Red Steel 2 Trailer

Red Steel was arguably the "big" launch title for Nintendo Wii among hardcore gamers.  The promise of a first-person shooter that also featured sword fights was an excellent hook.  The final game failed to match the hype, although it has a fanbase.

Ubisoft has been very carefully working on the sequel, and the hard work is showing real dividends.  Nintendo's Wiimote Motion Plus promises true 1:1 movement, which the controller originally promised.  This is where shooters will seriously start to kick ass.

I haven't played any demos of the in-progress Red Steel 2, so it's not fair for me to make any judgements just yet.  But I am rooting loudly for this title to succeed.  I really love the visual style, with its cel-shaded graphics and strong emphasis on colorful effects.  It's a great art style, and I hope we see it again.  Future games will have to skillfully use visual effects and flashy styles in order to compete against Playstation 3 and XBox 360.

The only real downside to Red Steel 2 is the lack of multiplayer, which is a real shame.  But the complex swordplay may be too much for 4-play split-screen, or even online games.  But that's fine.  Ubisoft should stay focused on their own agenda, and not try to be all things to all people.  It's not their fault if most developers continue to treat the Wii as a lucky novelty, merely tossing out cheap mini-game packages without any effort or attention.

I'm sure the dedicated hardcore gamers are eager for Red Steel to succeed.  Nintendo's console needs more games of this stripe.  The trailer looks very, very promising so far.