Red Steel Comments by Tom Bramwell

Game looks alright, but these are hardly the best screenies in the world :/

Ugly url overlay in the bottom left. spoils some otherwise good screenshots!

Anyone else think the enemies look like sprites?

Oh, that's funny, Furby, because I get the same feeling about the PS3 each time I look at its Dual Shock 1.02. Then I remember there are so many many zombies just like you.


On topic: the screenshots look pretty damn good, especially the last one with the detailed artwork in those textures.

Yes, pretty dismal. These shots look current-gen, and I was expecting more from the Wii, although I'm sure future games will look much better (launch games are always pinch-of-salt affairs). We've all said it though, it's about the gameplay and if it has it then it has it.

IMO it's an awful game concept anyway, and doesn't interest me in the slightest. I guess some people will love it, though.

This game has "cynical use of the Wiimote" written all over it. I don't have a crystal ball, but I'm betting any money you like that the back of the box will go Hell for leather in extolling the virtue of actually been able to swing a sword in real-time. Swords and guns in one game? Not sure I've ever seen that before. Three guesses why both first-person implements have been incorporated into this game. Methinks I smell "this is what the Wiimote can do" gimmick coming off my PC monitor.....

Yes of course - this is only to be expected from the first wave of games though. Hopefully (or at least I hope that) the launch window titles don't dictate the gameplay of the rest of the lifecycle's games. It didn't for the DS, in my opinion.

You can't sell a system to new people by offering them something subtle. You wouldn't expect to get most people interested in cinema by showing them Stalker followed by Koyaanisqatsi followed by The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser. You, of course, would argue that such refined offerings have no value at all, preferring as you do your mainstream products. Unforunately for that argument, any market would soon bottom out if the mainstream was all that was allowed to get there. In any event, they need to demonstrate the principles of the system in macro before concentrating on the micro.

Koyaanisqatsi

Didn't know they were doing a DS version! Looks pretty good.

Lots of fanboy trolls on here then?

Look at one games screenshots, and therefor judge the entire systems graphical capabilities on it! Sigh.

meh.. while you're masturbating over your pretty pixels and trying desperately to justify to everyone on forums why that was the best 600 quid you ever spent on a games machine.. Those of us who dont care, will be busy having fun.

If you care THAT much about gfx, may I suggest a copy of Myst to wank over?

Fanboy of what, exactly? Non-ugly screenshots?

A fanboy or a troll is anyone who disagrees with smelly, either explicitly or indirectly. If the disagreement is quite great, then the person in question is amost certainly both (a "fanboy troll").

Fanboy, troll or both? You, the reader, may decide.

How many times must I point out my reluctance to hop aboard the PlayStation-slagging bandwagon? I do not hate Nintendo for hates sake, because I perceive them to be a 'threat'. I hate them for shitty little comments like Smelly made. i bet he thought that the Nintendo 64 was more fun than the PlayStation. And the same for the Gamecube to the PlayStation 2. Well, on both counts, he would be completely, totally and utterly wrong. and looking at the next 12 month lineup on the Xbox 360, starting this fall, gaming on the console has some special nights ahead of it............

Jeez Bundy man, calm down a bit. It's only a game...

Somehow, I think if you can't learn to live with other people's opinions, like the possibility that someone might have found the n64 more fun than the ps1 for the games they owned, overall, then you may not be here much longer.

The more of albundy's posts I read, the more I like the screenshots. It's like driniking and finding the lonely lady in the bar more and more attractive.

lol!

Until you wake up the next morning and realise just what an awful bloody mistake you've just made.....

"i bet he thought that the Nintendo 64 was more fun than the PlayStation."

Bastard, eh?

The strange thing is, albundy, you can actually be right about things. Quite often (or at least, you're right about the same thing quite often).

But... for the love of christ just shut up about it!

I've always said. As soon as 'certain' people stop acting like the Wii is gaming delivered upon a white chariot horse, and that all X360 and PS3 games are the same things over and over with 'shiny' graphics, then that'll be the day I zip it.

Look at the last gen. Splinter Cell was a huge evolutionary leap on the previously virgin stealth subgenre. Max Payne was the 'first' 'Matrix' videogame, giving rise to Stranglehold. Knights of the Old Republic was revolutionary in itself, as it was the first to really immerse you in the mythos of the Star Wars films, in making you feel like a powerful Jedi Knight with an important destiny before him. Brothers in Arms took the ailing WWII genre, and late in the last gen, turned the concept on its head, in giving us an FPS RTS game, that felt more like Band of Brothers, unlike other WWII games which feel more like Doom: 1945. Prince of Persia built on the limited but popular Tomb Raider model of the PlayStation era, to give us a modern, fluid and dynamic platformer (although I still think TRL is better).

Notice something here? Innovation in the last gen DID happen. Maybe not everyone noticed it, because it didn't come self-importantly with a new (and needless) controller, but it was there all along, and right under our noses too. Sure, there was a lot of dross in amongst it too. So? Most movies and albums are shit. It's the unfortunate adverse effect of being mainstream. More dollar-eyed cowboys hop on board. But overall, the last gen brought us some really innovative and groundbreaking games. And I only mentioned Xbox there. What of Resident Evil 4's reinvention of the survival horror genre? What of Ico's and SotC's artistic and emotional splendour? Who new circa 2000 that we would have received such magnificent games? And I tell you something for fucking nothing. Come 2010, we will be saying the same things about the X360 and PS3. If Nintendoites want to delude themselves into thinking that games wont evolve on the powerhouses, then that's their business. Because they WILL.

He's a man on crusade!! He wont rest until the internets are safe from people who dare to think the Wii might be something different!!

He's an unstoppable force of nature. He's double the trouble Wii ever had. He's a man on the edge. He's...albundy. Cleaning up the web since 2006.

His internets are blocking my tubes.

What's he going on about with all that lower ceiling shite?

Seems alright to me if you're not that tall. Anyway, the room is loads bigger.

Al, you've actually got a good point there among the ranting, namely that the last gen had it's share of innovative games (although many of your examples are evolutionary more than revolutionary) and that it's a bit daft to think a new controller is the answer to everything. Your point would hit home a lot harder if it wasn't smothered with unfathomable, zealous hatred of Nintendo- who after all, are only a games company. Try and understand that, as strange as it might seem to you, some of us actually like Nintendo's games and are interested in the direction they're taking (especially given what the DS has done for handhelds- I thought that would be a gimmick but I can't put mine down nowadays). Wouldn't the world be dull if we were all the same?

Many people say the same thing. I make a lot of exceelent points, which are oft ruined by my over-zealous anti rants. Fair enough. But I wouldn't feel this way if Wii extollers didn't have such a snobby attitude, and dismissed the Xbox 360 out of hand, with the implication that it is the console for braindead chavs and chavistas. A 12 month lineup that includes both sequels and original content, in Halo 3, Forza 2, Fable 2, Gears of War, Mass Effect and Dead Rising, is NOT one to be pooh-poohed on. Not least when you add the consoles Live Arcade and media capabilities on top of that. The Xbox 360 (and the PS3 too, I'm sure) has some exciting times and games ahead of it, and PLENTY of innovation, fun, excitement and new ideas tm to boot. If Nintendophiles would just acknowledge that, and stop acting all high and mighty, like the Wii is the bastion for greatness and the champion of videogames, whilst the other two seek to destroy our industry with their 'wrong' shooters, racing games and the like, then I woud quit my hellbent crusade to point out to the starry-eyed Nintendoite the every flaw and misconception of and behind Nintendo. Not least of which is the fact that the DS' touchscreen IS largely a gimmick. Few games on the thing NEED it in order to be made possible, and people forget that the DS comes with a very, very, very generic and standard D-Pad and controller setup, which allows the touchscreen to be the luxury that it is.

Oh god, its even worse. He actually admits he's on a crusade.

FFS al, do you realise how many hardcore Nintendo fans there are out there? And more to the point, what do you care what they say? Tell you what, do us all a favour and take your mission elsewhere - if I were you I'd start on the American sites. You'll find much better acceptance amoung the teenage fanboys over there.

No, it's not a 'crusade' as such. It's offering an alternative viewpoint to the web of lies by those who wish to push themselves forward as the only 'right' way. For instance, this whole DS thing. Let me give you an example of VITAL control inputs. Triggers on control pads. Ask any console gamers whether firing off rounds in a shooter, on manipulating the accelarator and the brake in a racer feel more tactile with a trigger, or with regular buttons. The addition of triggers on the DS3 are a testament to their undeniable impact. For you see, the DS' touchpad options are a nice thing to have. Don't misunderstand me. There is nothing negative about them, especially as they are not compromising conventional controls, as is happening on the Wii. BUT. The touchpad is not VITAL for many of its games. Except maybe for shooters, I guess. But then again, that's only because nobody has realised that handheld consoles are not deep enough for good control sticks, and that a trackball is the only way to go.

"FFS al, do you realise how many hardcore Nintendo fans there are out there? And more to the point, what do you care what they say?"

Because hardcore Ninty fans do not just include internet fanboys. They also include the guys in the media who grew up on Nintendo games, and spread such false beliefs throughout the community as fact.

"Games can't be fun unless they're photorealistic physics powerhouses."

And what, pray tell, is your definition of photo-realistic? Did Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic fit that oft-mentioned 'realistic' tag?

If you don't post more succinctly people won't bother to read your posts and that's half the reason we all rip the shit out of you all the time. Some of your points are fine and makes sense but extracing them from your long-winded, offensive generalisation-filled posts is too much of a chore.

Eh, my little brother has one, along with about 10-15 games, each of which I've played (although most only fleetingly, admittedly).

Next point?

Again, having played a wide assortment of its games, I'm sorry to say that I disagree.

Never played it. I can only judge what of I've played.

Metacritic score of 71. So, gimmicky game, which by game review score standards, is 'crap'.

Let me rephrase. Most of the widely acclaimed GOOD DS games worth a damn, a few of which are in my brothers collection, are entirely non-touchpad compatable. NSMB, Metroid, Nintendogs, etc included.

I'm not going to get into an itemized discussion with you. Obviously, SOME of the DS' 200+ games library will make essential use of the touchpad. Duh! I'm merely saying that the vast majority don't, from the reviews and previews I've read.

The end.

Some games make use of the lightgun or the steering wheel. Neither are proclaimed as being the "future of games".

I never said otherwise.

Still think it's pretty inflexible though, on the whole.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm off to play some Pro Evo. No more questions pleased, lest I be implored to answer them.

Not interested in that. I'm more interested to see how the sheer brute physics processing power of the Xbox 360 will make for a more fluid, dynamic, and tactile game of football. Maybe it is you with the grafix obsession?

But hey, why not have both? An advanced physics system that makes the game seem more real and responsive, AND great graphics. Because you see, on the Xbox 360, it is possible to have both.

By the way, you never did explain whether or not Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic counted as being photo-realistic or not.....

"Don't let me keep you from such innovative heights as Pro Evo (2, 3, 4, 5, 6?)."

And you Pokemon Blue, Red, Yellow, Gold, Magenta, Silver, Platinum, Green-mixed-with-yellow-=-another-Blue.........

Man, I was hoping for some rebuttals from smelly this morning, but all we get is albundy embarassing himself even further, and falling into frod's logic trap. :-/

"Albundy over 21 Million DS sold much more than PSP's. Maybe people do like the new way to play games i.e. DS over graphics PSP."

Not that I care either way, because for me, iPod pwns handheld gaming, but I'd LOVE to know how different things would be if the PSP was £100-150. I really, truly, honestly would. Because you see, nobody is going to buy a handheld for what the PSP is currently priced. Every consumer good has a tactily agreed price ceiling. For instance, a HDTV can start at £1000 and people will see that as being 'fair'. But would they feel the same for a games console? Hell no. And the PSP is a victim of Sony's own stupidity, just as they are potentially pricing themselves out of the market with the PS3. If the PSP had been significantly cheaper, then I would bet you any money that the gap between it and the dS would have been miniscule. If anything, the PSP may possibly have been leading by now, because were PSP such a price, I would easily but it over a DS. But it ain't, so I wouldn't touch it with yours.

Congrats frod. That was an VERY impressive piece of pwnage. And extremely concise too.

/doffs cap

Well, my mom would never have considered playing a videogame until I showed her Animal Crossing on my DS. Now, she steals (and keeps) my DS every time I visit home, and wants me to buy a DS lite so she can have the old one. That upcoming 42-board-games-thingamajig will be perfect for her as well.

Without the touchpad, that would just never have happened.

What's wrong with you ppl? Just buy the Xbox360 now, and then a Wii when it comes out.

Easy really.

HAHA!

Look my point was (and admitidely i didnt make it very well), is that people seem to be judging not just ONE game on a handful of screenshots.

Which imho is stupid anyhows, how the hell anyone can judge a quality of a game based on a few static images is beyond me (otherwise myst would be the best game ever made).

But they're judging the WHOLE SYSTEM on a handful of screenshots (which in themselves say nothing about how good or bad the game is) from ONE game!

Personally this is one game i WONT be getting. I am bored to death of fps and racing games, which is the one reason i wont be buying a 360 or ps3 until they have announced some decent looking games which arent just that :-)

PSP great graphics shit games poor sales compared to DS average graphics great games and outselling the psp nuff said to the fanboy dereks

they're all called derek?!

Yep, every single one of them!