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It’s rare for a Third-Party game to claim as much hype as
First-Party productions at the release of a new Nintendo console,
but regardless, Red Steel is almost as anticipated as any of
the other Wii launch games,
The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight
Princess included. This isn’t necessarily because Red Steel
will offer anything new to the First-Person Shooter genre, more
that Wii could. Since the unveiling of the Wii Remote back at the
Tokyo Games Show last year, critics have touted it as a real
contender to the Mouse and Keyboard system enjoyed by PC gamers.
Back at
E3
2006, opinions were mixed as to whether Nintendo and UBi Soft
had fulfilled their promises, as controls for both
Metroid Prime
3: Corruption and Red Steel were deemed clunky and
unresponsive. Six months on, the Wii retail event hosts a slightly
improved version of UBi Soft’s premier mature Wii title, although
attendants were quick to make it clear that this demonstration is
far from the finished product. With Wii launch only a month away,
this is a little disconcerting.
Unlike the newbie friendly controls of most Wii titles, Red Steel
is very daunting at first, prompting many of the viewpoint
issues experienced by most casual gamers when they are introduced to
dual Analogue Stick controls in Current-Generation. After a small
amount of time looking at the floor and ceiling, a little thought
and finer movement reveals a system of control that will certainly
reward practice and is undoubtedly full of potential. As those who
have followed the development of Red Steel will know,
movement is controlled via the Analogue Attachment while the Wii
Remote is used to alter your viewpoint. The buttons
 control most
functions, however the Motion-Sensing of the Analogue Attachment is
frequently used to open doors and push items over.
While the controls aren’t flawless, they are certainly more polished
than the poor visuals which, aside from a few effects, seem inferior
to the average titles of Wii’s predecessor; the GameCube. Although
Wii was never meant to directly compete with the unprecedented
realism of the Xbox360 and PlayStation3, it seems shameful that
Red Steel is graphically inferior to the likes of
Halo: Combat Evolved, the Xbox’s decisive launch title.
Until the release of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Red
Steel will be the definitive First-Person Shooter for Wii, let’s
just hope when it’s launched it sets a better example. |
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2006 here.
Each of these articles has been written
either independently of Electronic Theatre or by an external viewer. The opinions
discussed in these articles in no way reflects the opinions of Electronic Theatre.
If you wish to inquire about pricing of any titles
for these formats not listed on this site, drop me a line at kjoyce@electronictheatre.co.uk |
