Topic: Red Steel 2: News and Discussion thread

Yet another Wii game that I'm dying to play but probably will never get around to playing (or at least not for quite some time). It's just hard for me to put down $50 for any game these days--the only ones I get full price are the biggies like New Super Mario Bros Wii or Punch-Out.

I put in a solid hour with it and have unlocked a few hidden moves - execution of this is far more clever than I would have thought. Control is excellent and I'm enjoying the world design and character animations - nicely done Ubisoft!

i've got to be over halfway at this point and i'm really happy with it. it may not quite be up there with wii masterpieces like resident evil 4 and the prime trilogy, but it's not far off. the controls will take some getting used to since they're so much different than anything you've used before (including wii sports resort), but they become second nature after some adjustments. the control options, by the way, are every bit as thorough as the conduit and then some, something that thankfully seems to be the standard for all new wii shooters.

the visuals are more impressive than i think most people will be prepared for; i certainly wasn't. there are a few moments were the beauty of the environments rivals okami, and although the game doesn't keep that level of artwork up the whole time it's still interesting to look at even when it's at it's worst. you never leave the desert (as far as i've seen), but when they want to they do a good job of making you forget that you're still there.

the gameplay does take some time to get rolling, with the earlier environments being a little redundant and the earlier missions being
extremely quick and simple. some of the objectives literally have you walking two rooms away, shooting some guys, then walking back. the early lack of any lengthy and complicated missions seems worrying, but just when you start to get tired of it they'll throw some nearly zelda-ish temples at you. the gameplay really seems to open up after the first few hours, so stick with it before you judge.

one last thing you should know is that the game is better standing up. you can sit if you want, but swinging will be awkward and you really won't get that 'beating the crap out of people' feel that you do while upright. the game is all about physical immersion in the fights, so you enjoy it the most when you get the most physical with it. just close your window shades.

What do you think about the AI?

I find the game really enjoyable even though the AI seems quite simplistic.

I'm probably being fussy but I wanted some parts of the game to be more shootout than swordplay, with enemies hiding and popping up behind things.

There's roofs and balconies which I think would have been excellent for some shooting fun too.

the ai is good enough for me. a lot of people have complained that most enemies just stand there, but that's what they're there for, to get beaten on by your sword. i wouldn't want to chase every single enemy down to get close enough to hit them. i've also seen them take cover behind objects a few times, so i don't know why people say the enemies are incapable of that.

it's kind of funny that in some ways i think perfect dark still has the most realistic enemies i can remember in a game; you can shoot the guns from their hands, they can surrender, go get backup, even beg for their lives. in their own ridiculously goofy way they still set the bar for me, so maybe i'm not the expert on AI here.

You've made some good points, I have seen them duck but not very often.
Something which is very good is the parts where you can hide behind stone columns and they can be knocked down or blown away.

How about the idea of having more enemies you can only shoot out, like ones in windows or ledges that never come down close enough for swordfights?

One of the latter levels their is one set of guards on a bridge and you can only shoot them from a distance and get great satisfaction as you shoot them and watch them fall off.

I wanted those moltov cocktails that some enemies throw which unless Im missing something you can find in the game.

I really like the artwork and all of the characted designs, with the exception of the main character (which I thought was somehow lacking, not bad but something not quite right).

Did anyone feel the main character didn't quite impress you as much as the others?

I'm absolutely loving this game. It's really fun, immersive, and dynamic. If you're on the fence on buying it, go ahead and go for it. Just go in knowing it won't be exactly a long game.

With conduit 2 coming out I want Red Steel 3!

I'm glad to here that everyone is liking it so much, great to see a lot of you supporting Ubisoft. I'll be picking this up soon. I just have to ask how long can you play without your arm falling off? I'm hoping at least an hour, but however long is fine.

I stop around the 30-60min. mark, but I probably could go on longer. There's also sensitivity adjustments you can make so you don't have to exert as much to do the strong attacks (though I really enjoy that).

It's not like my arm is sore the next day, but you know I remember playing Wii Sports Baseball and Mario and Sonic Beijing Olympics 2008 every day and definitely had some arm strain, so I'm keen not to repeat that. Besides this way I can play more than one game at a time and savour the experience.

Oh, and I like all the character designs, including the hero.

just beat it, what an amazing game. i started out just hoping for something decent, but in the end i think this game joins the very best the wii has to offer. the consistent 8 rating is a fair score, but i think the game deserves a 9; if the desert town segment in the beginning picked up a little faster and maybe if some of the objectives didn't repeat as often this could be a 10/10 in my opinion. (multiplayer would have left no question about it)

the funny thing is that even if the objectives do repeat now and then, they're fun; i never really minded that each new area had comm towers to activate. the game even has a sense of humor about the abundance of towers, displaying the message "yeah, that one" while looking for which one to activate later in the game. you get the sense they repeat these missions because they genuinely like them. most of these scavenger hunts are optional anyway, so if you don't want to do them you don't have to. most of the mandatory objectives will be much bigger and more interesting tasks.

the controls work just as well as you'd hope; in fact, the only problem i had was that i often didn't swing hard enough to register a hit. any mistakes were a clear case of player error. the variety of moves you have will be utilized time and time again, and you really will want to use them all, often within a single fight. there's nothing more satisfying than stabbing the guy behind you while still fighting the guy in front of you....

i think plot is another strong point. this game avoids the mistake most games seem to make these days: it doesn't try to be a movie. no 9 hours of cutscenes or attempts at making a silly game where you shoot cowboy ninjas look like it has a huge, serious plot. everything you probably know about the story from the previews is about all there is to it, it's a revenge story, refreshingly simple and well told.

the visuals and art direction rival anything else on wii, and that includes high water marks like metroid corruption. the only problem in this department is that, again, it dawdles a little too long in the so so desert town environment before getting to the really interesting stuff. the cel shaded visuals weren't just a gimmick to make the game stand out; the developers really took that look places and you'll often be in awe of their results. they save the best for last...

replay value isn't the strongest, and this may be the game's only real flaw. there's just a 'challenge' mode that essentially just lets you replay the game again after choosing what segment to start from. thankfully, the game is long enough to be a good ride while it lasts. if you complete every mission like i did, you could have something that goes 15 hours, while if you choose to cut straight ahead you could probably do it in 8.

i suggest anyone considering this game should buy it. sales aren't doing so well apparently and i'd rather not see another great game go ignored on the wii. if it looks fun to you from what you've seen of it, chances are you're interested in because of the hope for an awesome swordfighting game. just know that it delivers exactly what it advertises; it is an awesome swordfighting game.

now, to sell my copy of the conduit....

Seeing as I got some extra cash now (And My Local Stores Ran Out of No More Heroes 2 and had no clue when another shipment was due) should I go ahead and get this and support Ubisoft on this game or should I spend the extra on Rabbids Go Home, Excietbots, and The Conduit while Gamestop is selling games cheap now? I need an answer soon. I know Red Steel 2 is great, but its 1 against 3, should I really take it over all of these good games?

Yeah but all the other games sales are important too, Rabbids Go Home for Ubisoft, Excitebots for Nintendo and Europeans, and The Conduit to keep Sega givig out pretty good games that are "Mature" what makes their sales any less important than Red Steel 2 and have you played all 3 of them personally?

Red Steel 2 is definitely the best of the games you mentioned, by far. I enjoyed Rabbids Go Home, even though it got really repetitive at times, The Conduit is fun yet repetitive, but offers a lot more replay value, and I've never played Excitebots. Excitebots and I think The Conduit are out of the production cycle, so they probably won't be getting much money out of it. Plus, Conduit 2 is coming out.
Really, the only bad thing about Red Steel 2 is its replayability. You'll definitely come back to it after a while, like pretty much any top notch game, but I beat it in about 10 hours on Normal Mode. Challenge mode offers very little incentive to come back. For whatever reason, I just didn't see how difficulty modes made it that much harder, truthfully. That's probably because you're awesome at the game by the time you're done. On a scale of 10, I'd give everything except lasting value around a 9, with value being around the 6 and 7 range.

I personally prefer Rabbids Go Home to Red Steel 2 but both are brilliant. Did anyone else notice that Michel Ancel is in the special thanks section of the RS2 credits. If he actually helped with the game that's awesome!

Well I have $105 and I'm keeping $55 for Monster Hunter 3 w/ CCPro (Already Put Down a Preorder) so that leaves me with $50 and I Earn $20-$30 a week (Mowing Lawns and Crap). So I could get Red Steel 2 and maybe one or two of the games I mentioned and still have enough for MH3. Hmmm. Alright I'll give and get Red Steel 2 soon. Congrats you all got me Also how long are the load times between areas with the doors is it around 10 Seconds or below or up to 30 Seconds?

Load times can be immediate to at most 8 or 10 seconds. It's never so long it's daunting.

I'm the kind of person that will replay a game I really enjoy yearly or more often, so Red Steel 2 being only 10 hours is actually a bonus (it also means I'll be able to finish it in time to focus on Sakura Wars).

I would have to agree with that Sean I do like replaying games I really like and the shorter they are the easier that is to do. Well I got it today (Over Deadly Creatures at Best Buy) and I'm loving it. I've played for about two hours straight and my arm finally got tired. I had to quit, but it was all good fun. My main problem with the game is sometimes when I take up multiple objectives I'm only pointed towards the one that advances the story and I have to walk all over the place to find the seconday ones and because of this I accidentally skipped a few missions with just one thing away. More of a pet peeve and something that could have been avoided but all the loading times kept me from wanting to explore everything. I'll play more after dinner when my arm feels better. I'm glad I got it over all of those over games, though I kind of regret not buying Deadly Creatures.