The control layout takes a lot of getting used to. Of course, the nunchuck sends your character in the direction you want to go, while the Wii-mote is used for directions and aiming. The control layout does work, but, unfortunately, it does require a lot of concentration to get it working for you, rather than against you.
Pay my overdue movie fines? Never!
We found the Wii-mote to be incredibly sensitive in the game, with the game picking up the slightest shift and movement and the screen spinning out accordingly. On top of that, aiming can be a bit of an effort at times. It can also be a bit tiring, because, unlike a mouse, you can't take your hand away momentarily to rest it, obviously - making it a battle to hold your aim steady. We'd imagine this will get easier with time - we didn't have long with the game at E3, obviously - but that's not quite the vision of Nintendo with the Wii, who are trying to make games anyone can pick up and play. As it is, Red Steel will take quite a bit of perseverance to get the hang of.
Then there's the sword fights. Unlike what Ubisoft were promising, the game doesn't let you have an infinite different number of slashes. There are a set number. Basically, you slash the controller, the game pauses, selects the closest matching slash to the one you performed, before executing it on screen. It just isn't as much fun as we were expecting - or fun at all, really. Not what we wanted, to say the least.
Apart from those two admittedly major gripes, the rest of the game controlled quite nicely - for instance, you could shake the nunchuck to block attacks quickly, or smash open doors. So, there's still hope for the game yet - Ubisoft have about six months before the launch to get it all right, so fingers crossed.
Like me to fix up your nose for you?
Visually, Red Steel wasn't disappointing. The graphics aren't going to challenge the prettiest PS3 or Xbox 360 games, obviously, but are still a lot better than anything on the current generation consoles. So, while they didn't blow us away, they still felt next generation. We didn't notice a whole lot of detail about them though - too busy trying to come to gripes with the Wii-remote, as we imagine most punters were.
So, Red Steel didn't live up to its immense potential during our quick blast at E3. However, with many months remaining before the game lands in our homes, there is plenty of time to tweak the game and polish it where appropriate.
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