For those of you who don't frequent stores that deal in sequential art and graphic storytelling (i.e. comic shops), The Red Star tells the story of a futuristic, alternate-reality Russia, in which a madman named Imbohl leads his people into war, for no better reason than to make sure his name goes down in the annals of history. As the story opens, millions of Mother Russia's best and bravest have died, including the brave Marcus Antares, the husband of Maya Antares, one of the country's most powerful sorceresses.
You see, since it's an alternate reality, hardly anyone fights simply with guns. Many of the people in the Army have magical powers, even some of the lowest grunts on the totem pole. The most powerful of the warriors are spellcasters, who are able to take out waves of enemies using Protocols, which are basically uber-powerful magic blasts. While all of this might sound a little silly, the comic really isn't about the action. There are lot of communist overtones, and the whole story is basically about a group of warriors who abandon their comrades in the Red Fleet to take down Imbohl, in an attempt to restore their country to its former glory, as well as liberate their brothers-in-arms from the shackles of his maniacal plans.
It's really a pretty deep story, so when I heard that the game would be a combination of beat-'em-up and shoot-'em-up elements, I had to brace myself for the inevitable disappointment. I was mildly surprised when I saw the game a few months ago, but I still wasn't totally convinced that it would be any good. Thankfully, I got a chance to check out the game a couple of days ago, as well as play a build for a little while, and I can now say that I'm a believer.
When the game starts out, you have two warriors to choose from: powerful Kyuzo or quick Makita. As you might expect, since Kyuzo is a brawny strongman, he's pretty slow, and while Makita is fast, her attacks aren't very strong. Both characters have melee attacks, with Kyuzo using his powerful double bladed sword to hack at his foes, and Makita utilizes a sickle to unleash rapid fire slashing attacks. They both have special melee attacks, as well, which can be performed when using the right trigger to lock-on to enemies. When Kyuzo is locked on, he'll impale his enemy, then either toss him aside, or use him to smash the rest of his foes. Makita, being the quick one, quickly slashes her opponent into the air, then leaps up and beats him with her hammer (get it, hammer and sickle?).
There are also firearm based ranged attacks, and while they can be performed anytime, they come in most handy during some of the sub-boss battles, which usually feature a bunch of bullet spreads coming at you from all directions. It's very nice, then, that you can lock-on and strafe, firing on the enemy while dodging the increasingly complicated bullet patterns. You can also hold down the pivot button, which allows you to plant yourself in one spot and fire in whatever direction you'd like.
