The first Red Steel on the Wii never really grabbed my total attention. One of the best implementations of the Wii Remote should be a sword, but it just didn’t work all that well. Sure, it was fun, but that fun didn’t last. Now with Wii Motion Plus, swinging a sword is as fun and visceral as you would expect. Tack on some solid gun-play and you’ve got a high quality action game.

The visual changes in Red Steel 2, with its anime-esque Western styles, look great on the Wii. Going realistic isn’t always the way too go and it works to the advantage of Ubisoft’s newest game. Characters and environments all look great in the style. I was hoping there would be some blood while slashing away at enemies, but alas, none was present in the demo I got to play.

Using the Wii Motion Plus to give 1:1 mapping of your sword and gun aiming is terrific. You can swing in any direction or block in any direction and your in-game character will instantly mimic your every move. When I saw the trailer for the game, I thought it might get old. I was dead wrong. This is another one of those games I didn’t want to put down.

When you get this game (and you should, because I’m guessing your Wii needs some attention), make sure to securely fasten the wrist strap on the Wii Remote. There are some times when you laugh at using that, but with Red Steel 2, you’ll be swinging your sward pretty damn hard (since light swings don’t do much damage). We don’t want to see you busting your nice new HDTV now. Get in shape, because this game is going to give you a workout when you play for hours.