: I'm torn over this. After adjusting to the controls the game gets pretty fun, but it's never the true elation you experience with -great- games. My best comment to put here would be it's a fun launch title, but don't take it at more than face value. The depth just isn't there. You will learn new techniques, there are some exceptionally intense scenes, and at times will you get swept up in it. The moments are there. It's just not on the same level as some of the previous generation's FPS's.
Closing thoughts: This would be a great rental, and a great showpiece to your friends once you can claim mastery over the controls. The multiplayer is -alright-, but it simply is at best a first attempt for the Wii that falls tragically short of greatness. With the proper tuning a Red Steel 2 would be a blockbuster. Since scores are customary to reviews on the internet I'll slap a 7.5 on this and call it a done deal.
