Red Steel, Ubisoft's Wii-exclusive first-person shooter that lets players live out their fantasies of being both a gun toting killer and human Cuisinart, has come a long way since it was first announced in April. The version that was offered for play at E3 2006 was nothing short of a mess, and in a few months time the company has managed to refine the game into something that is not only playable, but enjoyable as well, at least for the most part. There are still some minor control issues, and the game is still incredibly inconsistent in terms of visual acuity, but in spite of this Red Steel is still an unquestionably fun game to play.Set against a backdrop comprised of both the Japanese and American criminal underworlds, Red Steel begins as meeting with your fiancée's father is cut short, quite literally, by an unexpected and terribly inconvenient assault by terrorists brandishing both guns and swords. It turns out that in addition to being your true love's father, daddy was also a notorious mafia kingpin, and it isn't long before you are caught up in gunplay between both his followers and a rival gang. However, even with the game's frenetic pace right out of the gate, Red Steel does a comparable job of acclimating you with controls that could otherwise be seen as a bit too complicated, especially for a first-person shooter.

As mentioned, Red Steel's controls have been tightened up and show a measure of polish that was not evident in previous builds, highlighting the obvious emphasis that was put on the title's gameplay by the developer's at Ubisoft. Movement is fluid and brisk, and unlike the majority of console first-person shooters, the game actually feels a lot like you are stepping into the role of the main character, rather than driving a tank. Turning and sidestepping are facilitated by moving move the Wii remote and analog stick, allowing of a a lot of freedom. In short, Red Steel is a joy to control, mostly anyway.

As the initial combat situations present themselves to you, the game offers up a set of instructions on how to pick up and fire your first weapon, as well as how to loot weapons from downed bad guys. Early on you are given your first taste of swordplay as well, though here things get a little shaky. As has been the case with previous builds of the game, sword slices are closely tied to the motions of your Wii remote and nunchuck, but they do not mirror your exact movements. Because of this, you will find yourself swinging your arms at an opponent in order to attack and parry, only to watch the game mimic your motion a second or so later. It works, and is completely functional, but for a game called Red Steel it's odd that the melee in the game is not nearly as responsive or fun as the rest of the experience.

While Red Steel drips atmosphere and does a decent job at drawing you into its story of underworld conflict, it's the game's ridiculously bad AI that tries its very best to throw you back out again. It's perplexing how the same developers who originally touted lofty claims of robust AI at some point obviously threw their arms into the air and gave up in a feat of apathy echoed by the characters that populate Red Steel's world. As you move from area to area, waves of enemies barrel into the room to cut short your life, ducking behind cover in at least a semi-realistic emulation of self preservation. Unfortunately the suspension of disbelief is cut short time and again by enemies that stand idle at a given distance like gun wielding statues, waiting to be shot before they are brought to life. And should a shot miss their rigid form, the immobile baddies are only too happy to remain at attention until you get your aim right.

While the shoddy AI plagues the single player game, that can easily be overcome by focusing on Red Steel's multiplayer component, which as it turns out is also the game's strongest feature. Offering three separate modes for up to four combatants, Red Steel is at its best when cutting down friends with bullets and steel. The game includes the typical deathmatch and team deathmatch modes found in other first-person shooters, but the real gem of the game is the Killer mode. This mode is only available for four players and four players only, and presents each player with an unique objective that must be accomplished within a set period of time. The first player that meets his or her objective before the timer runs out wins the round. This is perhaps the best example of multiplayer gameplay on the Wii at launch, though one can't help but wonder what it would be like if this were playable online rather than just over a split screen.

Like all of Ubisoft's launch day offerings, Red Steel is not the prettiest game to look at, though of the company's titles available on day one, this is without question the most visually appealing. The game's presentation is wildly erratic, however, with some levels seemingly playing to the visual strengths that we know the Wii is capable of given its GameCube roots, while other areas look bland, drab, and even amateurish. This is immediately clear from just the geometry of the game's world, which is boxy to a fault. The game's characters also have a strange cut out look to them that is a bit distracting, as it can feel a times as if you are fighting a mob war against some very angry paper dolls. By far the worst aspect of the game's presentation, however, is its voice work, as the same samples are duplicated during nearly every encounter. After you hear the same voice say "Die bastard!" for the twentieth time in an hour, the words just lose all meaning.

However, despite its faults, the long and short of it is that Red Steel is a fun first-person shooter, and hopefully a decent indicator of where developers will be able to take this genre on the Wii. The title controls extremely fluid, and is likely to draw praise from those PC gamers who up until now have been turned off by how the first-person shooter genre has been portrayed on the home console market. This is certainly one of the stronger titles for the Wii's retail debut, and while certainly not for everyone, is still a commendable example of the immersive experiences the Wii is capable of conveying.

Score: 78%

Nov 16, 2006 | 0 comments
Jason Dobson