I love the Asian culture; there is something about the beauty and long standing traditions of their culture that just appeals to me so much. I'm also a huge fan of the crazy, wire-fu martial arts films of recent, and Kill Bill is a film I've seen countless times. So imagine my surprise when Red Steel was announced for the Wii, a game that lets you shoot it out in John Woo inspired goodness and fling swords like a real samurai. Though the system isn't perfect, it still remains a lot of fun.

THE STORY SO FAR
In the game, you play as Scott, a bodyguard who was hired to protect a high standing Japanese businessman's daughter, but ended up falling in love with her and getting engaged. On the day Scott was to finely meet her father, a Japanese gang declared war on her father, shot him, and kidnapped your fiancé. As Scott, it is up to you to find your fiancé and fulfill the wishes of her father.

At the center of the story is a love story, but since most of the time is spent tracking your fiancé rather than chatting with her, most of the story is that of a Japanese crime film with a tale of revenge thrown in for good measure. Your journey will take you from America to the heart of Japan itself, as you wage war against the Yakuza, taking you from foundries to geisha houses to gambling parlors to an amusement park created by an insane man.

The love story could've been a whole lot better, because I just didn't care too much about her. I did, however, really get into the revenge tale and trying to bring down these Yakuza thugs, all so that the old order could be reestablished, who though crooks, had a certain reputation and high(er) morals they upheld over the "do anything they want to do" Yakuza that has taken over with the shooting of your fiancé's father.

SINGLE PLAYER: GAMEPLAY
You've never played a FPS like this before. Unlike the mouse and keyboard controls of a PC or the traditional two thumbstick approach to modern day console shooters, Red Steel uses a completely new schematic, though its roots lay with the thumbstick method. Like with most modern consoles, you'll use the nunchuk analog stick to make your character walk, but whereas the right thumbstick controlled the way in which your character looked, now that is controller by pointing the Wii controller like you would a gun.

When the game first started out, I absolutely hated the control scheme, because it felt so clunky to me, but then after I quit trying to play the game like I thought it should be played and instead how it should be played, though I still ran into an occasional control hiccup, the flow became much better, and I have to say Red Steel may currently be the Wii game I'm having the most fun with (I know, not Zelda, blasphemy). Beyond those movements, the Z-button puts you in and takes you out of a crouch, the C-button jumps, the B-button fires your weapon, and the A-button zooms in.

At first, it can be difficult to aim really well, as you'll be missing shots left and right, but when you start learning what tactics work best when and what weapons are ideal for how you adjust, you'll get the hang of things quickly. But though you'll get a handle on them, there are a few more complicated maneuvers that will still prove difficult hours into your journey, such as trying to throw grenades without moving your right hand and throwing off your aim so the grenade blows up in your face, trying to hold your hand steady as you press the A-button and push your controller towards the television to zoom in, or not occasionally throwing your point of view out of whack when you have to scratch your head or something, and you have to quickly readjust and get everything center again back with the sensor bar. The problems listed aren't terrible, but they keep the game from being perfect.

There is also a bullet time mode later in the game, where you'll learn to concentrate and slow down time, and from here you can quickly pop off a few killer shots, or use some tactics such as taking down the group leader so the others will be scatterbrained and not know what to do, or you can choose instead to shoot the weapon out of their hand, disarming them, and forcing them to surrender by waving your controller up and down on them.

You'll also often participate in sword battles, where you can slice, dodge out of the way, and block weapons. The idea of sword fights is cool, but they aren't pulled off so well, as the enemies aren't really that challenging for the most part, and I often found I could beat them simply by flailing my arms about so that I was constantly slashing at them. Yes, they parried and dodged my attacks, but still I almost always clearly won without much tactics being needed. Once a battle is concluded, you can choose to kill them, or earn respect by letting them wallow in their own pity at their failure and sparing their life.

The enemies of the game also aren't the brightest, as they'll often stand around and not properly flank you or any such maneuvers, but I won't come out and say they are pure idiots since they still managed to take me down quite a few times (I hate those snipers and up-close shotgun toting thugs). The enemies are mostly men dressed in business suits, but they do get clever later on, such as dressing up as pink haired anime girls and standing around in a room with fake pink haired anime girl mannequins, so that when you enter, you don't know who to shoot at until they shoot at you. Or, in one of the creepiest moments, an almost completely pitch dark room, where the enemies are dressed completely in black, besides these ghostly white masks they wear and that seem to float in the air.

MULTIPLAYER: GAMEPLAY
Since the Wii online system won't be available till next year, Red Steel is multiplayer strictly confined to one system. The multiplayer is pretty lacking with only four maps to choose from and a few game types, such as Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Killer (you are given a secret objective through your controller's speakers, and whoever gets that mission accomplished first wins). Unlike some modern day FPS games, Red Steel should be considered a single player experience purchase first and foremost.

GRAPHICS
Do you know the game on Price is Right where you reach your hand in a bag and pull out a number or strike, trying to win a car, and you never know what you'll pull out? Well, Red Steel is exactly like that. Many of the character models look downright ugly, and some of the environmental objects are horribly pixilated and bland. However, for everything ugly, there is often a stroke of beauty as well. Many gunfights, for example, can send debris flying, and while it isn't the best looking debris, there is something special about ducking behind a fish tank while glass and water falls on your head. Plus, many of the environments are simply spectacular and are an example of quality level construction all games should strive for. Once again, they aren't graphically that great looking, but the conception and architecture make up for it in more ways than one. A deranged funhouse and the tranquil inner city dojo are my two favorites.

SOUND
The voice acting is actually pretty good, as long as you don't mind the choppiness and, "Oh, me so sarry (yes, with an A)" style of it all, which is reminiscent of movies past when they'd dress up someone of Caucasian decent and told them to pretend as if they are Asian. And no, I wasn't being sarcastic there, because the voice acting really is good as long as you don't mind that stereotype styling. The music is good because it accurately reflects the level of action and setting of the level, such as the funhouse using twisted versions of the traditional carnival while the bar has an easy style that sounds like much of the music from Kill Bill.

IN CONCLUSION
There are many things in life that we know have flaws, but we can admit to that but still love them so. Red Steel has many flaws, but most of them are ones that just need a little time to adjust to, such as the shooting controls, while others like the graphics and lacking multiplayer shouldn't have been an issue with a next generation system. However, despite those flaws, it is still a really fun game despite them, and if you are a fan of the Hong Kong revenge tale or movies dealing with the martial arts and Yakuza, then Red Steel should be a purchase that satisfies you well.

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