The Red Star

[Romier S]

...Acclaim may deliver! Don't know if anyone has read or seen anything on this game but I watched a few clips and it looks damn good. Its very simliar in nature to Contra; a pure shooter but with melee beat-em-up style combat intermixed. Played from both an isometric and side scrolling point of view, the whole experience looks to be really intense and most importantly..FUN! Its coming to the Xbox and the PS2. You can check out both game pages here:

 

The Red Star Xbox

 

The Red Star PS2

[Calvin]

I'm a sucker for anything with superheroes (I do wish I had a gaming PC!) so I'll be keeping an eye out on this one. Don't think it'll save Acclaim in the long road,though...

[rustyjaw]

I saw this game at Comic-con, it looked interesting, but I didn't have time to try it. I took some shots though, although they aren't terribly sharp.

 

[Robot Monkey]

I read the first handful of Red Star comics when it started a couple years ago. The artwork was pretty interesting (one of the few agressive computer/hand-drawn hybrids that pulled it off, IMO). The story was nice, too. I gave it up when the publishing schedule seemed a little slow as I prefer trade paperbacks anyway.

 

That said, the choice of a brawler for the license is a bit of a puzzler. The game looks like fun, so I'll keep an eye on it nonetheless.

 

-j

[Big Daddy Bling Bling]

There's a preview of this in the most recent EGM and it looks really good there too.

[Big Daddy Bling Bling]

This is on the new OXM demo disk, anyone get a chance to play it and form some impressions?

[Camp]

Played it today for a few minutes.

It was fun...contra-like at times (bosses). Good use of the camera and good "memorize the attacks" style gameplay.

The graphic novel had a phenomenal art style which doesn't begin to translate into the game, however.

[Romier S]

After two years in limbo, The Red Star /FINALLY/ has a publisher. XS Games has picked up the distribution rights to the game for the Playstation 2. The Xbox version is currently being considered but "could go either way" according to the publisher. Either way, it's good to see the game finally make its way to retail. Also, XS Games will be distributing Raiden III as well!

 

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6151642.html

 

But now, almost two years after Acclaim went under, The Red Star is finally set for release on the PlayStation 2. A representative of XS Games today confirmed for GameSpot that the publisher has indeed picked up the rights to the title, and is tentatively planning on distributing it to retailers in early August. As for the Xbox version of the game, the publisher is examining the possibility of releasing it, but at this point, "it could go either way."

 

The representative also confirmed another recent acquisition in Taito's arcade top-down shoot-'em-up Raiden III. The latest installment in the classic arcade series is tentatively scheduled for release in August or September. According to XS Games' representative, Raiden III will carry a budget price tag, while The Red Star will be priced somewhere in between the budget range and a full-priced game.

 

As an aside, I had the opportunity to play and beat the Xbox version of the game in its entirety and it's a damn fun little shooter that I really wished had been released before Acclaim went under. If you like a good Contra-style shoot-em-up this is definitely worth your while.

[dogbert]

And after nearly another year of limbo, the PS2 version has been approved & allegedly ships in North America later this month with a sticker price of $19.99.

[GreenMonkey]

I happened across some info on this. Looks like a pretty cool cross between a shmup and a Streets of Rage / Final Fight type sidescroller.

 

I'd love an xbox version of this with online coop. But the PS2 version looks neat. I'm considering grabbing it for $20 since I'm hearing it is very difficult to find (not many copies made).

[Hoju]

Looks like a pretty cool cross between a shmup and a Streets of Rage / Final Fight type sidescroller.

That's about right. You've got melee attacks along with guns. Enemy fire sometimes covers the screen like in games like Ikaruga. It's fun enough, though in my opinion it's barely worth $20. It's pretty repetetive - I would say that the level design was poor, but it ends up being irrelevant because of the general game design - you move from point A to point B in some indistinguishable bland area and face waves of baddies that generally repeat level after level. (New baddies are introduced every now and then, but for the most part they're all similar, and unique ones don't come often enough.)

 

It's also kind of disappointing that virtually all bosses (at least the difficult ones) require your guns exclusively (you can't really melee them). One of the 3 playable characters is locked at the start (you have to beat the game to unlock her), and one of the other two (the guy) is way freaking slow. When the screen is a giant mess of enemy fire it's hard to negotiate around the bullets with him. And his melee attack is slow enough to leave him susceptible to cheap hits. The girl is much quicker, but her melee range is pretty limited. Control isn't perfect, especially with the slow guy, but it's not so bad as to break the game.

 

Despite these gripes, my friend and I had a good time with the game while he was in town. We made it to (who we think is) the final boss - who is cheap as hell; we didn't have time to beat him. Buying upgrades between levels is kinda neat, but I don't think the experience points you're granted reflect the skill required to get through the more difficult stages. (You're rated a letter grade after clearing each stage and given more points for a better grade.) Here's a tip - forget melee upgrades and make sure you have at least one badass gun. I'd recommend upgrading the one you start out with.