Not in Red Steel though, as you then go into duel mode, which initially is great fun, at least for the novelty factor. But as you progress, the duels degenerate into sessions where you can easily memorize your opponent’s patterns and then engage in the Wii-waving equivalent of button mashing. And the various moves you learn throughout the game which could contort the most ambidextrous of us? Basically useless when a few waves and a move where you swing both controllers down at the same time work just as well.

I will give Ubisoft an A for effort though when it comes to trying something new in the shooter genre and it will be interesting to see how this new technology can be further utilized in the future. What can’t be overlooked though is the poor dialogue and voice acting, which ranges from stereotypical to absurd. Why not keep the sections where the Japanese characters spoke in their native tongue, with subtitles appearing on the bottom? It lends a more authentic feel to the game, and since I don’t understand Japanese, I can’t notice if the writing’s poor or not.

Graphically, the character models and faces are well done, but overall, the look of the game is definitely not what you’re expecting when you hear ‘Next Gen’, especially with the jaggies and poor textures at many points in the game. I think we’ll all have to adjust our expectations for the Wii when it comes to graphics and hope for ‘Next Gen’ experiences, not just pretty faces. The explosions in Red Steel are cool though, and the physics engine leads to some pretty memorable moments, though it can also lead to glitches in the game.

Speaking of glitches, I did have two freezes that required a full system restart, but other than those, the game ran pretty flawlessly. In the end though, when it comes to Red Steel, if you do finish the game, you have to ask yourself, ‘would I have finished it without the Wii control scheme?’ Probably not.