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Sliced Gaming Feature: Red Steel Developer Interview

Writer: Nick Schaedel
Posted: 27th July 2006, 8:20pm

Nicolas Eypert, the Creative Director of the title was kind enough to to take time out of his busy day and answer our questions.


Nick Schaedel: Thanks for talking with us. So, tell us the storyline of Red Steel.

Nicolas Eypert: The story of the game is about an American who, meeting his fiancee's father for the first time, hardly discovers that the man is a great yakuza leader. This happens during an attack launched against his "father in law" in a LA restaurant. The hero is forced to intervene and save the father but his fiancee is kidnapped by reprisals.

Looking for her in LA, he will fail to prevent the kidnappers to bring her to Japan but discover what they want: The Katana-Giri, sword of her father and symbol of his power over his clan. About to die from his wounds, the father won’t have any other choice that put the hero in charge of the katana, with the promises to rescue his daughter.

Thus with this prestigious but dangerous inheritance he will have no other way than going to Japan trying to save her. There he will discover that the forces he has to fight is much bigger than expected and deal with a strong war for influences over the yakuza's world. But the katana as a weapon as well as a symbol will help him to gain allies to the condition to prove his valor and merit. This will lead him to accomplish several missions to prove his good faith and help to get back the influence of the clan of his father in law.

Fighting, dueling and getting respect from yakuza will become the story of his life in Japan.

NS: What sort of environments are in the game? Is it all gritty suburban cities, or do we get to play through some more organic areas?

NE: You have both. At the beginning of the game you will be in Los Angeles, but then you will quickly move to Japan where you are immersed in Tokyo; during the day in either very modern buildings or more traditional places like as the financial quarter or the harbour, and at night in the underground world of Yakuza night life.

You will also discover & fight in some Japanese gardens in Tokais’ house or near the Geisha pleasures area...

NS: What's the control set-up for the Wii remote?

NE: You have to hold the controller in one hand and the nunchuck in the other one. You will control your weapon by moving you remote and your character thanks to the nunchuck’s joystick. With the above nunchuck trigger you jump and with the under trigger you crouch. Basically, the nunchuck is your body.

For gun fights you have to point the controller on screen. The B trigger allows you to shoot, the D-pad is for reloading and the A button is zooming in and out. For sword fighting, you handle the katana by moving your controller and move your tanto (short sword) by using the nunchuck.

The katana allows you to ... (continued next page)