During the Nintendo press conference at the Kodak Theater prior to the official opening of E3, we had a chance to see the new Wii system in action with a live demonstration of the new first-person shooter game Red Steel. I was suitably impressed with what I saw and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it - literally.

The Wii features a motion-sensitive control system. Holding two different controllers, one in each hand, you will make your moves with one and shoot with the other. One of the more fascinating aspects of Red Steel is the sword fighting. Instead of pressing buttons you actually slash the controller like you would a real sword. One thing that I can tell you is that it's going to take some practice to get used to.

Being new, this control system requires some getting used to. I imagine that once you get comfortable with a game like this you'll be able to jump into other games with nary a problem. What I found is that the movements don't have to be precise but the window, or perimeter, of each move is not as large as it would be in real life. When using the sword for instance you have to make smaller, less exaggerated moves. The controller must be held up in front of the screen so the system knows where it is in relation to the onscreen action. I could sense that after a half-hour of this my arms would be begging for a break.

The level that I played was a street scene. It was a gritty, seedy, downtown environment with dirty brick walls and desperate neon lights. It was an expansive level that you could explore in several directions. Villains could pop out anywhere at anytime.

Getting around was easy enough using the stick on the left hand controller. The machinegun would be fired with my right hand. As long as the reticle was in the neighborhood you could be assured of gunning down most of the bad guys. The environment is also destructible and you'll see glass flying and bullets taking out chunks of wall. If you tilt your hand the gun with also tilt with it so you can use the sideways gangsta method of gun control.

The AI that you don't take care of initially will try to surround you. They are very crafty and unlike a lot of FPS AI, they don't just stand out in the open waiting to get shot. Using a form of bullet time called Freeze Tag, you can slow time down and tag the enemies various body parts. You can hit them in the head or chest to perform a kill shot or you can just wound them. When you resume to natural speed you can get them to surrender and take them alive.

The graphics were good but nothing that would surpass some of the top-shelf graphics we've seen on the original Xbox. The color palette is capable of a lot more subtle shades but the game still isn't photo-realistic. What I did see ran very smoothly and even though it was night time I had no problem seeing everything.

Red Steel is definitely a lot of fun, but it relies heavily on the controller for that enjoyment. Only time will tell if this game, or the entire control system is going to be more than just a short-lived novelty.

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