Red Steel 2 will only work with WMP

By Ellie Gibson Published 12 May, 2009

Without it, "The gameplay simply isn't there."

It's been confirmed that the next instalment in the Red Steel series will only work with the Wii MotionPlus accessory.

Speaking to Nintendo Power magazine (as reported by Nintendo Pad), creative director Jason Vandenberghe admitted the move is a bold one.

"It's a huge risk. We have no idea what the penetration rate for Wii MotionPlus will be. We assume high. We would like it to be high," he said.

"I would love to say to you that it’ll be compatible with just a regular controller, but the gameplay simply isn’t there without MotionPlus. That core experience just isn’t there without it."

Just like the first game, Red Steel 2 will see you taking on waves of baddies using the Wii remote as a virtual sword. Here's hoping the addition of WMP will earn it a higher score than the original, which only managed to get 6/10 on Eurogamer.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (13) Latest comment 3 years ago

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  • Doctor_What #1 3 years ago

    Everyone looked at the Wiimote and thought 'that would be so cool for sword fighting games' but no-one's managed it yet. If they pull this off then they could have the application that really sells the WMP accessory to hardcore gamers.

    Which translates to: 'Oh bugger, I'm going to spend yet more money upgrading the Wii so that it might do what it promised originally.'

  • OnlyMe #2 3 years ago

    Ah, but the sequel to Wii Sports (Wii Sports Resort) will come with the Motion Plus add-on, and I know I'm going to want that game when it comes out. Hopefully it's a little more fleshed out than the original.

    Plus, games like Grand Slam Tennis will include it. If the Red Steel 2 developers were smart, they would do this too. That way, there'd be no risk.

  • Mr_Bogus #3 3 years ago

    Or they could just sell motionplus separately at low/no profit, eg. €5/£5.

    That'll almost guarantee people will buy it.

  • peak_performance #4 3 years ago

    When was the last time a Ubisoft produced game, not to mention a shooter, was good?

    Think about that one for a while

  • Rirekon #5 3 years ago

    @ peak_performance;
    Er... Far Cry series? Solid FPS right there, Rainbow Six has been pretty good too - both had titles released in 2008

    I really hope this is good, I was so disappointed with Reed Steel

  • Ninja_Tino #6 3 years ago

    @Mr_Bogus, Nintendo? Not making a profit?
    [link url=http://www.play.com/Games/Wii/4-/6072250/Wii -MotionPlus/Product.html
    ]http://ww w.play.com/Games/Wii/4-/6072250...[/link]
    Think again.

  • Segnit #7 3 years ago

    A great call in my opinion. And if the quality of the game turns out to be triple A, I suspect great things for both Ubi and the Red Steel 2 IP.

    In the likely case that Wii Sports Resort and the new Tiger Woods game turn out to be triple A products, then no doubt that Wii Motion Plus will be the new standard on the Nintendo Platform.

  • Plewt #8 3 years ago

    @Ninja_Tino

    Read his post again.

    @Rirekon

    They didn't produce the first Far Cry and the second one was utter wank.

  • el-bandito #9 3 years ago

    Thought it meant Windows Media Player :/

  • DFawkes #10 3 years ago

    I don't want this anymore - I had no interest in WMP, meanign I'd have to buy on just for this, making it quite pricey. That's assuming isn't sold in a bundle of course, if they do a Wii Play style Red Steel 2 + WMP pack, I'd consider that.

  • Jesterrr #11 3 years ago

    Does anyone read this as anything other than a confession that the original Red Steel was pants?
    Edited by 1 at 12/05/09 @ 13:17

  • xandaca #12 3 years ago

    I hope they do a bundle, else I'll have to buy both of these seperately - or ask for them for my birthday, depending on how close to 'Holiday 2009' Ubisoft actually release this. In any case, releasing an edition with a packed-in WM+ should be fundamental business sense so hopefully it'll get sorted out. In any case, I'm really looking forward to this. It's a shame the gunplay has been marginalised, but the swordfighting, if done correctly this time, should be a hoot and I'm liking all the non-linearity the designers are employing. I didn't hate the original Red Steel, rather felt it was a good game let down by a lack of development and bug-testing time, and it had moments of pure inspiration - Tetsuo's Games is a fabulously entertaining mission. Will wait with fingers crossed that this turns out well.

  • neonemesis #13 3 years ago

    Well, I can't say I wasn't expecting this; the controls (or lack of in terms of swordplay) were one of the main gripes in the original game so it would look like a repeat performance for none motionplus-ers.

    They should do a bundle though tbh: if EA are doing it with the Tennis game then there's no reason why Ubi can't either.