(WARNING: Long read ahead)

Yes, for those of you who didn't know and thought that you misread the topic title, Red Steel 2 has been announced in the UK Official Nintendo Magazine, confirmed to have been under production for one year as of now, and will most likely release in Winter of 2008, making it a solid 2 year production title.



As you could guess, the responses towards this announcement from the gaming community was a bit of a mixed bag. Much like myself, those that enjoyed what this game had to offer were somewhat excited, give or take, while those that didn't enjoy it were still iffy, and rightfully so.

With that said, I think we need to discuss what went wrong with the first title that made it get the flack that it got, and what could be improved to make this a true killer app title.

The Controls
Let me clarify by saying that I never found the shooting in Red Steel to be a problem. Yes, it could've been fine-tuned with a modifiable bounding box and turning speed options (ala Medal of Honor: Heroes 2), but for what it gave, it was still very much playable.

However, the real problem actually lied in the button configuration... or lack thereof.

For those of you who have played the game, you know that there were a lot of actions mapped to the 'Nunchuck thrust,' such as reloading, opening doors, flipping over cover, picking up guns, and even melee attacking, among other things.

Aside from things such as opening doors, reloading weapons, and maybe picking up guns, the rest were just too flimsy to be executed via thrusting the Nunchuck. It just required too much precision and timing in order for it to work, especially when you had to be up close to a given object with the targeting reticule on that target, whether it be an object or a person.

I should point out right now that there were two buttons unaccounted for on the Wii Remote: the 1 and 2 buttons. Now, let's say Ubisoft decided to put the pause and objective buttons here instead of on the + and - buttons, much like Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. What would that do? That would leave us with two perfectly reachable face buttons to perform simple actions that would be much more responsive than swinging the controller.

For one, I would've loved to see the melee attack on a face button. It would eliminate having to be both close to a target while having the targeting reticule on said target. This way, you won't think the game glitched on you when you swing the controller and you don't melee attack.

As for the other button, I'm not sure. I would say make it your typical 'action button,' but I just have to admit, swinging the Nunchuck to pick up weapons and open doors just feels fine enough. Mapping it to a button would be just fine, as well, but perhaps the devs could think of something else to map there... Grenades, maybe?

Also, moving on, I don't like the zoom in Red Steel. I mean, it worked for what it was, but moving the controller towards and away from the screen just to zoom in and out was just too much of a hassle. Each gun should just have their own default zoom like Call of Duty or Rainbow Six Vegas.

More importantly, zoom is an option that needs to be fine-tuned to the best that it can be. As much as I appreciate games like Metroid Prime 3: Corruption nailing down the control scheme, it's games like Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 that make the controls even better. Aside from modifying the bounding box and turning speeds, I think what made the controls best was the iron-bar aiming system that made your shooting ultra-precise by slowing down your turning immensely and zooming on a particular area, and Red Steel 2 ought to have this as well.

Presentation
Every killer app title needs strong production values in order to blow the gamer away and want to come back for more. Red Steel had this somewhat, but mostly not.

To begin with, let's talk about the technical aspects.

When it came to frame rates, Red Steel was all over the place. At the very least, it didn't drop to points that the game became unplayable. However, solid frame rates make the experience that much more enjoyable by making it less frustrating.

What I mean is that it's pretty much all but written down on factual paper that rock-steady frame rates equal more sensitive targeting reticules. I noticed this in Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles when the menu had this insanely responsive and fast moving reticule whereas the gameplay had a small lag between movements, and it's because the frame rate dropped from sixty to about thirty or less.

To make a long story short, if Red Steel 2 manages to obtain a solid frame rate from beginning to end, it won't just be for visual flare, but for gaming ease.

In fact, I noticed in the first Red Steel that when the frame rate stayed high, a lot of the sword fights were actually very responsive. When the frame rate dipped, I had to do exaggerated motions for the attacks to work. Here's yet another piece of proof that we need a solid frame rate.

In terms of storytelling, Red Steel needed not just polish, but a different direction.

I just need to say that the Photoshop-rendered, comic book-styled narratives were unique at first, but legit cutscenes just needed to be there, complete with all of your Hollywood style glamour.

However, it just won't work if the protagonist remains to be a silent hero. I hate to say it, but I think that whole direction in the storytelling made the production values in the title get the flack that it got.

All throughout the game, Scott Monroe, the protagonist, would be caught in a conversation from time to time. However, when he doesn't talk, the other person just seems to be delivering monologues... and those are just annoying.

Don't get me wrong, a lot of characters in this title had great voice actors and actresses. I would know, since I do some vocals in my spare time, but they all just feel downplayed when they start talking but it feels like nobody is listening.

In short, just get rid of the silent protagonist. Unless there's going to be more than one person in the room involved in a conversation, Red Steel 2 will just be another set of annoying monologues.

I should also point out right here that Harry Tanner, thanks to the silent protagonist, talks to himself throughout the entire game. Strange, but true. All he ever does is talk to Scott, and since he doesn't talk back... well, read above.

Really, that's all of the gripes that I have outside of the small things such as better graphics, better frame rates, better visual effects, and whatnot, but hey, those are the things you ought to expect from a sequel.

Then I just need to bring up streaming. I really stress this gaming effect, because every game that uses it winds up being a very good looking game, whether it be the Metroid Prime series or God of War among others. It also allows more things to happen, such as more enemies on screen, visual effects, and the other whatnot mentioned above.

Swordfights
Sword fighting in Red Steel was a great idea, but hindered by the poor presentation. It just didn't feel like you were connecting with opponents when you attacked them.

Now, I know that this is a bit of an opinionated thought, but aren't reviews mostly opinions? Just read on.

It's really hard for me to comment on this part. I really don't know what I could suggest to take the concept to a whole new level, though I have my hopes that the devs are working on it right now as I write this.

However, I will explain my theory:

Let's face it, the Wii Remote and Nunchuck controller setup just doesn't give the full one to one motion that we at first expected it to have, hence the predetermined motions in the sword fights.

So, with that said, why not just map the standard attacks and blocks to buttons like the upcoming Wii title No More Heroes? It could lead to some excellently choreographed fight scenes, and when it comes to special moves or finishing blows, that's when the motions come into play. If this method were to be utilized, not only could it make the presentation in the sword fights better, but make the gameplay itself less frustrating as it's less likely to work against you.

But again, all of this is just me. I will keep my hopes that the devs have some sort of idea that is either better than mine or will prove me wrong.

---

Overall, this is just my entire synopsis of what was 'not perfect' in Red Steel and what could be done to fix everything up in the sequel. I know that this is a bit of an over-the-top rant about the whole thing, but I think Ubisoft could lay the whole 'Nintendo fans only buy Nintendo products' myth to rest, since not only did the first Red Steel sell a million copies, but the sequel could potentially do better.

All we have to see is the hype train and terrific marketing campaign that the first game got and this will be a sure-fire win as well.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: The_Lone_Wolf,

I think that you have some valid points.
There is one thing that I would add however.

This game needs more advanced multi settings that include bots.

I liked playing the levels ok, but it really got to be fun when you could play with all your friends in one room shooting eachother up.

I don't think that online support would be worth it bc they are obviously not trying to compete with Call of Duty 4 or any of the other newer games here. That would be silly bc there is no way the wii could do that.

The multi is also where the replay value comes in. Who wants to play though the game again and suffer all those sword fights?

A split screen multi player set up would spark a lot of interest here. Something along the lines of Perfect Dark (the one for the 64).