Red Steel 2 (Wii)

This is the one of the most original FirstPerson shooter console games I ever experienced. RED STEEL 2 is a SteamPunk-Western/Anime and it has been perfectly designed to take advantage of the technological capabilities of the Wii!SCARE YOUR ENEMIES BY THE WAY YOU CARRY YOURSELFThe controls are a breeze to pick up. You move with the nunchuck and you turn by pointing the Wii-Remote. You fire your gun with the B-button whereas you unsheathe your katana with the A-button and swing the Wii-Remote like a real sword. And the last point is what makes this game so much fun. You slash, stub or hack by simply doing the same movements with your right arm holding the Wii-Remote.This is not a workout game but after about an hour of having fun slashing and stubbing you will feel your upper arms to burn.As you progress, there are improvements for your weapons and powers to purchase as well as special moves to learn by the cheeky weaponsmith/sensei.THE WEST NEVER LOOKED THIS COOLHigh-end graphics have never been the Wii's strong suit. That is why the cel-shaded (comic book) graphical style (similar to XIII and Borderlands) fits the gameplay well. Backgrounds, enemies and fighting moves (especially finishing moves) look really cool and crisp and greatly help the player immerse in the Anime atmosphere.HAVING SWORD WILL SAVE THE TOWNThe game requires the MotionPlus! extension of the Wii-Remote (and it is not included). There is a different edition of the game that includes this extension but this is not the one mind you.They are coming again - keep those katanas ready!HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I finally got around to buying this when I got the Wii Motion Plus add on recently.First impressions were good, it looks really nice and the controls are pretty well done, using the motion controls is good fun.I was surprised how linear the game is- There really isnt much freedom, the game could have been on rails between objectives and it wouldnt have made a difference. The objectives were a bit repetetive, usually boiled down to defeating various pretty generic enemies or finding some hidden objects.You unlock lots of new sword techniques as you progress, I probably should have learned more of them to vary my game a bit, but in the heat of battle it didnt feel like the time to be experimenting with the motion equivalent of trying to pull of a Mortal Kombat button press fatality of a technique you havent used since the training segment. But maybe I just have a bad memory- it is recorded on the pause screen if you want to refresh yourself.Rather than coming across enemies in a natural way, they are in pre determined areas and you get locked into battle like in a JRPG, defeat the enemies and you can collect the money and move on.I like that at least this is divided into short segments, so once youve cleared an area everything resets and you get your health back and the game saves frequently. Ordinarlily I'd prefer a more traditional find health or survival style thing, but I think I would have found the game tedious if the action had slowed down further for that.I enjoyed the game early on, but I think that it never really gets any better. There are some fun techniques that get introduced, but the gameplay itself is not quite what I wanted somehow. I think I was expecting something more like GoldenEye with swords, maybe a bit of stealth. I cant blame the game for its genre, it just doesnt feel like a very full game to me. I suppose it is more like an arcade game.It also feels like you spend way too much time smashing scenery for money.Overall, I liked the game, it was enjoyable. It does what it does well. However, I never found it particularly gripping and there were no real high points for me, it is like a great idea that never got realised into a great game.

You will need to "learn and practice" the tricks and moves... it killed the main reason I chose Wii over XBox and Playstation.I hate xBox and PS action or any other games because you have to LEARN to use complicated controls. And this game will make you do that.Not recommended for Wii users like me who want simple and intuitive games. And I love other action games of Wii such as Manhunt, Resident Evil, Cursed Mountain, etc.