Post by Crimm on Dec 21, 2006 1:56:44 GMT -5
I was trying to come up with a catchy subtitle for this review, but I couldn't decide on one. My first idea was "Red Steel: Don't Jump on teh Cars" (more on that later). Then I thought, "Red Steel: It's better than GoldenEye: Rogue Agent." I decided to forgo a subtitle, as more ideas began to pop-up.
Here is a quick back story, for those of you that have lived under a rock since July. Red Steel was teh first game shown to teh media, for Nintendo's new "Revolution" game system. In an exclusive story, given to Game Informer Magazine, teh game was described as an epic story of an American’s journey to rescue his girlfriend from teh grips of teh Yakuza, during which you must hone your skills with both teh gun and teh katana.
They lied.
Well, in concept they were being honest. Yes, you are dating teh daughter of a Yakuza boss. Yes, she does get kidnapped. Yes, you do hafta use a sword and a gun to rescue her from teh Yakuza. Yes, I'm pretty sure Scott (your character) is American.
Likewise I'm also pretty sure Scott is retarded. He has multiple opportunities to end this whole mess with a single shot, but instead watches teh Foe de Jour run off. He only talks four or five times and that minimalist dialog decision makes every time he does talk seem silly.
Don't worry; he's not teh only one with mental issues. When Ubisoft first broke teh silence about Red Steel they commented that teh aiming speed teh unique controller offers teh player required a rethinking of teh enemy AI. "You won't see enemies waiting behind cover points waiting to get shot in Red Steel... They won't walk around a table to come after you, they'll simply jump over it." teh AI doesn't really meet teh standard being set here.
Only once did I see an enemy jump a table, and that was clearly a pre-scripted event. However, it wasn't uncommon for an enemy to come around teh corner I was ducked behind, and simply not adjust their aim for teh fact I was kneeling. Rest assured; if that wall was alive...he probably would have found a way to miss it. teh enemies have some of teh worst aiming I’ve seen in a game.
On another occasion, I walked into a room full of circuit breakers for a hotel. There were about 6, lined up in a grid like this, where each black box is one of teh circuit breakers:
Now, these things explode when shot, so clearing teh room could have been painfully easy. However, it wasn't. Why? Well because “painfully easy” doesn’t really embody how easy this room was. For some reason teh level designer thought giving teh all teh enemies in this room a shotgun was a good idea. As soon as one of them shot at me it caused teh box he was behind to explode, which triggered a chain reaction killing all three of them. teh AI killed itself...and its allies.
Also, teh AI didn’t really seem to know how to use teh guns it had. I would see enemies with rifles charge me or enemies with shotguns try to hit me from a balcony. teh problem is neither really works, because teh rifle requires a certain amount of aiming and teh shotgun is pretty worthless at long range.
Ubisoft’s staff was right. If teh AI wasn't really good this game would be easy. It is, I beat it in 7 hours, and more often died because of teh poorly executed sword combat than teh actual skill of my enemies.
Sure, sword combat sounds cool, but it's broken. teh game takes a second to recognize your swings, and since your windows of opportunity are pretty small that can doom you. "Sword Katas" are impossible to execute for that very reason. Essentially all sword combat comes down to this series: parry three regular attacks, dodge one strong attack, and then slash twice. Do that until teh battle ends.
I hafta give some credit to teh shooting controls. While sometimes it would wonk out, generally it was pretty good. I was executing headshots, at a good distance, in a few minutes. In a way, this is a problem. Sure, teh shotgun is fun; there is a certain amount of joy derived from blasting some guy with teh remote. However, it is much more effective to use a handgun. In fact, I often passed on more powerful guns because executing head shots were so easy. Enemies would duck behind cover, but teh top of their heads were often still exposed. Bang! Dead.
teh only real problem with teh shooting controls was teh zoom function. If you press and hold teh A button, then move teh remote towards or away from teh TV you can zoom. However, sometimes teh zoom will shift suddenly or require you to almost lean outta your chair to get teh needed amount of zoom to occur.
Explosions are one thing Red Steel does well. teh explosions look very good, and seeing enemies fly 60 feet into teh air, when a single crate of ammo blows, up is hilarious. I do, however, take issue with when things explode. In one level, an auto body shop, I cleared teh room but couldn't figure out how to reach teh balcony. I tried to jump up from a car sitting next to teh balcony. After jumping on teh roof of teh car three or four times it exploded.
Yeah...I blew up a car from jumping on it. It was at this exact moment where I realized what kind of game I was in for. teh game is full of little quirks like this, stuff that should have been caught in even teh most minimal testing.
Yes, this game is buggy. It's also not pleasing to look at. Some places look nice, or at teh very least passable. Like I said before, explosions are great looking, as are light effects and some reflective surfaces. However, it isn't hard to find a texture that would be better suited on teh N64. Granted, teh Wii isn't designed to be teh most powerful hardware, but it has to be capable of more than that. If it hadn’t been made by Ubisoft I would swear they ported assets from EA's 007 Nightfire (GCN) to this project.
teh story is stupid, and full of lines that make you think this was translated using Babblefish.com. “Scott-san, use teh blade!” But I have a gun! At teh end, teh resolution is that Scott has taught teh Yakuza members that “killing helps no one.” I’m not sure if he accomplished this by teh fifty or so people he killed in teh last half-hour or by his eerie lack of dialog. Somebody get back to me on that.
Breakdown:
Graphics: 7 Some of teh effects are great, but teh assets are not. Common clipping issues also plague teh game. teh settings are generic FPS material (factory, warehouse, office building).
Sound: 7.5 Original (Japanese) music was a nice touch, but teh limited number looping themes hurt it. teh sound effects are nothing you haven’t heard in every other FPS from teh last 5 years, and some of teh voice acting was pretty lame. Also, reloading was done in teh remote’s speaker, but gunfire should have been too.
Control: 6.5 This was so close to being great. It was fun to blast guys with teh remote, however teh zoom needs work. I have no doubt this is where FPS is going on teh Wii, but I have a feeling we’ll hafta wait for Metroid Prime 3 to see FPS action perfected. teh sword combat was fun for a little while, but katas are impossible, teh lack of a quick response made more skilled enemies frustrating, and sometimes teh sword combat feels a little like rock paper scissors.
Gameplay: 6 It is a fun game, for a while. It would have been better if teh issues with sword combat have been resolved, as it was a primary selling point for teh game. If teh sword combat has been visceral this could have easily been an 8+ score.
Lastability: 4 Brutal? A bit, but teh game is AT MOST 9 hours. You could replay levels “with your newer skills,” if not for teh fact you really can’t replay levels with your newer skills. You can replay levels, but when you do teh skills are “locked.” Also, sometimes when I’d replay a level my stats would change and other times they wouldn’t reflect improvement at all, even though I know I played teh level faster and with a more accurate shooting.
Final: 6 So much promise, so little execution. Red Steel falls flat on its primary selling point, sword combat. While teh remote is a fun way to shoot your enemies, if this game was on any other system it would be nothing more then a generic shooter that would generate almost no buzz. Ubisoft, please, if you’re gonna make a sequel (and we all know you are) don’t release it till those issues are fixed. If anyone is thinking about buying teh game, don’t. Rent it. I don’t regret renting it, but I’d be kicking myself right now if I paid fifty bucks for it.
Here is a quick back story, for those of you that have lived under a rock since July. Red Steel was teh first game shown to teh media, for Nintendo's new "Revolution" game system. In an exclusive story, given to Game Informer Magazine, teh game was described as an epic story of an American’s journey to rescue his girlfriend from teh grips of teh Yakuza, during which you must hone your skills with both teh gun and teh katana.
They lied.
Well, in concept they were being honest. Yes, you are dating teh daughter of a Yakuza boss. Yes, she does get kidnapped. Yes, you do hafta use a sword and a gun to rescue her from teh Yakuza. Yes, I'm pretty sure Scott (your character) is American.
Likewise I'm also pretty sure Scott is retarded. He has multiple opportunities to end this whole mess with a single shot, but instead watches teh Foe de Jour run off. He only talks four or five times and that minimalist dialog decision makes every time he does talk seem silly.
Don't worry; he's not teh only one with mental issues. When Ubisoft first broke teh silence about Red Steel they commented that teh aiming speed teh unique controller offers teh player required a rethinking of teh enemy AI. "You won't see enemies waiting behind cover points waiting to get shot in Red Steel... They won't walk around a table to come after you, they'll simply jump over it." teh AI doesn't really meet teh standard being set here.
Only once did I see an enemy jump a table, and that was clearly a pre-scripted event. However, it wasn't uncommon for an enemy to come around teh corner I was ducked behind, and simply not adjust their aim for teh fact I was kneeling. Rest assured; if that wall was alive...he probably would have found a way to miss it. teh enemies have some of teh worst aiming I’ve seen in a game.
On another occasion, I walked into a room full of circuit breakers for a hotel. There were about 6, lined up in a grid like this, where each black box is one of teh circuit breakers:
Now, these things explode when shot, so clearing teh room could have been painfully easy. However, it wasn't. Why? Well because “painfully easy” doesn’t really embody how easy this room was. For some reason teh level designer thought giving teh all teh enemies in this room a shotgun was a good idea. As soon as one of them shot at me it caused teh box he was behind to explode, which triggered a chain reaction killing all three of them. teh AI killed itself...and its allies.
Also, teh AI didn’t really seem to know how to use teh guns it had. I would see enemies with rifles charge me or enemies with shotguns try to hit me from a balcony. teh problem is neither really works, because teh rifle requires a certain amount of aiming and teh shotgun is pretty worthless at long range.
Ubisoft’s staff was right. If teh AI wasn't really good this game would be easy. It is, I beat it in 7 hours, and more often died because of teh poorly executed sword combat than teh actual skill of my enemies.
Sure, sword combat sounds cool, but it's broken. teh game takes a second to recognize your swings, and since your windows of opportunity are pretty small that can doom you. "Sword Katas" are impossible to execute for that very reason. Essentially all sword combat comes down to this series: parry three regular attacks, dodge one strong attack, and then slash twice. Do that until teh battle ends.
I hafta give some credit to teh shooting controls. While sometimes it would wonk out, generally it was pretty good. I was executing headshots, at a good distance, in a few minutes. In a way, this is a problem. Sure, teh shotgun is fun; there is a certain amount of joy derived from blasting some guy with teh remote. However, it is much more effective to use a handgun. In fact, I often passed on more powerful guns because executing head shots were so easy. Enemies would duck behind cover, but teh top of their heads were often still exposed. Bang! Dead.
teh only real problem with teh shooting controls was teh zoom function. If you press and hold teh A button, then move teh remote towards or away from teh TV you can zoom. However, sometimes teh zoom will shift suddenly or require you to almost lean outta your chair to get teh needed amount of zoom to occur.
Explosions are one thing Red Steel does well. teh explosions look very good, and seeing enemies fly 60 feet into teh air, when a single crate of ammo blows, up is hilarious. I do, however, take issue with when things explode. In one level, an auto body shop, I cleared teh room but couldn't figure out how to reach teh balcony. I tried to jump up from a car sitting next to teh balcony. After jumping on teh roof of teh car three or four times it exploded.
Yeah...I blew up a car from jumping on it. It was at this exact moment where I realized what kind of game I was in for. teh game is full of little quirks like this, stuff that should have been caught in even teh most minimal testing.
- Cars blowing up from being jumped on
- Sword fights not starting as I jumped to teh deck instead of using stairs, even as I got nose to nose with my opponent
- Subtitles being cut off at teh bottom of teh screen
- Characters fluctuating in size during cut-scenes (getting wider and thinner at a rapid rate).
- Being able to walk through teh bodies of people you're "following."
- Replaying a level allows you to “use new skills” in that level, except it actually doesn’t. You can’t use them.
Yes, this game is buggy. It's also not pleasing to look at. Some places look nice, or at teh very least passable. Like I said before, explosions are great looking, as are light effects and some reflective surfaces. However, it isn't hard to find a texture that would be better suited on teh N64. Granted, teh Wii isn't designed to be teh most powerful hardware, but it has to be capable of more than that. If it hadn’t been made by Ubisoft I would swear they ported assets from EA's 007 Nightfire (GCN) to this project.
teh story is stupid, and full of lines that make you think this was translated using Babblefish.com. “Scott-san, use teh blade!” But I have a gun! At teh end, teh resolution is that Scott has taught teh Yakuza members that “killing helps no one.” I’m not sure if he accomplished this by teh fifty or so people he killed in teh last half-hour or by his eerie lack of dialog. Somebody get back to me on that.
Breakdown:
Graphics: 7 Some of teh effects are great, but teh assets are not. Common clipping issues also plague teh game. teh settings are generic FPS material (factory, warehouse, office building).
Sound: 7.5 Original (Japanese) music was a nice touch, but teh limited number looping themes hurt it. teh sound effects are nothing you haven’t heard in every other FPS from teh last 5 years, and some of teh voice acting was pretty lame. Also, reloading was done in teh remote’s speaker, but gunfire should have been too.
Control: 6.5 This was so close to being great. It was fun to blast guys with teh remote, however teh zoom needs work. I have no doubt this is where FPS is going on teh Wii, but I have a feeling we’ll hafta wait for Metroid Prime 3 to see FPS action perfected. teh sword combat was fun for a little while, but katas are impossible, teh lack of a quick response made more skilled enemies frustrating, and sometimes teh sword combat feels a little like rock paper scissors.
Gameplay: 6 It is a fun game, for a while. It would have been better if teh issues with sword combat have been resolved, as it was a primary selling point for teh game. If teh sword combat has been visceral this could have easily been an 8+ score.
Lastability: 4 Brutal? A bit, but teh game is AT MOST 9 hours. You could replay levels “with your newer skills,” if not for teh fact you really can’t replay levels with your newer skills. You can replay levels, but when you do teh skills are “locked.” Also, sometimes when I’d replay a level my stats would change and other times they wouldn’t reflect improvement at all, even though I know I played teh level faster and with a more accurate shooting.
Final: 6 So much promise, so little execution. Red Steel falls flat on its primary selling point, sword combat. While teh remote is a fun way to shoot your enemies, if this game was on any other system it would be nothing more then a generic shooter that would generate almost no buzz. Ubisoft, please, if you’re gonna make a sequel (and we all know you are) don’t release it till those issues are fixed. If anyone is thinking about buying teh game, don’t. Rent it. I don’t regret renting it, but I’d be kicking myself right now if I paid fifty bucks for it.