I just saw the ending credits rolling. I loved it through and through. It is my sleeper hit of 2013 easily (I know its 2010 but you know what I mean). What a pleasant surprise!

I bought this game around 4 or 5 days ago. There was some great deals in the Wii section so I decided to buy Fatal Frame 2, Zack and Wiki (again), Link's crossbow training, and Red Steel 2. I actually started with Fatal Frame but the creepy atmosphere coupled with the almost broken controls made me steer clear from it, at least for now. I thought about replaying Zack but I thought I might as well give RS2 a go before switching.

I started on easy mode because I didn't know what to expect. The controls were almost jarring in the beginning of the game. Even though I'm accustomed to the Wiimote something still felt very alien to me, the sword controls were very precise, the guns were even more precise. From the get go it felt like a fresh experience, especially with the beautiful art style and interesting set up (west meets east). After the first boss fight I felt the need to bump up the difficulty to medium, but for some reason my arm started to cramp a little bit, I didn't even realize this until about 3 hours of playtime, but this was probably a first for me on the Wii. It was uncomfortable until I took a 10 minute break, everything went back to normal afterwards.

The mecahnics in this game are some of the best I've seen in an action game... ever! I can't recall any title that managed to do melee and far range combat as well as RS2 did. Every mechanic felt like it had some use, and encountering each mob of enemies meant many ways to tackle them. What this resulted is an action game that is slow on the screen, but incredibly fast paced in the mind. It was somewhat a revelation to me, for the first time in many years I felt my heart pumping in this game, I had so many options that I got confused at times. Which weapon should I use? Which enemy to take out first? Do I play on the defensive? Offensive? etc. To me, this made mastering the game even more satisfying.

Of course, the other aspect that I thought was magnificently structured was the upgrading system, which is constant throughout the entire game, without exceptions. There are of course some that are just about increasing stats (health, reload times, damage, etc.) But many of them brought new techniques to the table which, coupled with new enemy variations, kept the combat interesting up until the end boss. Speaking of bosses, they were equally as impressive. Fast paced, varied, and deadly, these guys will not cut you any slack, I just wished there was more them.

There are some glaring faults, to be sure. The most offensive one was the sound design, I mean all of it. Soundtrack was lackluster, voice acting was worse, and the effects were even worse. For a game to go extraordinary lengths to set the tone in the graphical department, they completely and utterly failed to create any atmosphere with sound. I really believe the game wouldn't have been any different if I played it on mute. There was nothing to note here. Think Other M, with a cowboy soundtrack, but worse. Another one that I found disheartening was the lack of variety from a level design perspective. They were all a bit too similar for my tastes. With the exception of a few levels, I don't think I would be able to identify when each level took place, there are a million ways to take this idea, but they chose the safest one unfortunately.

There are some less important gripes as well. The side quests were largely uninteresting, even though i liked them (expect for the poster ones). And the story was completely unnecessary, but those didn't sour my experience at all really. Could have used a lot more work, but I'm fine with them as they are.

Overall, beautiful game. I hope to god that we will se a sequel on the Wii U. This game is just begging for it. So many mechanics and ideas in this game are wonderful, rivaling even the best action games of this generation (I am dead serious). It just screams of potential. Unfortunately, a sequel may be a dream given the poor sales this has gotten. But I really think, at this point, I'd rather see a sequel to this than Metroid Prime, and that's saying something.

I love this game. The wii motion plus tutorial is creepy as hell.

This has been sitting on my shelf for years. I should probably crack open the shrink wrap at some point and give it a go. I mean, you've made it sound better than the original Red Steel and I did finish that piece of garbage.

I want to like this game, but the controls ruin it for me. No, the controls aren't bad. They're great and really precise. Unfortunately I'm not in an environment where I can make such big gestures, and that's also not really what I want to do when gaming.

OnPoint said:

This has been sitting on my shelf for years. I should probably crack open the shrink wrap at some point and give it a go. I mean, you've made it sound better than the original Red Steel and I did finish that piece of garbage.

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Better, much better, you shouldn't even speak of the original when playing this game.

LonelyGreyWolf said:

I want to like this game, but the controls ruin it for me. No, the controls aren't bad. They're great and really precise. Unfortunately I'm not in an environment where I can make such big gestures, and that's also not really what I want to do when gaming.

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The don't require big gestures at all really, just elaborate motions. I never used my whole arm like they instructed.

Love this game. The sword combat gotta a little dull at the end when you get some OP move, but overall it was great. I liked graphics as well.

ASIS said:

The don't require big gestures at all really, just elaborate motions. I never used my whole arm like they instructed.

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I have friends that STILL insist on full arm motions for Wii Sports. It just works better that way for some people for some reason. Tiny wrist motions if possible for me, thank you.

Excellent game loved the gameplay and really liked the style of the game.

It could have been genuinely great but they kinda ruined some aspects of it with dumb decisions like giving you that overpowered counter (why does Ubi keep doing this in all their games, lol), and the game devolving into almost being beat 'em up/FPS kill rooms than anything more ambitious (a la Metroid Prime) that could make it less repetitive and with more depth. Still, when you start using manual blocking to deflect those strong attacck combos those certain enemies did before you have the overpowered counter it just makes you feel so badass. The sword controls could have been a little more precise but they mostly worked well.

LonelyGreyWolf said:

I want to like this game, but the controls ruin it for me. No, the controls aren't bad. They're great and really precise. Unfortunately I'm not in an environment where I can make such big gestures, and that's also not really what I want to do when gaming.

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The game has settings actually, at the kid sensitivity you can do small mostly wrist based swings that result in strong wide attacks, at the ninja or whatever sensitivity you're required to do wide strong swings yourself.

I think the latter works best for the game because if you see small wrist swings resulting in attacks it's something that can make you wanna waggle fast and expect the character to keep up, which doesn't result in continuous attacks since that would break the game's combat, while when you do the full hard motions yourself, preparing and executing full swings, you can't do it any faster than your character so it feels more in sync and proper.

But I guess it makes little difference to the space needed, you still need to be able to stand up and have some arm room in front/side of you. Hardly large though. Why did you buy it at all if you don't have that?

ASIS said:

Better, much better, you shouldn't even speak of the original when playing this game.


The don't require big gestures at all really, just elaborate motions. I never used my whole arm like they instructed.

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I did do big motions and I had to stop playing because my arm started aching quite badly. I never played it again after that, sadly. It was right after some really frustrating boss, and the sword controls completely fell apart for me as well. I guess the moral is to not play this game for an extended period of time like I did.

Nice review, made want to try it. Got me thinking about whether Wii U could host a sequel. I mean could you release a game that requires Wiimotes?

I played it at a friend's house some years ago, and I remember being pretty impressed. Might buy this if I get a Wii U at some point.

Alextended said:

It could have been genuinely great but they kinda ruined some aspects of it with dumb decisions like giving you that overpowered counter (why does Ubi keep doing this in all their games, lol), and the game devolving into almost being beat 'em up/FPS kill rooms than anything more ambitious (a la Metroid Prime) that could make it less repetitive and with more depth. Still, when you start using manual blocking to deflect those strong attacck combos those certain enemies did before you have the overpowered counter it just makes you feel so badass. The sword controls could have been a little more precise but they mostly worked well.

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I'm assuming you meant the tiger? Yeah I didn't use it at all until the final boss I think. Didn't feel the need to. As you said, manual blockin was ace.

Felt the game was too repetitive. Didn't care much for the art direction and i would've liked for them to target 30 FPS instead of trying to maintain 60. Controls are fantastic and prove again that the Wii Remote wasn't explored enough and that still, it can bring something important to the table in terms of input and control schemes.

Wished the game had a bigger budget and continued the setting of the first one. Yet it is a worthwhile game that deserves more exposure.

If only all Wii games that relied on motion control had controls this good.

I played 3 hours of it iirc

one of the few FPS I actually liked/played more than a hour of :d

I liked switching back and forth from sword to gun. Agree the graphic is fantastic why didn't more wii game use cellshading?!?

lol when I played it, it felt odd because the game could notice how hard you swing the wii remote or not, unlike skyward sword where you just flick your wrist in any direction. anyway I found the game interesting how every enemy required you to think whether to use a gun or sword and how you should swing the sword.
Some missions were a bit boring/confusing and i remember the tutorials being long sometimes and I would just forget the sword moves. Combat also got a bit chaotic when you're surrounded by many enemies but it felt satisfying when you take them all down.
I never managed to finish it for reason i forgot and i don't have it anymore. might get it again but not now as my nunchuck broke.

Refreshment.01 said:

Felt the game was too repetitive. Didn't care much for the art direction and i would've liked for them to target 30 FPS instead of trying to maintain 60. Controls are fantastic and prove again that the Wii Remote wasn't explored enough and that still, it can bring something important to the table in terms of input and control schemes.

Wished the game had a bigger budget and continued the setting of the first one. Yet it is a worthwhile game that deserves more exposure.

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Completely agreed. I don't usually ask for a bigger budget but this game needs it, badly.

I think mechanically, Red Steel 2 is fantastic. It controls well, combat is fun, it's great. But story and mission structure were really lacking. I still had fun, I just wish the combat and art style were applied to a better game.

Worth playing, nonetheless

Have the game sitting on my shelf. Glad most comments here are positive.
It's on my lineup to get played on my backlog soon.

like in many cases here, it sits on my shelf, shrink wrapped.

I am one chapter away from finishing Cursed Mountain, after months of dragging that god damned game. I was considering playing this or Sin and Punishment, or replay some gamecube master piece.. not sure.

yeah the counter really ruins the game. Not much to do after you beat it either. I enjoyed the rest of it though.

Shaanyboi said:

I think mechanically, Red Steel 2 is fantastic. It controls well, combat is fun, it's great. But story and mission structure were really lacking. I still had fun, I just wish the combat and art style were applied to a better game.

Worth playing, nonetheless

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Yep, they nailed the controls (gunplay felt even better than swordplay ironically) but the design structure was lacking.

Refreshment.01 said:

Felt the game was too repetitive. Didn't care much for the art direction and i would've liked for them to target 30 FPS instead of trying to maintain 60. Controls are fantastic and prove again that the Wii Remote wasn't explored enough and that still, it can bring something important to the table in terms of input and control schemes.

Wished the game had a bigger budget and continued the setting of the first one. Yet it is a worthwhile game that deserves more exposure.

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May I ask why? 60fps for Wii pointer controls is a must, that's why this and the Metroid Prime trilogy feel so good. It's been quite a while since I've played Red Steel 2 so I don't remember if it dipped below 60 a lot.

Funnily enough I picked it up last week along with Zak and Wiki, Punch Out, Res Evil 4 and Trauma Center.

Glad to hear it's decent. Not sure when I'm going to get the time to play it. How long did it take to finish?

I thought it was a real shameit didn't open the door for more combat games with the Motion Plus. It worked very well, I thought.

This game is definitely underappreciated. It's not 'amazing' by any means, but it's exactly the kind of feel-good shooting-and-slashing action that I envisioned after the Wii reveal. Shame it took so long to get there (terrible first game included), but once it did, it was super fun.

I stood up the whole way through, did all the motions 1:1 with my whole body, and I loved it. The game's pacing and encounter design really works for that - unlike Wii Sports Resort or Skyward Sword, where it's usually to your advantage to spasm your wrist up and down to take out enemies speedily. This game works best when you're being as overdramatic with your swings as the game is being with its slow motion.

The classy artstyle and barebones story were also big positives for me. It was just stylish combat all day long, and you never had things like 'objectives' or 'plot' to get in the way of your badassery. Just shoot and slash. Shoot and slash. It's a very oldschool type of game, despite the newfangled technology behind it, and it works.

This game had awesome core gameplay, to bad everything else was under-cooked Will SO buy a sequel with a more interesting story and more varied missions.

I really enjoyed this, although I haven't played it since it released. It did first person sword fighting well and had to contend with sword swings also controlling the camera, something the 3rd person-perspective of Skyward Sword avoided.

This game didn't last long for me. But the time I had with it was definitely worth it.

Really loved the setting. Samurai westerns are underrepresented and very neat when done well.

Atrophis said:

Funnily enough I picked it up last week along with Zak and Wiki, Punch Out, Res Evil 4 and Trauma Center.

Glad to hear it's decent. Not sure when I'm going to get the time to play it. How long did it take to finish?

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I did everything in the game, some of the side quests took longer than it should have. But overall I'd say around 12-14 hours. You probably could cut that in half if you're just going through the main story.