Red Steel 2

Ugh. My arm hurts. My brain is tired from constant repitition, and I'm sick of fighting look-alike enemies over and over again.

I haven't felt this way since I raided Japan.

I don't really know what I expected of this game. I knew it wouldn't be like the ad, which gave me the impression I would be free to roam as a sword-wielding gun-slinging ninja cowboy, but I never imagined it would be this restrictive.

This game is basically walking from bland, indistinguishable area to another. I didn't expect that visuals to be stunning (and they're not) but for a game in which you have to go off the chartered course to find side-quests, the atmosphere is intensely boring.

The Motion Plus for the Wii, however, has exceeded my expectations. It picks up even slight movements effectively, and I do really feel as if I'm twisting and swaying a sword.

However, as a man who has wielded a sword, an axe, an axe with a sword in it, an arm holding an axe with a sword in it, and one time the closest kitten I could grab, my impression of this game and the Wii in general hasn't changed.

The Wii is and will always be the slightly clumsy step in between control gaming and full virtual reality. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, because they have accomplished a lot in terms of technology and especially in its presentation. By this I mean its upcoming rival, the Playstation Move, which looks like the dildo of a Harry Potter enthusiast.

Back to the game, however, even though the Wii Motion Plus does make my swordplay intensely life like, the controles are some what limited by what the game has to offer.

When my enemies attack, it is fairly obvious which way I'm supposed to block (either blocking horizontal or vertical attacks, and holding the remote in the opposite way). There is no issue of reflex, which I would have found addictively enjoyable. Some attacks can't be blocked, and when I am hit, the game doesn't truly reflect what it's like to be struck.

And I know what being struck is like. I have been attacked by swords, axes, axes with swords in them (I cut this guys arm off and then picked up the result and used that as a weapon) and also a kitten scratched me and I bled.

You get the picture. We need to feel like the character has taken actual damage, maybe he spits blood, has laboured breathing, moves slower, anything.

The main problem I have with this game is that it doesn't break any boundaries or re-invent the wheel with its technology, and still has a boring cliche storyline. To make a game good, a classic, a game WORTH BUYING, it has to have something unique about it, and unfortunately this really didn't.

All this game has done is remind me of that bastard kitten that scratched me, and my subsequent use of it as a squishy, furry pair of knuckle dusters.

Mark's Mark: 2.5/5