Short version...






Long version:

Any game I play for five straight hours on its first boot-up is a good one in my book. Especially when it requires a very physical style of play. (believe me, I can feel it this morning) If you're going to play, you're going to play standing up and with your boots on.

The Wii drought is a distant memory for me. I've been gaming non-stop for the past year, always with some disc or WiiWare on the go but it's rare that a game comes along that reminds me of the initial excitement we had when the Wii concept was first revealed. For me, Red Steel 2 doesn't just live up to that excitement it manages to do things that I hadn't expected at all.


- Red Steel 2 is so good it almost makes me want to replay the first game. If you played RS1, you know what an achievement that is. :)

- The WM+ lets you aim outside of the boundaries of the screen and turn faster the further you go. The bounding box style of play is so ingrained in me now that I had to relearn how to play with a Wiimote. But this is so much more instinctive and controllable. Every FPS should support WM+ from now on.

- Consistency. We've all played Wii games that don't respond how you expect. Even the best ones, the games that defy waggle and have definite actions you're supposed to make, leave you frustrated when they don't register what you're doing. Red Steel 2 isn't like that. You stab forward, your character stabs. You slice in whatever direction, your character slices. You guard against attacks in different directions, the game doesn't let you down. You swing harder and wider for extra damage, it works. You mix moves and button presses into a combo and a finisher, consistent results everytime. It's practically a revelation.

- No gimmicky wrist flicks. Hey, you want to play a sword fighting game but you don't want to swing your arm? Fuck you. This isn't Wii Sports Tennis, this is a physical combat simulator. If you don't perform natural motions, if you don't wind back before you swing, you will get eaten alive by the bad guys.

- One calibration per game. Red Steel 2 only requires you place the WM+ on a flat surface once when the game boots up. Then that's it. Ubisoft and Nintendo/Retro said they were working on new, invisible ways of calibrating the WM+ during play and apparently they suceeded because this isn't like Wii Sports Resort where you always have one finger on the D-pad for recalibration. It just works.

- And the big thing I wasn't expecting... I can play an action brawler game, with combos and combat strategy and finishers, without ever feeling like I'm throwing moves and hoping for the best. This is possibly the best action game I've played in terms of how you're given an expanding set of moves and they all have their uses, their variations, and they don't get muddled up in my head or forgotten. Maybe it's the benefit of using muscle memory instead of just a list of buttons, but I am loving being able to use everything that the game gives me as it was intended. I can't tell you how many action games I've played through while favoring just the flying kick, or one or two specific attacks. :D Red Steel 2 makes you feel like a bad-ass, not because you're tough and strong, but because you can more easily decide what you want to do in any given split-second of a situation, and then do it.

-=-

I've heard suggestions that the game isn't that long overall and I guess that means I'll have played through it before too long, but I am loving what is there. I'm sold on the future of this as a franchise now. Hell, a lot of other developers should be standing up and paying attention to what Ubisoft has achieved here. A great looking, great playing game on the Wii that treats its audience like gamers, not suckers.

Everyone here should get the chance to play it. Don't miss out!

URL to share (right click and copy)

I endorse this thread. Red Steel 2 is pretty awesome.

Posted by

GameDadGrant

on: 03/31/10, 14:29

Did NP say that?

It's used throughout, it makes everything work consistently and it takes away the limits of the TV screen (sensor bar). It's not used in an in your face way like Wii Sports Resort's sword duel, you're not constantly staring at your blade and waving it around. The angle and tilt -is- shown correctly when you're block, for instance, but generally your attacks are distilled into specific moves. The moves don't feel scripted, it doesn't ever feel like you're making a motion and then triggering an animation... it's hard to describe other than to say WM+ makes the game work. It allows you to trust what you're doing. You can be sure the correct move will happen in the game, and with the right angle and strength of it too. All those moves and they all work.

It's liberating to play a motion control game where you're not fighting the recognition software, you're just fighting the enemies.

Lots of positive review scores now.

Posted by

Infinitywave

on: 03/31/10, 16:14

Edited:

03/31/10, 16:17

I really want to buy it, but cash is seriously tight right now... and there's also the fact that I have a feeling that it will be $30 in a month, like all the other third party games. *shrugs*

Posted by

Hinph

on: 03/31/10, 16:26

When I rented Red Steel 2 for a week (although I couldn't play as much as I wanted to ..oh well) I enjoyed it. I'm picking this up when it goes down in price... What I like about it is that you don't HAVE to swing your arm - if you just feel like stabbing someone with no effort just change the settings to "relaxed".... a nice feature.

Unfortunately, as stated above, I was not able to play as much as I wanted to so I can't give out a full review/impression but from what I played it deserves an 8 out of 10.... my biggest fear was that it would just be too repetitive and in the beginning...it is. But as I was going through the game, the story starts to grab you a little and the scenery starts changing. Boss fights are great...the combos/moves that you can unlock are awesome - and you can practice them on destructable objects too. Remember the actors swinging their sword for RSteel 1 and Zelda way back in 2006? Well now that can be you. This game focuses on the battles - all a good thing. It's a game meant for people who just want to jump into the action as fast as possible and stick the sword into some evil bandit. Bad day at work? Play this game. Someone cut you off while you were driving? Play this game. Wife PMS? ... hide....then play this game.

- give this game a chance....you may like what you see

S

Posted by

Smerd

on: 03/31/10, 16:42

Thanks for the write-up, I am considering getting this because it sounds like they really pulled it off. Shooting and slicing, what more could you want, right?

Posted by

anon_mastermind

on: 03/31/10, 16:49

I'm not sure about this. I want to like it but I fucking hated the first game. I'm also not a big fan of FPS games. Is there enough sword fighting?

Posted by

Cube191

on: 03/31/10, 17:05

Cube191 said:

I'm not sure about this. I want to like it but I fucking hated the first game. I'm also not a big fan of FPS games. Is there enough sword fighting?

This game has got to be 95% sword fighting.... The gun is used as a secondary weapon... I think you can carry up to 4 guns but it's not needed..at least from what I can tell... The battles are geared for sword use. Using the gun to shoot the knee or something to slow them down is common before you finish them off.. It's not like RS1 (I hated the game too) you can change your weapons on the fly.. There are so many control options/tweaks so you may have to put in a little more time to get used to the controls..

Give the game a rent - it deserves at least that!

S

Posted by

Smerd

on: 03/31/10, 19:20

I'll have to add it to the rental pile for now, just spent 60+ on Monster Hunter Tri and 40 on SSF4 with b-day money. I'm trying to sneak in Spirit Tracks this week as well, and still have to pay to apply to school Monday, lol.

But damn, lots of positive impressions coming forth. Good stuff.

Posted by

roknin

on: 03/31/10, 22:09

I haven't played the game a lot yet (I want to so badly), but it is so impressive so far.

And Y-Alpha... the WM+ lets you aim outside of the boundaries of the screen and turn faster the further you go??

Seriously? Is this something you noticed or did Ubisoft confirm this? I wouldn't have thought WM+ had any effect on the IR detection.

Posted by

roykoopa64

on: 04/01/10, 01:23

Edited:

04/01/10, 01:23

Yeah, lots of positive impressions flowing. I really want to try the game out for myself. I'm happy that Ubisoft seems to have proven me wrong!

Maybe they put more effort into it in anticipation of the Move port.

Posted by

Anand

on: 04/01/10, 02:52

I'll probably get it eventually, if for no other reason than I really want to play a Wii MotionPlus game in the action/adventure genre. The gameplay and style don't necessarily appeal to me per se, but another great Wii MotionPlus game does.

Did you really have to calibrate a lot in Wii Sports Resort? I've heard it is dependent on a lot of factors, but I never had Wii Sports Resort calibration issues, for me it has pretty much always been once at the beginning of an event, and that is it.

Posted by

Zero

on: 04/01/10, 05:55

How long is it?

I just beat what seemed to be the Water Gardens, which was pretty to look at.

Am I close to the end?

Posted by

Griptor

on: 04/01/10, 06:15

I really need to finish up The Conduit so I can fully focus on Red Steel 2.

But first I need to somehow avert my attention away from Tatsunoko vs Capcom, which seems impossible lately.

Posted by

GameDadGrant

on: 04/01/10, 18:07

I've just received my copy today, sadly I'll be Wii-less for the wii-kend, Easter and all that jazz, you know. I only had an hour to play around, and damn, I believe the people who say you feel it the next morning. Seems to me it takes quite a lot of force for a swing to register. I'll try and "swing from the elbow" like they advise, but damn, I was caught unprepared.

I've mentioned in the past how the non-interactive worlds of Ratchet and Clank annoy me, how shooting stuff is disappointing because the bullets just go through... not so in this game. I've barely explored the first area, but everything in the scenery I've shot so far that looked like it would react to a bullet (i.e. pretty much anything that's not the floor or the walls) have reacted satisfyingly.

Waluigi is pleased (and so am I).

Posted by

Pandareus

on: 04/02/10, 04:31

I just picked this game up today, and I can say I am completely satisfied so far. I have only got down to the lower level, but I am really enjoying everything this has. I was afraid that the swordplay would get really repetetive, but so far the different bad guys with different finishing moves keeps it fresh so far. The only time I seem to be using the gun is when shooting items for gold, not fighting anyone. Overall so far I am having a great time, and will definately advise my friends to purchase this game.

Posted by

helaciouscrumb

on: 04/02/10, 06:04

You know what I love? This game has gotten the exact opposite reaction the first did.

Posted by

carlosrox

on: 04/02/10, 16:39

EDIT: I FINALLY LEARNED HOW TO PROPERLY SIZE THE IMAGE!!! Problem now is it appears stretched

I drew some art very much inspired by Red Steel 2. I did a few characters for my storyboard assignments that were also inspired strongly by the Red Steel 2 design. I love the art and I still need to get that game!!

Check out the blatant Razorwind rip-off!!


Couple of rough sketches all on one page (gotta love the Red and blue pencil!) and as a bonus you can see a sketch I did of Double Dragon 2 (the first boss grabbing and punching Billy...or Jimmy)


Wind and dust blowing

Posted by

carlosrox

on: 04/04/10, 04:02

Edited:

04/04/10, 04:09

I wasn't really planing on picking this game up, haven't really had the cash to warrant the $59.99 price tag. But when I saw it for $35.99 without WM+ at Game Crazy, it ended up coming home with me. They where also doing a buy 2 get 1 free on all used games, so it came out to like 27 bucks, 33 if you count the WM+ I picked up. Not to shabby of a deal for a game that came out a couple of weeks ago.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that despite what I saw in the trailers, you are still able to turn your gun side ways.

If you are wondering, yes there is a lazy bastard mode(relaxed swing strength) and it's a huge plus when playing sitting down. It's a joy to play no matter which swing strength you use. Even on relaxed and using slight wrist motions it still feels like the controller is an extension of your arm, and still feels convincingly like you are using a sword. You flick or swing left, the sword goes left, unlike the force unleashed where the lightsaber pretty much has a mind of its own. Oh, and if you know how to safely twirl a sword, try it with this game, you'll be surprised how many of your movements it recognizes(may damage wiimote if you're not careful).

One of my favorite little things about this game, is that some of the music has an east meets west feel that sounds like it was lifted straight out of Firefly.

Posted by

nhatch

on: 04/04/10, 12:07

Yes! I picked up on that Firefly vibe too. And I love the attention to detail in the wind FX, the acoustics of the very distant sounds of fighting, things like that set the game apart. I get more of a Capcom feel from the game than a Ubisoft one.

Nice sketches, Carlosrox. :) Makes me think that if we're lucky enough to get a Red Steel 3 they should stay in this time and world and just expand it. I'd been thinking another jump forwards would be cool, go all out spacey, but there's more goodness to mine in Caldera.

Posted by

Infinitywave

on: 04/04/10, 12:47

In regards to Red Steel 3. Jason Vandenberghe said that Red Steel is more of a concept than a series, kind of like how Final Fantasy is different in every game yet the concept stays the same. He also said he wanted to make a Red Steel with a sword and shield combo, so that may imply a European setting. I think however that the world they created in Red Steel 2, modern but lawless, where people grasp onto tradition for a sense of pseudo normalcy, lends itself to a knights with guns scenario.

It really makes you wonder what the rest of the world looks like. If America is cowboys and katanas, what does Japan look like? How about the Caribbean, pirates with AKMs and RPGs?

Anyway, I just got the sidewinder, and was a little disappointed that the Hero doesn't flip cock it like in Terminator 2. Maybe he does after a few more upgrades, but I could have sworn someone in the gaming press mentioned it was the primary way the gun was cocked. Speaking of T2, I'm hoping that something like the sawed off Winchester 1887 10 gauge makes it into the next game. Maybe they could put more than four guns in it, and you can chose which four at a time you wish to carry.

And by the way, the four guns that can be instantly accessed system is a great addition, it's a nice change from the two weapons switched in real time system that has become overused this generation, but still within the realm of possibility. Although in all honesty the 2 weapons at a time system is a bit unrealistic too. I never understood why one would need to drop a pistol, which would likely be carried in a holster, just to grab a second rifle, shotgun or submacine gun. Or like in Halo, where you can dual wield until you switch to your other weapon, why does the Master Chief need to drop his second pistol? Why doesn't he strap a second holster on, and go to battle with 2 magnums?

Posted by

nhatch

on: 04/05/10, 11:17