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Red Steel 2

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Red Steel 2
File:RedSteel2 Boxart.jpg
Developer(s)Ubisoft Paris
Publisher(s)Ubisoft
Director(s)Jason Vandenberghe
EngineLyN engine[3]
Platform(s)Wii
Genre(s)First Person Shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Red Steel 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Paris for the Wii video game console. It is the sequel to Red Steel. The game was released on March 23, 2010 in North America and in Europe on March 26, 2010.

Plot

The game begins as an unnamed Hero, the last member of the Kusagari Clan, is being dragged across the desert, tied to the back of a motorcycle. He manages to break free, but Payne, the leader of the Jackals - a vast gang of thugs, murderers and thieves - manages to steal the Hero's katana. While running from the Jackals, the Hero rescues his old swordsmaster Jian, who allows the Hero to borrow his sword until the Hero can recover his own from Payne.

The Hero meets up with Tamiko, a member of his clan's research division, as well as Caldera's sheriff, Judd. They provide information for the Hero to help him track down Payne, while sabotaging the Jackals' operations in the Upper City, as well as meeting a fight club-operating businessman named Songan. The Hero eventually locates and defeats Payne in the Jackals' hideout, Rojo House, recovering his katana during the battle. He interrogates Payne and, before killing him, learns that his entire clan has been annihilated by a man named Shinjiro.

The Hero travels to the Lower City, encountering another rival clan called the Katakara. He finds Shinjiro in the Kusagari Temple and the two swordsmen fight. After a fierce battle, the Hero breaks Shinjiro's katana and pushes him to the edge of the Temple's roof. However, before the Hero can strike his foe down, a mysterious ninja saves Shinjiro. Jian then tells the Hero that the katanas of the Kusagari, called Sora Katanas, have great unpredictable power and that the method to make these is known only to them, and Shinjiro, who trained with the Kusagari as a child, plans to make more of them.

Following a tip from Judd, the Hero discovers Shinjiro trying to escape the city on a train and manages to board it before it leaves. After the Hero fights his way through the train, which is full of ninjas and Katakara, he finds Shinjiro atop the front car; however, the "escape attempt" is revealed to be a trap, as Shinjiro detaches the rest of the train (with the Hero on it) from his own car and uses a grenade to destroy it. The Hero survives, but is forced to walk through the desert for three days before finding a deserted town. From there, he goes to Rattlesnake Canyon, where businessman, Songan, betrays the hero and his allies, Tamiko, Judd, and Jian, are captured. Shinjiro demands the Hero's katana in exchange for his friends. As the Hero is about to give it to him, the two engage in a gun duel, where Tamiko is shot. The Hero pursues and confronts Shinjiro who now has created a new katana and defeats him. As he is weakened, Shinjiro tells the hero that other clans will fight him for that katana. The Hero then thrusts his katana through Shinjiro's chest and breaks it in half. The game ends as the hero throws the other half of the katana off a cliff and looks out into the distance with Shinjiro's dead body behind him.

Characters

The Hero: The primary protagonist of the game. The Hero was exiled a number of years before the game began, left with a Sora katana.

Jian: The swordsmaster of the Kusagari clan, he helps the main character learn new moves as the game progresses. The Hero can also train additional techniques and upgrade his sword in the dojos where Jian takes refuge throughout the game.

Steve Judd: The town sheriff 42 years running. The Hero can purchase firearm upgrades from Judd's safehouses at certain points throughout the game.

Tamiko: A member of the Kusagari research division.

Payne: The leader of the Jackals.

Okaji: Commander of the Katakara clan warrior caste. Judd remarks that Okaji has a bounty on his head in 38 territories.

Shinjiro: The main antagonist. He has killed every Kusagari clan member, trying to find the secret to making Sora katanas.

Gameplay

Red Steel 2 is played in a first-person perspective where players can alternate between shooting and sword fighting. Players are able to fight up to six enemies at a time, and can deflect opponents' bullets with their swords.[4] As the player progresses, new abilities and weapons become available for purchase or earning, whilst additional side missions are available to play, earning the player a monetary reward for their completion.

Development

Red Steel 2 features a vastly different art style than its predecessor

Development of Red Steel 2 began in the summer of 2008. On July 28 of the same year, Red Steel 2 was announced by Ubisoft executive director, Alain Corre.[5] It was also confirmed to use Nintendo's new accessory, Wii MotionPlus and will be included in a bundle.[6][7]

Red Steel 2 features stylized, cel-shaded graphics, in contrast to its predecessor's more realistic aesthetic. The visual style is similar to Ubisoft Paris' own XIII, released in 2003. The game does not include gore or excess amount of bloodshed, which resulted with Red Steel 2 getting a rating of T, for animated blood, mild language, mild suggestive themes, and violence. Enemies disappear in a cloud of dust as they die. Players will have at their disposal both a gun and a katana, which they can switch between at any time.

Commenting on the mix of East and West in the game creative director Jason Vandenberghe explained: "What doesn't work is to take those Western and Eastern elements, and sort of mix them into one thing. What does work is to say: here's Joe's bar and grill and here is Ming Pow's sushi's place. It's not a Western-looking cowboy katana; it's a katana, and a revolver, and they're clearly in their own place."[8]

In April 2009, Ubisoft announced that Red Steel 2 would not feature a multiplayer mode. Creative director Jason Vandenberghe later explained that they did explore the possibilities of a multiplayer mode, but that it would never fit in the time window, and that they preferred to deliver a great single player experience over a mediocre multiplayer game.[8]

Reception

Red Steel 2 currently holds a score of 82% on Metacritic based on 46 reviews, representing favorable reviews.[9] IGN awarded Red Steel 2 a score of 8.6/10 along with an editor's choice award, praising the "awesome style and energetic gameplay" calling it "one of the top titles on Wii."[10] Official Nintendo Magazine gave Red Steel 2 an 86% score, praising the MotionPlus controls, visuals and audio, but criticised the mission design, referring to it as being "average."[11] Eurogamer gave the game a score of 7/10, praising the "thrilling set pieces" but calling the game's character "flawed, certainly, but entirely honorable with it." [12] 1up.com were considerably less impressed, giving Red Steel 2 a C+, stating that while "occasionally exhilarating" the game was "mostly unremarkable." [13] Gametrailers.com gave Red Steel 2 8.6 out of 10.[14] GamesRader gave the title 9 out of 10, praising the controls and "the engaging, intuitive combat." GamesRadar also noted that the game was drastically superior to Red Steel, noting that there was "no comparison between the two."[15] Ubisoft originally expected to sell 1 million copies of Red Steel 2, but after poor sales of their game avatar, they slashed their sales predictions in half. It has been confirmed that sales have now met these predictions.[16]

Sequel

Red Steel 3 has been confirmed to be in development by Computer and Video Games.[17]

References

  1. ^ http://www.vgreleases.com/Wii/ReleaseDate-41017.aspx
  2. ^ "Red Steel 2 release date revealed". Official Nintendo Magazine. 2010/01/26. Retrieved 2010-01-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  3. ^ Casamassina, Matt (2009-06-01). "E3 2009: Red Steel 2 Hands-On". IGN. Retrieved 2010-01-03. We actually shifted to the Lyn [sic] Engine, which is internal Ubisoft tech.
  4. ^ http://www.ubi.com/UK/Games/Info.aspx?pId=7780
  5. ^ Wales, Matt (July 28, 2008) Ubisoft Confirms Red Steel 2 Retrieved on 2009-03-07.
  6. ^ Martin, Joe 2008-07-28. Ubisoft: Red Steel 2 will use Wii Motion Plus 2009-03-07
  7. ^ Casamassina, Matt 2009-06-01. [1] Retrieved on 2009-06-02.
  8. ^ a b Müller, Martijn (2010-27-02). "Interview met creative director Red Steel 2". NG-Gamer. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "Red Steel 2 on Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
  10. ^ Harris, Craig (March 23, 2010). "Red Steel 2 Review". IGN.com. Retrieved March 23, 2010.
  11. ^ Red Steel 2 review
  12. ^ Donlan, Christian (March 23, 2010). "Red Steel 2 Review". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved March 23, 2010.
  13. ^ Barnholt, Ray (March 23, 2010). "Ubisoft does a "re-do" on Red Steel, but does it surpass its disappointing predecessor?". 1up.com. Retrieved March 23, 2010.
  14. ^ [2]
  15. ^ Elston, Brett. "Red Steel 2 review on GamesRadar". GamesRadar. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
  16. ^ http://wii.nintendolife.com/news/2010/05/red_steel_2_met_ubis_sales_expectations
  17. ^ http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=244696

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