Red Steel 2 - Development

Development

Development of Red Steel 2 began in the summer of 2008. On July 28 of the same year, Red Steel 2 was announced by Ubisoft executive director, Alain Corre. It was also confirmed to use Nintendo's new accessory, Wii MotionPlus and will be included in a bundle.

Red Steel 2 features stylized, cel-shaded graphics, in contrast to its predecessor's more realistic aesthetic. The visual style is similar to Ubisoft Paris' own XIII, released in 2003. The game does not include gore or excess amount of bloodshed, which resulted with Red Steel 2 getting a rating of T. Enemies disappear in a cloud of dust as they die. Players will have at their disposal both a gun and a katana, which they can switch between at any time.

Commenting on the mix of East and West in the game creative director Jason Vandenberghe explained: "What doesn't work is to take those Western and Eastern elements, and sort of mix them into one thing. What does work is to say: here's Joe's bar and grill and here is Ming Pow's sushi's place. It's not a Western-looking cowboy katana; it's a katana, and a revolver, and they're clearly in their own place."

In April 2009, Ubisoft announced that Red Steel 2 would not feature a multiplayer mode. Creative director Jason Vandenberghe later explained that they did explore the possibilities of a multiplayer mode, but that it would never fit in the development time window, and that they preferred to deliver a great single player experience over a mediocre multiplayer game.