E309 | Interview | Ubisoft Developers Talk Red Steel 2

Accompanying this unique setting is an all-new, cell-shaded visual style that differs dramatically from the original game's more realistic look. This change to a "graphic novel approach" was chosen, says Vandenberghe, because, it's "more fun this way." Without the need to focus on creating and maintaining an entirely realistic setting, the development team has been able to focus on refining the game's most important aspects: the sword and gunplay. The new look also clearly separates the game from its predecessor, and while Ubisoft hasn't gone out on a limb to deny a plot connection with the original, RS2 does feature a "new hero and a new world". Ultimately, the new style "fits the gameplay better" than the alternatives.

That's not to say that Red Steel 2 simply rips Corruption off, though, au contraire! As Lead Game Designer Roman Campos-Oriola explains, Metroid isn't confined by a semi-realistic setting, nor does it have to worry about a great deal of close quarters combat. The RS2 team has simply taken Retro's advice so that it can focus on new concepts rather than reinventing the wheel. As far as comparisons to other titles go, console-sellers such as Halo and Killzone for example, Campos-Oriola doesn't see RS2 competing with them directly, because - although he hopes the game's quality will be comparable - he and his team are not trying to create a first-person shooter, but something more akin to a "first-person brawler".

With greater freedom of control, however, comes the risk of overwhelming the player. Balancing the game to keep it widely accessible has been a strong focus for Roman and his team. In order to appeal to the game's core target audience - gamers - RS2 will feature a number of difficulty settings as well as fully customizable controls. That includes the option to adjust the level of strength needed to unleash sword attacks, as well as tweak sensitivity for first-person aiming. The harder difficulty settings - particularly Ninja mode, which "only a few will beat" - won't simply elevate difficulty artificially by granting enemies more health, etc., but rather force the player to be more accurate, attack with better timing, and so on.

Not exactly, no. But the development team had been busy prototyping new ideas, researching mechanics, and trying to improve on mistakes made in the original. However, certain aspects of the original game simply couldn't be improved upon sufficiently to warrant the release of a sequel. When asked why there haven't been more Red Steel clones, Vandenberghe explains that "it's not because there aren't talented developers working on the Wii, because there are," but rather because of the limitations of the Wii Remote. The MotionPlus changes everything, but that's not to say that previous ideas have been scrapped entirely. Many of the more interesting prototypes are now being turned into mini-games and other smaller features.

Thanks to Jason Vandenberghe and Roma Campos-Oriola for taking the time to answer our questions, and a big thank you to Ubisoft for organizing the pre-E3 Red Steel 2 event.