E3 2009: Hands-on with Red Steel 2 for the Wii

LOS ANGELES — Red Steel was a game that was kind of easy to trash. It didn’t have great control, and it suffered a massive identity crisis by not knowing if it was a first person shooter or a sword fighting game.

But lots of hardcore gamers and some reviewers saw the title’s potential at the time, and Red Steel 2 looks like an excellent choice for Wii gamers when it comes out… “soon.”

Playing through an E3 demo of the game, which is designed specifically for and will come bundled with a Wii MotionPlus, it’s easy to see why people held out some hope.

The first thing I noticed about Red Steel is that you really have to give it a mighty swing. You have to really hack and wave your arm around to do what you want to do. The MotionPlus control is amazingly accurate. I’ve been very pleasantly surprised with how much more responsive the MotionPlus is than just the remote.

I got to tackle some obstacles, like slicing through a mighty thicket of bamboo or using my katana to whack open a metal door. Then I got to tackle some punk bad guys.

I guess “punk” is the most accurate way to describe them.

This is a weirdly stylized game. It seems to be set in the wild west, and your player has a pistol and a katana. So do the bad guys, and some of them are armored. You’ll have to slice through that too.

It was fun using the sword, and the pistol is a nice backdrop in this game instead of the main focus. The MotionPlus lets you effectively block attacks and then make quick counter moves.

The best part about this game is that you’re not just going through the Wii motions. This isn’t Wario where you can sit on your ass and fake it. You really have to get up and move to be effective in this game.

The comic book styling of the game and the lack of gore “" no blood or severed limbs “" also makes it suitable for most ages.

Even with just this brief glance into the game, I feel like Ubisoft has a winner. Red Steel 2 gives some much-needed tender lovin’ action to the Wii. Check out the E3 trailer below for a glimpse of what Red Steel 2 looks and plays like.