*Keep in mind I have not played the original Red Steel, so I won’t be making any comparisons between the two.*

The Wii remote was destined to be used as a katana!

During the Wii’s launch, one of the most hyped games for the console was Red Steel, a first-person shooter/slasher game that was promised to be a great display of the Wii’s capabilities with a “hardcore” title. Red Steel came along, and most were disappointed with it, people found it a bit too clunky. It wasn’t until Metroid Prime 3 was released that people were reassured of the possibilities of a first-person adventure on the Wii. But Ubisoft took notes and decided to make a sequel to Red Steel that promised to be more polished. But does the first game made exclusively for Wii MotionPlus live up to its promise? Or does it suffer the fate of its predecessor?

I suppose the simplest answer is yes, it does live up to its promises.

Red Steel 2 takes place in a refreshing setting that is a cross between westerns and samurai movies, with a few robots thrown in for good measure (unfortunately, the pirates, zombies and monkeys couldn’t make the cut). Yes, it’s over the top, but who cares! It’s samurai and cowboys! I really enjoyed the game’s setting and I found it to be unique. And it is complemented by a kind of cel-shaded graphic style reminiscent of Borderlands.

The game also progresses similar to Borderlands. You travel to different towns, picking up new missions (some are story missions, others are optional), and fight bandits (called the Jackals) as well as the “Katakara,” a clan of evil samurai warriors led by the villainous Shinjiro.

The other characters include the unnamed hero, who is the last survivor of the “Kusagari” clan (they are sure to remind you of this plot aspect quite frequently) and the NPC characters of Tamiko, a computer wiz,  Sheriff Judd, the sheriff (duh!), Jian, the hero’s sensei, and Songan, a mysterious businessman.

The characters are over the top, but with more collected personalities. Think of them as characters in a martial arts film.

The story of the game also seems like it came straight from a martial arts movie. The plot basically revolves around the hero taken revenge for his fallen Kusagari comrades. And the bad guys wish to steal the secrets of the Kusagari for what I would assume is world domination.

But anyway, the highlight of the game is its fantastic use of the Wii remote. Red Steel 2 joins the likes of Zak and Wiki, Wii Sports and Metroid Prime 3 as a prime example (no pun intended) of the Wii remote done right.

You play the game with the Wii remote and nunchuck, swinging it like a katana or aiming it like a gun. You can switch off between the two weapon mechanics on the fly, and both work wonderfully

The game is the first game to be made exclusively for use with Wii Motionplus, and it pays off. The action is incredibly precise. It all works very fluidly and finding the different combinations between weapons is very fun. I especially enjoyed the combos that start off with the katana and end using a gun. Those just seemed to provide the most over the top fun.

Using the Wii remote as a katana and a gun is just as fun as it sounds. It works effortlessly and never once feels clunky. The Wii Motionplus is showing a lot of promise.

The music in the game is nothing special, but not necessarily bad. It builds enough Western/Eastern feeling but doesn’t particularly standout. The music is fun enough, but it’s not a great video game soundtrack.

There’s no multiplayer mode in the game, which may upset some, but not every game needs a bustling multiplayer mode.  I don’t think Red Steel 2 necessarily suffers from its lack of multiplayer, but I suppose some may wonder the possibilities of the multiplayer modes that could have been.

Some people may also complain that the game is too linear. With the story missions being too straight forward and the optional ones being too basic. But most gamers need to get a grip and understand that not every game needs some bustling open-world, sandbox gameplay. Sometimes games are better off being linear. Personally, Red Steel 2 works just fine just the way it is, although I will admit the optional missions are a bit underwhelming. And the story missions can, at times, seem repetitive.

All in all, I think Red Steel 2 is a very fun game and a great display of the Wii’s capabilities. It has it’s problems (it seems to lack variety, and again those side missions are underwhelming). But I’m sure Red Steel 2 fixes any of the problems the original Red Steel may have had. But Red Steel 2 is a great title in 2010’s promising Wii lineup. And it shows off the potential of Wii Motionplus (c’mon Zelda, take full advantage!).

If I only had a dollar for every time they said Kusagari. I’d be a rich man!

(1 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10, rated)

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