Red Steel and I didn’t get off to the most auspicious of starts. I unwrapped all the stuff in the box, plugged in the MotionPlus adaptor and Nunchuk, launched the game, and then had to sit through an unskippable 3-minute instructional video showing how to plug in the MotionPlus adaptor and Nunchuk. I mean, I get that the Wii is a family console and everything, but Red Steel 2 is rated 16+, and I’d like to think most people over the age of two have already grasped the finer subtleties of putting one thing into another thing, especially when there’s pretty much only one way to do it.
That out the way then, and I was in the game. That’s when Red Steel and I didn’t exactly get off to another auspicious start. Some context first, perhaps – with a built-in dual axis gyroscope, the MotionPlus adaptor basically makes the Wiimote somewhat more accurate, particularly in terms of more complex movements. Consequently, games incorporating MotionPlus feature more complex movements, and – here’s the important bit – expect these from the player. Hey, the Wii’s doing a bit of hardcore. Everyone’s happy!
Unless you’re left-handed, and playing a game with no left-handed player support. Most obviously, of course, there’s a perception disparity between reality and what’s showing in the game – I’m brandishing a revolver and a katana in my left hand, but it’s reversed onscreen. While the majority of FPS titles present the same problem, it’s an altogether different issue when it’s motion controlled. Add improved sensors, and the stupid Wiimote can’t quite work out what’s going on when it comes to horizontal sweeping. The kinetic heuristics manage to turn out something that’s a bit like a swipe, but it’s kinda wobbly and it’s totally un-ninja. And I’m supposed to be a ****ing ninja.
Sort of, anyway. The game’s oh-so-postmodern unnamed protagonist is the last of the Kusaragi clan – a bunch of guys who realised guns and swords make an awesome combo, and stuck with it. As it happens, things don’t get off to an especially auspicious start for him either – the story opens with the hero tied up to the back of a motorbike, and being dragged through town. Ignominy has a name, and it’s… okay, it doesn’t actually have a name. Oh, I see what they did there.
From there, it’s mostly a series of go-there, shoot-that in the space where Borderlands and Akira had a drunken one night stand, and the story’s as instantly forgettable. And although it’s touted as an open world experience, Red Steel 2 isn’t. There’s a mission scheme – including (mostly pointless) optional stuff – and something that’s ostensibly a big place to poke around in, but the game’s as linear as lines. Think of it as an arcade rail shooter where you actually have to walk between encounters for some reason.
The encounters themselves, however, go some way to making up for everything else. Its egregious left-hander discrimination and inconsistency notwithstanding, the game does this whole combat business rather well. Unlike most Wii games, nobody’s getting away with flaccid gestures around their beer and Nik Naks here – you’ve really got to put some effort into it. The two-up combination of and seamless switching between gunslingin’ and swordslingin’ – on of the few things in the game that’s off to an immediately auspicious start – and its instantly engaging, tangible execution is immensely satisfying, and a happy diversion from whatever frag-by-numbers you’re playing in your off-time these days.
Despite its flaws, Red Steel 2 is probably one of the better Wii titles around. It’s a solid enough FPS, if somewhat uninspired in terms of concept and game design, and reminds me of old school light gun arcade shooters. If nothing else, it’s got guns and swords, and how many Wii games have those? It won’t revolutionise FPSes on the Wii, but until something does, this fills the gap.
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