In a proverbial ballet of death, bullets fly left and right, and the cold steel samurai katana clash in Ubisoft's "Red Steel." Interactive environments and pretty graphics can only take a title so far — fine-tuning could have made the game a smash hit. This highly anticipated Wii first-person shooter scores major points in terms of originality, but it possesses a control scheme worse than the abysmal voice acting.
When a Yakuza overlord is murdered and his daughter Miyu is kidnapped, a gang war commences on the streets of Tokyo. As game character Scott Monroe, players fight to save his damsel-in-distress fiancée and persuade other Tokyo mob bosses to join forces to stop the war.
"Red Steel" is really a great looking game visually, with highly detailed environments. Displaying everything from water effects to the realistic steam of a sauna, Ubisoft really covers its bases. Objects in each of the rooms can be affected by player weaponry, as computer monitors' screens, for instance, can be shot out. Also, players can utilize much of the level for cover to avoid enemy fire, even having the ability to flip over a table, with a quick flick of the Wii Nunchuk, to avoid death.
There are really no texture problems that plague some other Wii titles, as everything is polished and clean. Developers make an interesting call for storyline presentation. Instead of the typical motion sequences, there is a comic book style with several frames flashing in and out, giving the games a dark feeling.
Sound is a mixed bag as there are both really strong and weak points. Musically, the soundtrack compliments the levels quite well. The music changes in combat situations, adding to the effectiveness. Sound effects are also well executed. Each weapon is unique, and players grow accustomed to the sounds the shots make as they break glass or break a table into mere splinters.
However, there is one major downside to sound, and that is the voice acting. Gamers will be left unsure of what the developers were going for, but if it was a cheap, dubbed samurai movie tone, then they have succeeded. The voice actors sound as though they are trying to force out poor English, as well as inauthentic-sounding Japanese, which is just disgusting.
Artificial intelligence is surprisingly… intelligent. Enemies will effectively utilize cover and are, at times, dangerously accurate with their shots. The added difficulty is a plus, as players can't just mindlessly run through the levels slaughtering foes, but have to apply a certain degree of strategy. AI is at times really comical too, as it is not every day that gamers get to see Yakuza clad in a simple white towel burst out of a sauna brandishing an assault rifle — simply priceless. A nice touch is that players can use their weapons to interact with characters in ways other than busting a cap in their asses. Pointing an uzi in the face of a non-hostile initiates at times a short conversation, which can yield information about objectives.
Controls are a huge disappointment to "Red Steel." When this game was introduced, there was a buzz over the sword fighting that players would be able to engage in as a form of combat. However, the realism that was promised is a letdown since the controls are limited to basically four moves: up, down, left and right. Supplementary actions like parry attacks add a bit of dimension, but katana battles are far too easy and lose luster fairly quickly.
Aiming is really the only almost-precise form of control. Simply pointing the Wiimote at the screen and pulling the trigger sets off an array of gunfire. However, this can also be glitchy, and the cursor jumps around the screen erratically. In conjunction with the Wiimote, gamers are required to connect a nunchuk control, which is used for basic movements like running and jumping. Though, when it comes to opening doors and reloading weapons, the nunchuk can feel uncomfortable, forcing players to constantly flip their wrists while attempting to move simultaneously.
Finally, the Wiimote controls camera movement along with aiming, but is never truly responsive, and will only leave players frustrated when the camera swivels out of control and ruins their shot.
"Red Steel," like virtually every other first-person shooter, has a multi-player mode, but it is nothing too special. If players are not used to the controls, which can take hours to fully grasp, multi-player is a lost cause. It is definitely not a game that gamers can invite friends over to play casually. This mode seems poorly planned since there are not enough gameplay modes and only a handful of maps. It comes off as being incomplete.
With a more accessible control scheme and multi-player mode, "Red Steel" could have been a must-have holiday title. However, since developers spent more time creating a more visually appealing title, they succeeded only in destroying the hype surrounding the game.
Grade: 2.5 out of 5.
