Red Steel (Wii) Preview

Red Steel follows the protagonist, a young American who is engaged to a Japanese woman by the name Myu. On the night you are supposed to meet Myu's father for the first time, she is kidnapped by a ruthless Yazuka faction led by a guy called Tokai. In between all this madness you find out that Myu's father (Sato) is also a Yazuka boss in possession of a very important (very sharp) Katana sword. Myu's kidnappers hope to trade her life for daddy's big sword and when he refuses all hell breaks lose. Sato is mortally wounded in an attempt to steal the sword and decides to pass it on to you, before dying. This leaves little old you, all alone, with no training and not a clue what is happening against the notorious (and angry) Japanese Yazuka. Time to kick some major derri

Red Steel is not all about killing though, it is also about skill. Simply blowing off the heads of everyone you see will win you no friends, so it may be more beneficial to shoot an enemies gun from his hands. Be defeating someone and still sparing their life, you will gain his respect and assistance in your mission. Enemies might surrender their guns and their boss (who commands them in a certain area or jurisdiction) could even offer to help you through the level or section of the game to reward you for your honourable fighting. Respect and honour play a major role in this title. It is hugely important to get as many people on your side as possible during your progress through the game. Without their help, things will be very difficult when you come to face Tokai. Another reward for good fighting skills is the 'Freeze Shot' aspect. Do another fancy shooting and clever moves and you will 'freeze time', allowing you to pick off special shots as the world around you slows down; a bit like bullet time in essence. When the fighting heats up, so does the music, the more hits you land the more frantic things get as the game becomes more and more intense. Thanks to the Revolution's unique controller interface, this becomes a hugely immersive experience.

The most intriguing (and potentially fun) aspect of the game comes in the shape of a long, sharp and rather awesome looking sword. Although the majority of the game will be focused around gun on gun combat, at times it will be necessary for you to wield your rather large Katana for instant stealth kills. To wield the sword, all you have to do is swing the Revolution controller in front of you and move in for the kill. You can also use a number of special attacks, for example by tracing an X shape in the air, you will unleash a devastating attack on your enemies. To stop yourself from flailing about like a combo-crazed madman, you simply have to stop moving the controller, allowing you to opt out of a move that opens you to enemy attacks.

There are two mentors to teach you during the game, one will train you in gun combat and the other in sword combat. Once again respect will play a role here, if you don't show respect towards those who teach you, they will bugger off before you can say 'Katana'. You can signal answers to questions and requests by nodding, this is done by moving the controller around at the right times. These sections of the game are not run in cut scenes, so if you get bored of listening you can walk away, but be wary of facing the wrath of people you annoy; apparently there will be more detailed interactional elements displayed at E3. You can hone your skills during training sessions before implementing them in the main game itself, so there should be no excuse for accidentally chopping a potential allies head off with a flailing Katana.

Thanks to the Revolution controller, aiming with precision on both horizontal and vertical axis is easily doable. You can look up, down, left and right very quickly, meaning that movement is far more lifelike and accurate. For the first time ever, the controller does not limit your movements, it is your own ability to react and shift your arms/fingers that will see you succeed in this title. Essentially, you aim and shoot as fast as you can physically move to do so. Aiming is done with the main controller and movement is worked by using the nun-chuck/analogue extension. You fire weapons with the trigged on the underside of the controller, so everything is nice and intuitive. You can also hurl and roll grenades, this is done by moving the controller in the appropriate way (a throwing motion to throw, a rolling motion to roll).

The AI in the game is also said to be hugely impressive. As we mentioned earlier, there is a hierarchy amongst most the characters in the game, and they all act accordingly. Expect enemies to go flying out of the way, ducking diving and working as a team to take you down. They will also react and interact to reflect the environment around them. If you reload, they will pop out from hiding places and try to take advantage of you when you are at your weakest; just like you they want to survive and will do whatever it takes to ensure they stop you before you stop them. If you're stupid enough hide behind a table and cower without making any attempt to attack, enemies will jump over it and shoot you before you know what's hit you...

The multiplayer aspect is shrouded in mystery. We know it exists, but we don't yet know how it will work. There will certainly be a traditional death match mode, but full details wont be revealed until E3; expect it to support Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection as well. As a nice little bit of information, split screen action will not affect how big your movements can get. If you want to fling your arms around like a whirling dervish you can. Despise the decreased screen size, the amount you can move doesn't change. Expect it to be a hugely amusing and fun multiplayer experience.