Red Steel’s visuals are something of a mixed bag as well. On one had things can look incredibly good from slick textures to nice lighting. But as you play more of the game you’ll notice that things start to feel less than perfect as more and more cubes start to define the landscape. The texturing is also extremely inconsistent as at one point you’ll be looking at a beautiful building interior only to move onto an area with washed out visuals that feel like something from the Gamecube or Playstation 2 launch. These noticeable problems may have been the result of rushed development but it’s almost certain you won’t be showing this one off to your friends due to its next-generation graphics. That being said, the fun and offbeat cutscenes along with the overall visual style bring things together into a stylistically presented package.

One thing Red Steel does do right is its offline multiplayer. A new FPS gameplay mode known as “Killer” brings out the best of the Wii. Though, that’s the end of it for playing with others as there is no online component. Add that together with the fact that 4 player split screen wasn’t that great even back in the Nintendo 64 days and you’ll probably only be trying this out if you’re a Nintendo fanatic with four equally fanatic friends. While the gameplay feels right, it’s just not accessible.

The final big problem for Red Steel is its learning curve. You have to use the Wiimote + Nunchuk together in motion and in button pressing. This can lead most seasoned gamers to be thrown off for a good hour before picking things up. And with a short length of only 9ish hours, it’s a learning curve I’m not sure many will be willing to go for.

I had high hopes for Red Steel but unfortunately the hard and flawed control scheme along with retarded enemies and a short length make it hard to recommend.

Pros
Unique Wii gameplay

Cons
Broken sword fighting
Aged visuals
No online
Four player split screen should be destroyed
AI lacks
Very short with little replayability if any