Red Steel promised early on to be the showcase game for Nintendo's unique control scheme as far as first person shooters go. Who wouldn't enjoy taking aim with the Wii remote and pulling the trigger to deliver devastating shots at the enemy> Or, better yet, throw in the ability to use the controller like the hilt of a sword to battle enemies in close quarters.

While all of this sounds like one of the best games you could hope for on a new system, that just isn't really the case. I hate to say that any game is actually bad, but I have to give up on this game. There were plenty of good ideas that went into this game, and I have nothing but hope that the mistakes made in the development of this game will translate into new innovations for the games to follow after.

First of all, the controls felt somehow loose. It's hard to keep on track with a target, especially since any target on the edge will cause the camera to shift over. So you're aiming at someone, and suddenly the camera moves, leaving you to have to try and shift over before that target is off-camera (which can happen). Eventually, the sword battles become so blurred and fast-paced that it's hard to keep up. Innovation for this Ubisoft game didn't mean fun. Sadly, this game only gets a 6 out of 10 for control.

The story was very cut-and-dry. Your girlfriend is the daughter of the boss of one of Japan's infamous Yakuza clans. She up and gets kidnapped, and you try to save her. You learn how to handle different weapons-including a sword and short sword. The story doesn't develop very well over the course of the game, and it's pretty much just beat all the other guys. Sorry Ubisoft, but you get a 6 out of 10 for this, too.

This game certainly wins no awards on the soundtrack. I barely noticed the sound, but in this case that's because the soundtrack blends really well with each objective you reach in the game. I hate to give this game much over a 6, but here I think the game managed to do something pretty good. For the sound, Red Steel gets a 7 out of 10.

My least favorite aspect of the game: the cut scenes. They were pretty much nothing more than pictures that stayed on the screen as the camera zoomed in on different parts or the picture moved to give the illusion of movement. The game-play graphics looked something like Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64. The characters looked blocky, many of the animations looked highly pixilated, and they didn't even show good physics effects when you shot someone. I cannot, in good conscience, give this area more than a 5 out of a possible 10.

To top it off, the game's menu is in Japanese, so you have to actually pay very close attention to what you select. But don't worry, it's hard to accidentally choose the wrong selection, since you have to click on the option you want, and use the remote to move the selection over onto a billboard.

So in essence, the game suffers from poor controls, bad cut scenes, rough graphics, and a possibly confusing game menu. Not a recipe for a smash-hit. The game barely manages a 6 out of 10 just because the game was actually fun in multiplayer where everyone has the same problems shooting at each other. However, there is hope. Metroid Prime: Corruption looks to learn from these mistakes, and one can only hope that they learn well enough to pave the way for first person shooters in the future.