Reviews

It was thought that Wii launch title Red Steel would be one of the games to show off the console's motion technology at its best. As it eventually transpired, the combination of first person shooting and swordplay wasn't quite what everyone expected. The shooting was spoiled by a shaky cursor, while the sword fighting proved to be little more than a series of random shakes of the Wii remote. Three and a half years later, Red Steel has returned with a sequel, which aims to right the wrongs of the original, with the help of the Motion Plus peripheral.

In an intriguing turn of events, it transpires that Red Steel 2 is a sequel in pretty much name only, as we have a new setting, new characters and whole new story to contend with here. Not only this, but the game has taken on a new, cel-shaded art style, leading some to draw comparisons with previous generation shooter XIII.

You take on the role on a unnamed hero, the last member of the Kusaragi clan, roaming the wild west village of Caldera in search of his stolen Katana. From the opening scenes, where you're chained to the back of a motorcycle and dragged along at high speed, you soon discover that this will be no easy task. After shooting your way out of trouble initially, you meet up with Jian, who lends you his own Katana and teaches you a few new moves in the process.

As the adventure progresses, you'll repeatedly return to dojos and saloons, where Jian will be on hand to teach you new moves, while your other allies Judd, Tamiko and Songan will provide you with information and new missions to undertake. There is an element of free-roaming to the action, with Caldera split into various regions that you can mainly wander around at will. Certain areas will be off limits until the story allows you to reach them, and your mini-map will always indicate where you're supposed to go via a green arrow, but with some optional missions to undertake and numerous items you can attack to unveil cash, there is reason to search every corner and climb every ladder. There are points of no return, however, which the game does warn you of before you proceed through them.

The missions follow a general "go there, do this, come back" structure, whereby you look on a noticeboard in the dojo/saloon to find a job that needs doing, be it tracking down a specific enemy, finding an ally, repairing or destroying certain numbers of items, etc. Some of these missions are entirely optional, others are necessary for progressing the story. In-between fulfilling the main objectives, you'll usually find yourself embroiled in big old fights with the various enemy clans that populate the village.

You have your basic grunts who can be finished off with a few shots or swipes, along with armour-clad enemies that you'll have to weaken with some wild swings before you can finish them off. In addition, you get your usual big-ass weapon carriers, and of course the boss characters capable of taking huge chunks out of your health bar with a couple of slices. While you do have regenerating health, the bar only fills up again when you're out of battle, so maintaining a good combination of blocking and dodging is absolutely vital. However, this can prove easier said than done when you've got 5 or 6 enemies in the surrounding area, who will swipe you with their swords when close or shoot you from a distance.

Throughout the game, you earn cash for completing missions, shooting or finding collectibles, and also through general vandalism (smashing crates, shooting open lockers, cracking safes). This can be used to buy new weapons or upgrades for your existing ones, as well as to purchase Hidden Strikes for your sword, which can do big damage to your enemies. Learning these, and utilising them in battle will also earn you additional cash bonuses, as well as helping you to dispatch your opponents much more quickly.