Red Steel Review

By Keza MacDonald Published 12 December, 2006

Swords, but no sorcery.

Version tested: Wii

Whilst working through the first few levels of Red Steel, I kept being reminded of GoldenEye, and I couldn't figure out why. It wasn't the weapons, it wasn't the excellent level design (unfortunately that's something Red Steel cannot boast), it wasn't similar environments or familiar set-pieces or anything else immediately obvious. Then, suddenly, I realised that it was because it looked like GoldenEye - these were the same blocky characters, fuzzy textures and juddering framerates as I was seeing in 1998 with my N64 running through a blurry old RF lead. Obviously it's not quite as bad as that, certainly not when you remember to switch the Wii into 480p mode, but Red Steel's sheer ugliness is immediately and continuously noticeable. It looks half-finished, like a work-in-progress, linear levels punctuated by story-board sequences of stills that try to pass themselves off as cut-scenes.

And it's a real shame, because Red Steel has its moments. The immediacy of the control and small selection of inspired settings (a geisha house, or a Japanese garden, or a twisted amusement park) sometimes combine to make this an exhilarating, explosive action experience. There is an undercurrent of chaos running through Red Steel, and when the screen explodes into action and enemies come running out from every corner and forklifts start spontaneously blowing up and you're on your feet, shooting wildly at the screen whilst trying to run backwards into cover, you want to love it, you really do. But Red Steel feels just as often dated and incomplete as it does thrilling, and though the controls sometimes do much to make a great experience out of a fairly average game, it's never quite as good as you want it to be.

'Red Steel' Screenshot 1

Red Steel follows the story of a faceless, voiceless American named Scott as he tries to infiltrate the Tokyo Yakuza in order to rescue his fiancée, the daughter of an influential boss whose Los Angeles hotel is ransacked at the beginning of the game. It's not exactly the most believable portrayal of the mafiosa underground in the world, but it does provide a plausible excuse for setting the majority of the game in neon-lit urban Japan, which is occasionally its saving grace. The missions themselves are extremely linear, although you do sometimes get to choose which order to pursue them in. With two or three exceptions, they are straightforward - get from one end of the level to the other, shooting lots and lots of gangmen and pulling out a sword for the more challenging foes. It's not a story that you'll particularly care about, but the B-movie voice acting and plot twists fit the action well.

The shooting itself is excellent. As any lightgun game fan will know, controllers just cannot match the satisfaction of physically pointing and shooting at the screen, and a headshot is infinitely more rewarding when you've aimed it yourself. The auto-aim is perfectly balanced; it helps alleviate the occasional twitchiness of the controls without making success feel cheap. Holding A locks onto specific enemies and moving the remote closer to the screen zooms in on them, which quickly becomes second-nature. The focus system, which involves using the 'ancient ninja technique' of stopping time to disarm or outright kill multiple enemies at once, is a little superfluous, but it works well. Especially towards the end of the game, sparing lives by forcing a surrender is rewarded more often than mindless blasting.

'Red Steel' Screenshot 2

The sword fights, unfortunately, don't live up to their promise. The controllers seem to have serious trouble picking up anything other than wild swinging gestures and there is no semblance of accuracy, which is troubling. Stupidly, blocking and striking at an opponent's sword arm are supposedly performed with exactly the same motion, and due to the general haphazardness of the whole thing the easiest way to defeat opponents is to perform the same powerful special moves over and over again or, worse, just swinging the controller aimlessly left and right and seeing what happens. At best, you're exchanging blows - there is nothing here that resembles skilful fencing. Sword fights are often infuriatingly placed right at the end of sections of levels, too, forcing you to replay from the last checkpoint and go through five minutes of tedious, repetitive shooting before dying again as soon as the swordsman appears. It's tempting just to shoot them as they approach, but of course, you can't do that - nor can you bring out the sword to finish off an enemy in the gunning sections.

Red Steel is an old-fashioned game at heart, linear and cheesy and a bit inflexible, but also responsive, explosive and often greatly entertaining. It has inspired moments and a substantial single-player venture, but the whole thing is undermined by the terrible presentation and the all-permeating impression that Red Steel isn't quite finished, from the story-board-sketch cut-scenes to the jerky animation and weird, basic, placeholder textures. It's never enough to stop Red Steel from being enjoyable, but in an age where we expect our FPSs to be beautiful as well as action-packed, it's just not up to standard. Red Steel is a prototype - it does just enough to show that a Wii first-person action game could be genuinely superb, but sadly, it never capitalises upon that potential itself.

6 / 10

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About Keza MacDonald

Read more articles from Keza by visiting the Keza MacDonald archive page.

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Comments (77) Latest comment 5 years ago

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  • JediMasterMalik #1 5 years ago

    No surprise there. Really wanted this to be good. Shame.

  • Sandbox #2 5 years ago

    Fair enough, actually quite enjoyable, I'm gash at FPS but the controls work fine. The visuals are pooh though.
    Edited by 1 at 12/12/06 @ 14:24

  • Zerimski #3 5 years ago

    I still really want to play it. Mainly for the sword fighting admittedly.

  • Erinan #4 5 years ago

    Aaaaah, too bad. I think I'll wait for the budget version then.

    What about the multiplayer part?
    Edited by 2 at 12/12/06 @ 14:27

  • lennon #5 5 years ago

    Every time I convince myself to buy Zelda for the GC and wait and see if the Wii delivers long term I see the advert for this game and it makes me pick up the phone and ring round a few shops to see if they have recieved their next shipment yet.

    Great advertising Nintendo. Hats off.

  • peterfll #6 5 years ago

    The linkage someone provided in the forums some weeks back....... the pre-release pictures of "in game footage" followed by the actual screen grabs captured from the production version. Now that was an eye-opener.

    Such a shame, in pre-release shots it looked very very decent and the fact that the controld were broken months ago in preview code made you feel like they'd fix it in time.

  • the_sas_man #7 5 years ago

    only 2 less than gow then? wow

  • PearOfAnguish #8 5 years ago

    Very mixed reviews on this one. GamesTM said almost the complete opposite, that the shooty parts were dull and the sword fighting was the best thing about it.

  • Ceatlan #9 5 years ago

    I'm surprised there no mention of the controls not working well. Every other review I've read of this said the whole control scheme sucked big time. Particularly how you turn by pointing the at the edge of the screen, which means that you can't turn and aim at the same time. I'd like to know if the reviewer felt that the controls worked really well, or if they didn't but just didn't mention it in the review.

  • ccfb #10 5 years ago

    The gamespot video review is more damming. Shame.

  • RE*AC*TOR #11 5 years ago

    I agree with PearOfAnguish - I've read reviews that said the controls were crap but the design was good, ones that said the controls were great but the design was lacking and any amount of opinions in between. I've yet to play the game (thank you Play.com), but I remain optimistic enough.

  • AcidSnake #12 5 years ago

    Yeah, what about the multiplayer?
    And exactly how 'substantial' is the single player expressed in hours?

  • Darkbeat #13 5 years ago

    "nor can you bring out the sword to finish off an enemy in the gunning sections."

    Actually you can. Theres a "Tanto" attack you can do at enemies by juggeling the nunchuck at enemies up close. Unfortunatly you may only be close enough for a nano second and might have you reloading instead if your not in melee range... so its easier to just pop em.

  • McGeeza #14 5 years ago

    Maybe not but if Lucasarts don't release some sort of lightsabre duel Wii game i'll eat my pubes...

  • JediMasterMalik #15 5 years ago

    ^^Yes it can. :s
    Edited by 1 at 12/12/06 @ 14:49

  • SeesThroughAll #16 5 years ago

    The Wii controller cannot tell where it is in 3D space
    Therefore there will not be the light-saber game you are looking for

    It can tell the position in a 2D projection though. Combine that information with that given by the accelerometers, and it should handle everything just fine.

    Red Steel's problem with the sword fighting was the implementation, not the controller.

  • RexRunti #17 5 years ago

    I really wanted this game to be good. The Wii should be all about sword fighting. Seriously one decent game along these lines an I'll buy one (perhaps even two). Come on LucasArts, make the obvious game everybody wants.

  • Razzajazz #18 5 years ago

    I'm playing through this at the moment, and 6/10 is about right. It is very enjoyable in moments, but it's just not quite there. But it is definitely a necessary game, as a way of demoing FPS games on the Wii. Now we just need someone to come in and do it properly. Come on, ID.... :)

  • milko #19 5 years ago

    I'm enjoying this one just fine. It's much as the review say, but the control works far better than a lot of reviews give it credit for, I never have any problems with turning and shooting.

  • Ludd #20 5 years ago

    "The Wii controller cannot tell where it is in 3D space"

    Perhaps the Wii SDK can't give developers x,y,z coordinates of the controller, perhaps it can, i don't know.

    But to say:

    "Therefore there will not be the light-saber game you are looking for"

    I think with a thorough understanding of the Wii controller and how it interacts with the sensor-bar, combined with some inovative programming; I don't see why a developer won't be able to make something which is 95% of the way to what we all want from a Lightsabre Duel game.

  • Darren #21 5 years ago

    Hmmm, the game didn't get the bad review I was expecting after reading other websites.

    Apart from Zelda, which doesn't really need the Wiimote at all, most of the other Wii games, which do use it more thoroughly and/or effectively, seem to be getting 6 or 7/10 scores. Somewhat ironic really but I suppose the instant accessibility and fun-ness of the Wii means a lack of games with "real" depth and that's the reason for the disappointing scores for most of the launch games.

  • dryfish #22 5 years ago

    It reminds me of XIII rather than Goldeneye.

  • Keza #23 5 years ago

    The single-player mode is about ten hours, the multiplayer is completely inconsequential, split-screen shooting at each other, I think the controls work very well indeed, and the Wii remote CAN tell where it is in 3D space. It registers towards the screen and away from the screen with as much sensitivity as it s2D axis.

    As for the mixed reviews... well. LOADS of people MAY have been reviewing this on unfinished code, as far as my understanding goes, after about three hours' play in the Wii house, because review copies simply did not exist before the launch. This is the UK retail version.

  • lambtron #24 5 years ago

    Sounds basically unfinished. So hopefully if they make a sequel it will be much improved.

  • chupachups #25 5 years ago

    Launch game, no surprise. The DS was full of 6/10 games in its first few months, let's just hope the Wii follows the same learning curve and we see some more decent innovative games by next Xmas.
    Edited by 1 at 12/12/06 @ 15:06

  • ChimneyBug #26 5 years ago

    @Darren

    I think the reason for the disappointing (that is, above average scoring) scores isn't about the machine, its as you mentioned, they're launch titles :) but in saying that, we got elebits and trauma centre over here! ;)

  • Keza #27 5 years ago

    Yes, Trauma Center has allayed all of my fears about the depth of the Wii control system. Superb game. Review soon, hopefully!

  • smoison #28 5 years ago

    This had soo much potential, why couldn't they have delayed it to make it a proper good game!!! Ubisoft is copying EA in too many ways.

    I'll wait for a more polished(less buggy) FPS on my Wii, which probably won't be comign from Ubisoft Or EA

    P.S WHY IN GODS NAME is Trauma Center not coming out in Europe, There's not even a release date, I hate you Nintendo!!!
    Edited by 2 at 12/12/06 @ 15:15

  • Stormflood #29 5 years ago

    "The Wii controller cannot tell where it is in 3D space."

    But with some skill, it could be effectively faked. Surely?

  • afray #30 5 years ago

    Manic Miner may be right, the Wii cannot be sure of your location in 3D space if you're not pointing at the screen (if you are it can calculate relative depth from the screen and orientation), but that's beside the point.

    Sports Baseball shows you don't need positional information to do the kind of movements required by a sword-fighting game. With a bit of clever AI and some good movement recognition algs (which is really AI too) I can't see a reason why it couldn't be done.

  • jmctavish #31 5 years ago

    Read the first paragraph then gave up. What utterly stupid remarks to make. I'm glad that I'm able to decide for myself what games to play and don't have to rely on fuckwit reviewers.

    I'm playing this at the moment and have enjoyed almost every moment of it.

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #32 5 years ago

    Yep, I'd agree totally with this game. I'm enjoying it more than I expected, but it is flawed to hell.

    It's a proof-of-concept rather than a 'proper' game but it gives hope to a Halo/Goldeneye genre defining entry sometime in the near future.

  • Additive #33 5 years ago

    Want to like it but just can't get used to the controls. Disappointed.

  • AcidSnake #34 5 years ago

    My fear is that this game will have extremely disappointing sales figures and might therefor discourage developers to make these kind of games...

    That said I read a report that the controls for Far Cry (also ubisoft) were very very good...
    Shame the graphics are on par with the xbox...

    I'm not sure about Red Steel though...
    I fear I'll finish zelda before christmas and then have nothing to play for for those 2 precious days I don't have to work...

  • Tomo #35 5 years ago

    Woot!

    Much better score than I was expecting 6 months ago. I shall be buying. Get. In.

  • MisterFalseName #36 5 years ago

    It's a 7 for me. Brainless shooting fun.

    They should have made it like Serious Sam, and dispenced with the hacknied story though.

    The graphics look fine to me, and this is coming from someone who has played Quake 4 and FEAR on a reasonably high spec PC. Guess I'm not that much of a graphics whore...

    (And the multiplayer is ace).

  • fizzer25 #37 5 years ago

    Know this is totally off the subject but a friend of mine wants to buy some region free games or asian ones, any ideas where to go?

    regards

  • DanMW #38 5 years ago

    I will rent this game, but I'd never buy it.

  • IAmBatman #39 5 years ago

    The problem with a sword fighting (or lightsabre) game is that you need the feedback of having your blow hit the opponent's blade and be diverted. Otherwise where you're holding the remote isn't going to match where your sword is on the screen.

    For example: I do a big slice downward, but the enemy blocks it halfway through. In real life my remote is pointing at the ground. In the game my sword is pointing at the sky. It totally messes up and 1:1 control scheme.

  • Rambaldi #40 5 years ago

    Appealing to the masses with an inventive control method, I get.

    Appealing to the masses with sub-standard horsepower and graphics, I don't get.

  • foamy #41 5 years ago

    It's easy. Your character is uber powerful and no one is able to block you :D

  • fizzer25 #42 5 years ago

    My thoughts with the wii all along the controls are gonna be pants!!

    Not convinced about this at all!

  • HarryB #43 5 years ago

    the graphics look decent??

  • gizmo #44 5 years ago

    @ManicMinerUK

    They will get their lightsabre game, but no matter which way they swing and thrust the remote, it will be exactly the same as pressing 'A'

    Ring any bells?

    ;)

  • Keza #45 5 years ago

    gizmo: really don't think that's true. It does seem capable of complex real-time movement interpretation. You can waggle your bat around in Baseball - it's no the same as a button press.

  • Ceatlan #46 5 years ago

    Keza,

    Thanks for your reply and confirmation that you thought the controls worked well. I personally wasn't having a go at your review, I was just surprised that you hadn't really mentioned in your review whether the controls worked well or not. Especially when all the other reviews I've read have really panned them. I was genuinely interested to hear you opinion on the control scheme, and now I have. Thank you very much.

    Ceatlan

  • gizmo #47 5 years ago

    "gizmo: really don't think that's true. It does seem capable of complex real-time movement interpretation. You can waggle your bat around in Baseball - it's no the same as a button press. "

    Can it detect it if its slung over your shoulder, as it would be in real-life or does it have to be pointing at the sensor bar?

    I may have to go and buy a Wii just to experiment.

  • jimbob101 #48 5 years ago

    Does this or any other FPS on the Wii have control scheme similar to GoldenEye?

    The analogue stick controled the Forward / Back / Turn movement and the left and right C buttons contralled strafe. You then used the R button to aim. I remember reading in an interview that one of the inspirations was Virtua Cop.

    On the Wii you could again have the analogue stick controlling Forward / Back / Turn, with tilting the nunchuck making you strafe. The remote then just has to aim light gun style, no need to worry using it to turn.

    Or even closer to Goldeneye, make the user press a button when they want to aim. Use the remote instead of the C buttons to strafe, either by tilting or pointing left / right.

    Having never played on a Wii, perhaps the above ideas are useless, thoughts?

  • AcidSnake #49 5 years ago

    @Gizmo:

    No, it doesn't need to 'see' the sensor bar...
    In fact I don't think any of the wii sports actually use it besides menu navigation...
    (The sensor bar being infact just 2 infrared lights)

    @Jimbob:
    Pressing a button to shoot is horrible, you would fall into a dead stop...
    Goldeneye allowed it to precisely target, but you could still shoot while on the run...
    Or have I misunderstood your post?
    :)

  • Keza #50 5 years ago

    Ceatlan: Cheers, no problem :)

    gizmo: yeah, it seems to be able to tell. If you sling ot over your shoulder and wiggle it up and down, the character on-screen does exactly the same. In golf it registers swings back and forward, too.

    Adam: Nobody wants to see my face :p

  • smoison #51 5 years ago

    Knowing Nintendo there also wont be any demo's on this consol.

    So I will have no way of trying this game out any time soon.

    If you wanna try a game you either rent it, borrow it or buy it (Until the wii gets pirated of course). That SUCKS, I want demo CD's!

  • teabagger #52 5 years ago

    Saw the multiplayer of this running in our office yesterday. It's terrible.

  • dr_faulk #53 5 years ago

    Uh, is it just me or am I the onyl one who found this game unplayable? I went in to it with a lot of favour, and I really wanted to like it. But it genuinely boardered on unplayable. Sucks. Big shame. The rest of it was alright, I guess. I agree more with GameSpot giving it the 5's.

  • Waldo #54 5 years ago

    These controls are crying out for for "Blade Of Darkness" and "Die By The Sword" remakes. ;)

  • foamy #55 5 years ago

    How about a video review, or sumthin like that? Would be useful to see the wiimote and nunchuck in action.

  • matrim83 #56 5 years ago

    Nice review.

    And is it just me or do those screenshots look like Deus Ex on the PC about 5-6 years ago. Somehow Far Cry manages to look even worse. Cheap cash in attempts at a new console. They were there with the Xbox, they are here with the PS 3 and ditto for Wii.

  • Carlo #57 5 years ago

    I think this'll be available second hand in high numbers in the new year.

    It looked so promising, but Peej knew better.

  • quantumsheep #58 5 years ago

    "The problem with a sword fighting (or lightsabre) game is that you need the feedback of having your blow hit the opponent's blade and be diverted. Otherwise where you're holding the remote isn't going to match where your sword is on the screen.

    For example: I do a big slice downward, but the enemy blocks it halfway through. In real life my remote is pointing at the ground. In the game my sword is pointing at the sky. It totally messes up and 1:1 control scheme."

    The thing is, with a little thought and imagination I reckon you could get round this. For example, using the wiimote speaker to convey the classic 'Lightsaber clash' sound and making the wiimote vibrate should be good enough pointers as to where the blade should have stopped.

    And if you're into the game, then that should be enough to make *you* stop swinging.

    The baseball on wii sports makes me think they can do it.

    In fact, they *are* doing it. The Nun-chuck is used to do force pull/push and lightning with movement backwards and forwards.

    The only problem they're working around is that if you make too big a swish with the lightsaber, the game currently thinks you're doing a saber throw. I'm sure they'll work that out though in time ;)

  • The-Bodybuilder #59 5 years ago

    I found this difficult to read, due to the video advertisment of red steel, showing how cool it is.

  • The-Bodybuilder #60 5 years ago

    >". The focus system, which involves using the 'ancient ninja technique' of stopping time to disarm or outright kill multiple enemies at once"

    SOLD.

  • Xerx3s #61 5 years ago

    So, worse than resistance then?

  • The-Bodybuilder #62 5 years ago

    >"So, worse than resistance then?"

    Atleast the ninty fanboys can say it's better than killzone.

  • figaro7 #63 5 years ago

    Having played through the entire game with the sword sensitivity set to small gestures, it isnt very accurate and you have to be real precise with your movements. Turn that around to long gestures and the sword fighting feels completely different, swipes and slashes go where they should, pulling off the special moves couldnt be easier. I also found that if you parry in the same direction the opponenents sword is coming, it seems to stun them easier.

    The biggest killer for me was the framerate, you just cant have dips with a pointer device, it really throws you off. Other than that, really enjoyed it.

  • LazyDan #64 5 years ago

    The whole Baseball/Golf example isn't exactly a great one... It doesn't seem that precise to me - for example there have been more than a number of occasions where you'll try and swing the remote very slightly for a slow putt in Golf, and it won't register anything, and then other times where you'll be swinging back to take your shot and the game reads it as you actually taking the shot and inevitably whacks it at snail pace.

    In Baseball, it's possible to confuse the game, so you'll have the baseball bat pointing up in game, while in reality the wiimote is pointing down at the ground - you can then try waggling a bit to sort of re-calibrate it, or just compensate.

    Software issue? Perhaps... But currently I'm not sold at all on the precision of the accelerometers. I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere down the line Nintendo release a new Wiimote + Sensor Bar, where the sensor bar actually does something and uses a technology like ultrasound to see exactly where the wiimote is in space and what angle/tilt it's at.

  • floppylobster #65 5 years ago

    disc is right. Hold B for attacking and A for defending while swinging the remote. Then two people can battle with collison detection based on two planes. One for the attacker and one for the defender. It's simple enough but convincing in a video game. Especially with the distraction of Shhhsszzh Szzhhhshhh and Star Wars music playing.

    People need to learn and adjust to how the Wii controller works before they can bring out more complicated stuff. At the moment they're trying to bring more people in not alienate them with complex systems of control. That's why Wii Sports and Wii Play are there to introduce the possibilties to people. But not overload them.

    But with the remote able to sense pointing, twisting, speed of moment and button presses + the Nunchuck with analogue movement and able to sense movement too the possiblities for complex games that utilise them all if a game requires it.

    Remember how tricky Mario 64 was to get used to because it was in 3D. Now 3D platformers are so much more complex. The revolution doesn't start with something like Halo 2, it starts with Wolfenstein.

    (disclaimer - examples used to illustrate point may not be agreed on)

  • SeesThroughAll #66 5 years ago

    Remember how tricky Mario 64 was to get used to because it was in 3D. Now 3D platformers are so much more complex. The revolution doesn't start with something like Halo 2, it starts with Wolfenstein.

    In which case, this revolution does not start with Red Steel either, it started with Duck Hunt a long time ago already.

  • cyber_nicco #67 5 years ago

    Bullshit. This game is a 4 at best.

    Seriously. I can't believe it got a 6 from what I've seen. Score this as an Xbox 360 game, and I (don't) wonder if it would score lower.

    Ninty-loving c*cksuckers...

    /heh heh

  • soanso #68 5 years ago

    I think people expect too much out of the wii controls. Of course the sword fighting isn't going to be realistic. It's no different to performing button combos or stick moves on the old controllers. You do the right move, it triggers the action.

    I've seen nothing on Wii so far that looks like it actually follows your motion.
    Moving a pointer onscreen is one thing but can it actually track proper motion?

    I think Red Steel looks like it needed another 6 moths or a year of work on it. Why do Wii games look worse than Gamecube games? Red Steel never looked good to me and watching some videos of other games, there's a lot of them that look like totaly dogs.
    Horrible mangey rabid stray dogs

  • Wash #69 5 years ago

    Hmm is interesting to see all the nintendolites defend this.

    "Ohh as expected will still purchase"

    "The DS had shit launch titles, give it a month or 2"

    "I expected it to be much worse, must buy for me"

    Have i just entered backwards bizzarro land.

    The only reason to own a Wii is out on Gamecube very soon, makes u wonder if all the sales so far have been on hype alone.

    I guess so.

  • Muddtallica #70 5 years ago

    Meh. The concept of this one - full-on motion sensing FPS with sword fighting - is excellent, but at no point during its development cycle did I ever see anything to convince me that these developers had the talent to pull it off successfully, especially on the time scale they were working on.

    Oh well, I'm hoping that stuff like this and Call of Duty are just going to be first-toe-in-the-water type stuff that will pave the way for other, better games in the future - let's face it, the Wii's potential for FPSs is massive, so hopefully these first few botched efforts will show other developers what not to do. I hope that they've got it right for Metroid Prime 3, though.

  • Roamer #71 5 years ago

    @Wonka; So the Wii will be the most successful console of all time, with unparallelled third-party support and a revolutionary control method. Well, colour me excited.

    And the news of Atlus' demise at the hands of savage fanboys was thoroughly expected after they failed to deliver Trauma Centre for launch.

  • ForbiddenForest #72 5 years ago

    Wonka - you're absolutely right. And hey, I missed out on a Wii so I cunningly bought the Wii Play pack and plugged this into my PS2 - Voila! £34.99, and two of the mini-games work a treat!

    On a serious note, it was an Xbox I plugged it into - I just made up the bit about PS2 because I got the impression that was your favourite format. Sorry. You'll have to buy an Xbox.

    It can't be long before we see the same controller on EA's other machines though, eh?

  • AcidSnake #73 5 years ago

    I linked it to my DS...

    Touch screens are so last gen...

  • jonsaan #74 5 years ago

    Bear in mind that even if a Light Sabre game did appear, it would be made by lucas arts and therefore, rubbish anyway. :)
    Edited by 1 at 14/12/06 @ 09:58

  • Ryze #75 5 years ago

    "The problem with a sword fighting (or lightsabre) game is that you need the feedback of having your blow hit the opponent's blade and be diverted. Otherwise where you're holding the remote isn't going to match where your sword is on the screen.

    For example: I do a big slice downward, but the enemy blocks it halfway through. In real life my remote is pointing at the ground. In the game my sword is pointing at the sky. It totally messes up and 1:1 control scheme."

    Well... that's like saying that when you move the analogue stick in a driving game it doesn't push back or stop when you slam into a wall or something similar.

    If the controller vibrates, and makes the clash sound along with your TV or soundsystem, plus the onscreen graphics displaing what's happened, then there'd be no problem.

    According to the capabilities actually stated by Nintendo and the game sites and magazines themselves, the Wiimote wont know where it is in an X,Y,Z cube around your TV, but will know how far it has moved and in which X,Y,Z directions during a complete gesture, and which way in the X,Y & Z it is facing at all times. The onscreen sabre would generally spring gradually back to the centre of the screen, and would be oriented in the same direction as the Wiimote, obviously depending on the current onscreen obstacles.

    If you're pushed up against a solid surface or weapon, then that's as far as the onscreen sabre will go, until it's out of the way or you point the controller away.

    The orientation of the controller can be sensed very accurately using the gyros. Now, gestures should allow movements that are mapped as closely as possibly to the onscreen action - not depending on pinpointing 3D space location, but on the gesture direction and path.

    For example, the controller could sense that you're making a big figure of 8, and the orientation of the controller throughout that gesture. This is without using the sensor bar at all. the sensor bar could be used for jabbing or stabbing motions (while holding a button if this helps) and set pieces that allow you to cut through objects like... there's a scene in the movies where they cut through a door and a lift if I remember correctly.

    But again, sword slashes can be carried out with gesture direction and orientation. Blocks could involve a button press (if needed) along with a realistic gesture and correct orientation with a comfortable margin of error.

    Then it needs to be decided whether the analogue stick is used to strafe or to turn. Whichever feels better when playing I guess.

    It's just something that requires time, talent, testing and feedback from gamers.

    If the Wiimote can't tell which way it is even facing in the X,Y,Z, then it's obviously going to be useless for that airplane / pilotwings looking game in the demo ads. Plus it also mustn't have any gyroscopes.

    If it cant register accellerometer based gestures in the X,Y,Z, then how would golf, boxing, bowling, tennis and baseball work, and how is Madden working so well.

    If it did know its position in 3D space, then I'd expect it'd need an origin, which it doesn't have. I heard that the sensorbar just gives it bearings on which way your TV is, and an area around which you can point on a 2D plane with the Wiimote facing the bar. The sensor bar needs more of a technical discussion from Nintendo.

    Phew... I spoke my brain... using LOGIC.
    Edited by 1 at 24/12/06 @ 14:46

  • Der_tolle_Emil #76 5 years ago

    Since I finally have my Wii and also Red Steel (I seriously thought of canceling my order because of the review; But seeing that would have left me with Zelda only I thought what the hell and did not cancel it).

    This is one of the very few reviews that I have to disagree with. I have been playing Gears of War and Rainbow 6 Vegas lately and both games are very good (to be clear: GoW is an 8. Period) so after reading the review I was afraid that I will be disappointed; Especially since I am not a total FPS fan anyway. I really like good FPS but I don't feel the need to play every single FPS out there.

    So after playing for a while I was quite surprised that Red Steel was really fun. The controls may seem awkward the first 5 minutes but I had no problems at all adjusting to the change. What also surprised me were the sword fights. They are quite simple but the controls do work - I am able to control the sword like I want it to. The sword indeed does what you do with the wiimote. There is no need to wildly swing the wiimote like crazy. When the timing is right (meaning you actually can hit the enemy because he is not dodging or parrying) it works like a charm. What you cannot do is just flick your wrist. You have to do the motion in full, even with the small movement settings. But it works.

    The story itself may be weak but the cutscenes are fine. They may not be Max Payne quality but they have their style and it fits the game. For which I have to say that the goldeneye analogy in the first paragraph is totally inappropriate. Yes it is no Unreal 3 engine but it does definetly not look bad. It is certainly missing places that make you stare at the TV for a few minutes and just awe at the graphics but which game does? Yes, Gears of War does that and PGR3 did it (maybe because it was the first thing I saw when I got my 360).

    I'm too lazy to write a user review but the written text of this review is way too harsh.

  • db3 #77 5 years ago

    Summary:

    Should have kept to guns, ditched sword play.
    GFX are really shite, what's with that outline effect - at first I thought it was a result of the cartoony style, but now I'm not so sure.
    Probably some old project for another console that Ubisoft dug up, patched and rushed out for the wii.

    However all things said, I've still played it far more than Gears purely due to the spot on control system. :)
    Quite how long that remains a novelty is another question ;)
    Edited by 1 at 07/01/07 @ 01:22