Product Description

Fight against armed gangs in both the U.S. and Japan in this brand new first person actioner from the publishers of Rainbow Six and Splinter Cell. Master both guns and swords as you play through the bloodiest game yet on the Wii.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3738 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: UBI Soft
• Released on: 2006-12-08
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Platform: Nintendo Wii
• Original language: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish
• Dimensions: .26 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review

In a nutshell:
Fight against armed gangs in both the U.S. and Japan in this brand new first person actioner from the publishers of Rainbow Six and Splinter Cell. Master both guns and swords as you play through the bloodiest game yet on the Wii.

The lowdown:
One of the biggest third party games announced exclusively for the Wii, this is also the first proper first person shooter for the new console. You use the nunchuck controller to move around and the Wii remote to aim your weapons with real precision (the game even knows when you’re holding a gun sideways, gangsta style). When using a sword the motion sensors in the nunchuck are used to block and you can slash away with the Wii remote. The graphics aren’t massively more impressive than a good GameCube game but the seedy Japanese back streets and giant explosions look great and the artificial intelligence for enemies is already quite a challenge.

Most exciting moment:
The game features an ability to called freeze tagging which allows you to slow down time and “tag” enemy body parts with the Wii remote. When you switch back to normal time you can take down each enemy you tagged instantly.

Since you ask:
As seen at E3 the sword controls do not respond exactly to the movements you make with the Wii remote, for example moving the remote up actually causes a downward thrust. Following complaints though Ubisoft have promised to change things for the final game.

The bottom line:
The Wii gets violent with the next gen’s only first person sword fighter.
HARRISON DENT

Manufacturer's Description
Red Steel is an exclusive Wii launch title that takes full advantage of the console's innovative controller and puts players directly into the action-packed first-person experience with the weapon in their hand literally.

An engaging storyline unfolds as you learn that your fiancée has been kidnapped and her father a Japanese mafia kingpin murdered by a rival gang. The only way to save your loved one and defend your honor is to journey from Los Angeles to Japan and confront the Tokyo underworld.

By learning the ancient art of Japanese fighting with your katana and the focused precision of modern firearms, you will progress and adapt yourself to this foreign environment, where skills alone may not guarantee you victory.

Customer Reviews

Satisfying when mastered.
I found this game to be very dull at first. The early stages of the plot are far from exciting but I soon realised that they are nessecary to set the scene and to get the player used to the control system for moving, shooting and sword fighting. Once the on-the-job training is done the plot moves on at a quick pace and you start to understand whats going on.

The cut scenes are a bit of a cop out graphically but they do feel Japanese and are very similar to the acting - its like a very cheesily dubbed japanese action movie. (Japanese speaking english with American accents)

The game is very difficult to get to grips with at first as the wiimote is quite sensitive and leaves quite a small window in the center of the screen where aiming does not mean turning rapidly.

I found the uzi very hard at first - I kept unloading 45 bullet clips and missing completely! After a while it just becomes second nature and very very satisfying when you are confident enough to charge through corridors gunning down enemies as you go. The shot gun is a good gun for begginers and once this is learned you should be more confident with the uzi.

Sword controls are not perfect as others have said. They are still acceptable but the control system does not allow the sword fights to be as enjoyable as they could have been.

Again at first I was not impressed by the graphics. But after a while I was so engrossed with the relentless action I forgot to notice. And again some of the graphics actually start looking quite good. Explosions are superb.

I have not played multiplayer yet so cant comment on that. I imagine that playing against someone of equal skill would be great fun.

Overall this game is definately fun no question about it. The shooting will have you immersed until the end as long as you can stick it out long enought to learn how to get the best from it and appreciate its action packed and long levels.

Great gaming
I thought I was the only one that thought this game rocked. I was pretty shocked to read the very mediocre reviews form the "experts" like gamespot which gave this game a 5.5

Most of the "experts" seem to base their opinions mostly on the control scheme. I admit at first it was a bit unwieldy, because instead of using a control pad or 'joystick' to aim the gun/reticle, you use the remote to point. As such it did seem a bit too sensitive, but once you play for a while you get very used to it. At least I did, it felt almost second nature to me. The sword fighting is a bit janky but still good, your motions doesn't necessarily translate to what happens on the screen.

I thought the whole storyline and scenarios were very clever (one stage even had you trying to escape from an amusement park while being hunted). The graphics I thought were very good. In some of the harbor scenes, the shimmering waves were amazing, and the little attention to details such as the scratches on the elevator doors, was a nice touch. I do admit to being a bit disappointed that the graphics in this game aren't like the ones you see on the official trailers for Red Steel. But the way some of the reviewers are talking about the graphics you'd think they were reviewing a playstation one game. One can only get excited to know that the graphics can get even better.

The bottom line is that out of the five launch games I got, Red Steel is the one that I keep coming back to the most, because to me it is FUN. I don't care what the reviewers think, that's the way I feel.

Lots of Fun but with a few minor irritations.
Good Points:

Great use of the wiimote and nunchuck...playing this game I can well believe that the Wii has the BEST control systems for FPS's of all the next gen consoles. I mean this referring to general player control and gun firing/reloading (sword play is an exception...see below)
In fact, the fluid way of moving and shooting is SO good that it outweighs most of the other points here....the most enjoyable and important aspect of the game imo

Multiplayer is hilarious fun.

Shooting enemies in the head with the 'mote is IMMENSELY satisfying :D

Bad Points:

Terrible, terrible graphics. These aren't just bad, they're EMBARRASSING. I've not only seen Gamecube graphics that are better....hell, I've seen PS1 graphics on par with this very very poor effort.
The comic book style intro's don't look "classy".....more like "lazy" (on the part of the developers).

Sword play: OK...but not anything like swinging a sword in real life. This would've been easy for Ubisoft to implement.....again, I think they're being lazy. Holding the Wiimote face-up, pointing forward and moving it L to R / up and down.....does not a realistic sword motion make :(

The checkpoints do NOT save the game. If you turn the Wii off, you have to start from the beginning of the level again. The only way to get to a "real" savepoint is to complete a level.
It takes 30-40min to complete a level.
Which means if you want to play for short bursts....it's not worth it. Anything under 30-40min (ie less than completing a level) means that you have to do it ALL OVER AGAIN when you want to play the next time.
Saving the game when you went past a "checkpoint" would've solved this irritating issue (as checkpoints come up more often).

Overall:

As I mentioned initially, despite the numerous bad points, the good points are SO good (namely the movement & firing with the 'mote/'chuck combo) and feel so natural after a while that they outweigh the bad points....but only just :)

7/10 overall