Red Steel 2: Hands-on Impressions

In case you're wondering, YES, the game is about sword-wielding cowboys

“You are the last remaining member of a clan that called themselves “The Protectors”. Slain by a fellow clan, calling themselves “The Jackals”, you found your way to safety and now hunt them down for vengeance. You are The Swordsman and you are all that is man!“

I wish that this had been the description of the game given by Ubisoft Paris, but instead they chose to surrender to the press conference and then eat some cheese.

At the “recent” iDef Expo I got my hands on a preview of Red Steel 2, part of the Ubisoft stall. Looking at this game it seemed to check off most of my likes: a Wii game with ninja’s and a slightly cowboy feel. At first glance one would think that this was a video game version of Sukiyaki Western Django (an absolutely boss movie, for all of you out there unaware of it’s brilliance) but it’s not. It’s Wii’s cell-shaded sequel that seems to have made changes for the better. I say that tentatively … tentatively!

You start by being dragged along behind a motorbike by what is presumed to be some of The Jackals. After a short trip, let’s just say they get theirs. The Swordsman then begins his journey armed only with a pistol. Apparently as the player travels he will gain strength and be able to gain better weapons and abilities. This being said, it wasn’t long before the player gained the all important samurai sword.

What do you call a black guy who fights with a samurai sword?

Red Steel 2 uses Wii MotionPlus with the option for the player to calibrate the Wii controller to their specific style. This is a great selling point, and was a very important factor at iDef where all others seemed to be struggling. Whilst playing through certain things became evident soon enough. For instance, the interaction in this game is going to be largely through weapons. Need to open a door? Shoot off the hinges. Need to get through a garden? Chop the shit out of it with your sword. Need to swat a fly? Light the fuse on the nearby cannon. There was one moment of non weapon based interaction regarding a safe, where you had to hold the Wii controller to your ear, turning it like the dial and wait to hear the click from the safe. This was a very interesting addition, and shows a good amount of original thinking went into the game’s production.

Once I got to the end there seemed to be a glitch (which I think was mainly due to it being a preview), in that when I finally made my way to the boss, he just stood there until I killed him. No fighting back, no pithy comments. Just stood there and took it like a man. Whilst I respect him for that, it seemed like a foolish and ultimately futile tactic. The game definitely has some amazing potential from what was shown. Fighting various opponents with a combination of guns and swords to ultimately avenge your fallen brothers is a winner in my books any day.

So here’s the low-down: The MotionPlus helps to remove the waggle mania that seemed to grip it’s predecessor, and the art style is looking great. Your arms might get a bit tired when you’re forced to throw out heavy swing after heavy swing, but you’ll be having so much fun that you probably won’t notice after you’ve finished playing.

Red Steel 2 is expected to be released between February and March 2010. We played in on Wii at the Melbourne iDef Expo.