When the original Red Steel was released in 2006, it was dubbed as the one game that truly showed what the Wii Remote could do with it’s sword-play system. Then we played the game and realised it wasn’t quite as accurate as Ubisoft claimed it was.

But with the release of Wii MotionPlus, everyone turned to Ubisoft and asked one question—when is Red Steel 2 coming out. It was a logical choice, but what Ubisoft have ended up doing has surprised many.

Gone is the realistic setting from the first game and in comes a cel-shaded western style setting, akin to Ubisoft’s XIII. And it looks great. The realistic setting doesn’t really work on Wii, so cel-shading is a great alternative. It allows a lot of freedom and realism, but keeping the violence of the game lower than a realistic environment would. This is a great move for Ubisoft as they can now get the game out to more people.

But what of the gameplay? Reports are promising. MotionPlus has been worked in for use primarily in sword-play, but is also used for levelling guns, which adds even more realism. It’s clear Ubisoft have spent time with MotionPlus, as everyone that has played Red Steel 2 says that the MotionPlus dongle adds so much realism to the game, and makes every strike count. You need to be a swordsman to perfect this game, so it should be brilliant fun for those of who aren’t!

The plot is still under wraps as it stands, and Ubisoft have confirmed that there will be no multiplayer mode due to their focus on MotionPlus. That seems a fair deal to me.

So, will this be the game Ubisoft wanted to make back in December 2006? It’s certainly looking good at the moment, and could be a great title to kick the year off.