pinipigbomb

I'll get straight to the point. If you're a fan of the twisted works of Suda 51, Anime and non-stop blow-the-living-crap-out-of-anything-that-moves action, you'll love this game. You will blow through it pretty fast, but it's worth the money. If you have an extra five bucks left-over from your last purchase, I recommend buying this shooter.

Why is this game even called "Red Steel 2"? It has absolutely nothing to do with the first game. And that's a very good thing. Those who remember the first Red Steel were plagued by half-baked graphics, sluggish controls and abysmal sword combat. Red Steel 2, a complete overhaul of the first game, fixes every single problem the first had. It no longer takes place in our world as we know it, but in a land where feudal Japan meets the Wild West steam punk setting. I'll first touch on the gameplay. It rocks. The game is stylized as a sort of free roam shooter. Shooting and turning feels completely natural now and I have had no problems regarding it. But the sword combat is probably one of the major reasons you want to play this game. In the first game, depending on how you swung the wii remote, you could swing your sword vertically or horizontally or if the controller even registered your movements at all. Now you can swing wherever the heck you want. This is the best use of the Wii Motion+ I've EVER seen to date. Every once in a while there will be a misread but about 98% of every slash, stab, hack occured exactly how I intended it. The graphics. The graphics are good. And I mean they are jacked up good. This game has the same feel and quality as a high-end PS3 or Xbox game like Borderlands. Every character moves and acts naturally and every corner is incredibly detailed. But the graphics do come at a cost. Almost every door hides a 7-10 second loading screen, but in no way is that a game breaker. The story actually sticks out compared to other FPS stories on the wii (coughcouchconduitcoughcough) and isn't all too cheesy. While playing this game, I had the pleasure of listening to one of the best gaming soundtracks I've heard in a while. It really is very memorable and suits the mood of the game. People have been complaining about seeing only three enemy types. That is no where near the truth. I've seen many variations of gunslingers, swordslingers, a guy with an frickin' MINIGUN and ninja gunners (and many many more!). All in all, this is easily one of the best titles for the wii and I do recomend buying it. It's a steal.

Snake Eater is certainly worth playing. It's a decent game start to finish, but there are some major flaws I would like to point out. The long cut-scenes are not one of them. If they are needed to tell the story, then they are okay in my book. Gameplay is well done. All the gameplay flaws from Sons of Liberty have been ironed out and your vitality in a combat situation is well improved. Now to some of my major complaints. I actually found the camera excusable in Sons of Liberty due to the small and narrow corridors. In Snake Eater, the camera work is less than stellar. Environments are expansive and huge. The camera is useless now that I can't see ten feet in front of me and the radar has been omitted. I ran into several occasions where the game turned into a frustrating run and gun in some of the areas populated by numerous enemies. There is now a food system, which I thought was implemented well, but now there is a cure system in which you have to pause the game and cure EVERY injury you receive. As you might expect, it can get rather tedious and is just an extraneous addition when bosses hit you with attacks that can constantly drain your health unless cured. The story of the game is superb. It becomes well appreciated and is very thoughtful. The soundtrack is once again composed by Harry Gregson-Williams and I have to say, it is a lot better than the occasional jazzy, lounge like tracks in sons of Liberty. But during the majority of the game, no music is heard except for bosses and alerts. I thought this made the game seem somewhat empty and unfinished. The graphics are gorgeous. They definitely push the PS2 to its limits. Overall, this is a good game especially if you are a fan of the series. It never reaches the heights of Sons of Liberty, but is a welcome addition to the franchise. My score may seem rather low, but if the camera issues and the cure system were fixed, I can definitely see this title receiving a 9.