Even more Red Steel info unsheathed

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Apr 9th 2006 at 6:10PM }

Moz La Punk has obtained some substantial information from Game Informer's article on Red Steel, the Ubisoft first-person Revolution extravaganza which exploded onto the Internet this weekend. It's a lengthy read, but I've captured some of the highlights for those that have little in the ways of time, energy or attention span (see also: modern human being).

Ubisoft is working closely with Nintendo on the project. They pitched it to Iwata and Miyamoto who liked the idea enough to not have the French team of designers executed.
In the initial stages of the game, you're a reckless killing machine. By the end of it, you'll be an efficient and graceful murderer. The game clearly encourages you to better yourself.
"The goal...is to use five bullets to kill five enemies". That is, if you ignore how much fun it is to kill one enemy with 45 bullets. Look at that ragdoll convulse!
The game has bullet time. Cheer ecstatically or roll eyes as you feel appropriate.
Accuracy is your friend: Shooting the gun out of an enemy's hand may prove to be more useful than shooting him in the face. Disarming him allows you to get nice and close with your sword. [Insert additional "disarming" joke here.]
Depending on your performance and action, in-game characters will either loathe or respect you. It's easier to get your way with those that respect you. Especially the ladies.
"Flailing your sword isn't a smart idea." Instead, specific motions will initiate deadly special attacks and combos. (It is not mentioned whether flailing your gun is smart or not.)
Missions in the game can be completed in any order and are given out by either a sword master or a gun master. You need to show them both respect, or they'll treat you worse than Uma Thurman.
You'll attempt to sway gang leaders to your cause. If that doesn't work, you'll have to sway them to an early and painful death.
Aside from the usual split-screen gameplay, Ubisoft is working on secret, original multiplayer modes. Given their track record with the Splinter Cell series, I'd expect these to be very good indeed.
"Aiming with the controller is as simple as using a laser pointer. You point your hand at a target and hit the trigger on the underside of the controller to fire."
AI characters focus on "risk management", a term which apparently includes jumping over tables.
"You signal "yes/no" answers by nodding the controller up or down or shaking it from side to side."
Read that again. You nod your head with the controller as a form of communication with in-game characters. That is the single greatest thing ever.

Red Steel is looking to be something very special. I always thought it would be a first-party Nintendo title that would really get the Revolution excitement rolling, but this is the game that finds itself in the enviable position of not only promoting its own concepts, but those of the Revolution itself. It's fair to say that a lot more people "get" the Revolution now than before this game surfaced. Whether or not this FPS lives up to its ideals is yet to be decided, but its value as an iillustrative example of the Revolution's potential is clear.

[Thanks fischju! Color enhanced image courtesy of Kellan.]

Tags: First-person shooter, First-personShooter, FPS, Nintendo Revolution, NintendoRevolution, Red Steel, RedSteel, Revolution, swordplay, Ubisoft

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

SydRocks @ Apr 9th 2006 8:04PM

If that's a release title.... DAMN!

fischju @ Apr 9th 2006 8:15PM

Some higher quality scans:

http://www3.sympatico.ca/mike.cordeiro/c-e/rev_redshell1.jpg

http://www3.sympatico.ca/mike.cordeiro/c-e/rev_redshell3.jpg

http://www3.sympatico.ca/mike.cordeiro/c-e/rev_redshell2.jpg

Ballzdeep @ Apr 9th 2006 8:23PM

If you call yourself a gamer, you should simply be interested in trying out the Revmote. Even if you insist that you do hate all things Nintendo you should still, as a gamer, be wise enough to know that this game is going to be worth at LEAST a try. How could you not want to play this type of game with this type of interface?

I'm looking damn forward to checking this game out.

Kellan @ Apr 9th 2006 9:17PM

Heh, see you used my cleaned up version for the topic picture. Woot.

dos @ Apr 9th 2006 9:54PM

It would be nice to see some high res scans (pictures of a magazine are not scans) of the article for those of us who don't have access to this magazine.

andres @ Apr 9th 2006 11:58PM

I am really looking forward to see wht the revolution can do with the controller. I have an xbox 360 and it's awesome but i will also buy the revolution cuz it looks great

Merus @ Apr 10th 2006 6:59AM

Forget Red Steel, I want Blue Steel.

Think of it: a FPS set in the high-risk, high-glamour world of male modelling. Do I hear the words, "No. #1 Jam"?

Banana @ Apr 10th 2006 8:15AM

^^ Ahahaha!!!

Blue Steel All the way!

Nah, we need some magnum, or is that for the next console?

Ryan @ Apr 10th 2006 11:13AM

#5 - Why not just drop Magnum on us?

timbo @ Apr 10th 2006 11:40AM

blue steel! blue steel! with a training mode for ants??

haegen @ Apr 10th 2006 11:55AM

#5/6

yes! you could turn your head with the controller! but all you really have to do is turn left.....

noliberalbull @ Apr 10th 2006 12:32PM

*drool*... *nods mouse up and down to signify he wants this game really badly*... *nothing happens*... damn...

Wayne @ Apr 10th 2006 1:26PM

At last. Some good solid info on Revolution gameplay.
This looks like fun. But it's gonna be a loooooooong wait.

petarded @ Apr 10th 2006 2:59PM

the game sounds amazing! the one thing that sounds sort of lame is the nodding with the controller.

VJ @ Apr 10th 2006 3:44PM

Im very interested in this game but if you read the magazine it says "These pics are representations of what gameply will look like" so unfortunately theyre jus artwork. Which is great coz the graphics dont look fantastic, hopefully they'll be able to improve it a lot before release.

Marc @ Apr 10th 2006 4:05PM

Yay Bullet Time! And just keep in mind, a Nintendo title Will get the Revolution rolling, just wait.

fischju @ Apr 10th 2006 4:25PM

Ubisoft Addresses Screenshot Controversy
By Justin S. | Posted on Apr 9, 2006

Within minutes of the unveiling of the first screenshots for Nintendo's upcoming console, the Revolution, with Ubisoft's Red Steel, a first-person shooter, people already had reservations in regards to how real they actually were. Some claimed the shots are fake, others claimed them to be concept art, and some even went as far as to assume that the game is played on rails, similar to light gun games like Time Crisis.

All of these issues were quickly addressed, confirming that they are, in fact, real. On top of that, they are not pieces of concept art and the game could be fully explored in 3D, or in other words, Red Steel is not stuck on rails.

It wouldn't be long before more controversy arose, however. Former EGM/1Up.com employee Che Chou posted a comment at the Gaming-Age Forums claiming the shots to be touched up and that the actual game looks "less good."

Random Nintendo contacted a confirmed Ubisoft employee who frequently posts on the IGN Boards under the username Prince_NineOne1. According to Prince, only one magazine, Game Informer, has seen the game in action. This means that any inside information Chou has received would have to be from Game Informer, who published the screenshots and confirmed them to be real.

If Chou's words were true, that would make Game Informer guilty of playing off tampered screenshots as an accurate representation of the game's graphical quality.

"So in essence," Prince_NineOne1 said, "Che is saying that his sources are from Game Informer and that they purposely lie in their magazine."

Simply put, don't put too much stock into Chou's comment just yet. Stick with Random Nintendo for any updates on Red Steel.

Marc @ Apr 10th 2006 4:34PM

^ it doesn't matter how good "this" game is, it's only a launch title, and it's not by Nintendo, so obviously it won't look as good. Trust me, games will get better within the first 6 weeks of launch.

Volks @ Apr 10th 2006 5:05PM

Damn, not bad for JUST a console

shiftup @ Apr 10th 2006 7:39PM

AHEM... I do believe that Chuck Norris is the single greatest thing ever. His karate chop and testicles ocuppy third and fourth.

Babylonian @ Apr 11th 2006 10:13AM

I'm glad to see they decided to use a more Timesplitters-2-esque crosshair system intead of a typical FPSs. This should be pretty natural.

Oh, by the way, I'M FUCKING PSYCHED OUT OF MY MIND FOR THIS GAME.

VJ @ Apr 11th 2006 1:03PM

Most intillegent Nintendo related article ive ever read!

http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/games/fanboy.html

play games @ Apr 11th 2006 1:19PM

I say yay to nodding the controller for yes/no, and nay for bullet time. It does look to be quite good, even if the graphics come down a bit from this demo. It's more about the actual gameplay here, and your interaction with the game that's promising.

mike @ Apr 15th 2006 4:38AM

If Chou's words were true, that would make Game Informer guilty of playing off tampered screenshots as an accurate representation of the game's graphical quality.

---

Screw that.. Chou works for MS now.. hence the vague sources ... HE MADE IT UP.

Damn, don't you guys care about 1up.com podcast..

haha kidding

X_Arre @ Apr 15th 2006 10:16AM

Lol, there's VJ again trying to preach random people about that fanboy article. If ypu hate nintendo so much then why do you come to REVOLUTIONfanboy.com?

X_Arre @ Apr 15th 2006 10:18AM

Me though, I'm totally psyched for Red Steel. Along with Super Smash Bros it will be one of the first Rev games I buy.

James @ Apr 20th 2006 1:35AM

"Which is great coz the graphics dont look fantastic, hopefully they'll be able to improve it a lot before release."

Are you serious? These graphics look as good - or better - than any current Xbox 360 game. This is very much a next generation standard, right here.

The only real complaint I could see would be about the art style, but surely not the graphics themselves.

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