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More Fun than a Barrel of Commies

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: May 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Having never read Christian Gossett's graphic novel, I can't comment on how well The Red Star for PS2 captures its mood and style. What I can say is this is a very fun action game that proves there's still life in Sony's last-gen console. When I saw this listed at Amazon as a $15 special and described as a classical hardcore 2D shooter, I decided I'd give it a try. Having spent some time with it, I would gladly have paid $20.

There's a polish to this title that most licensed games lack. The gameplay is finely tuned, and spans multiple old-school genres. Melee combat reminded me of Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, and other classic "walk to the right and beat up guys" arcade-style brawlers. You also have a missile weapon, which you can fire in one direction while moving in another, a bit like Smash TV, except instead of a second stick for shooting, you hold the R1 button and press fire to stay facing in the same direction when you fire. This works fine, but I would have liked using the right analog even better. Finally, the boss fights, where the screen gets filled with so many bullets you can barely see straight, brought back fond memories of Ikaruga. Similar to that game, the collision detection is pretty forgiving, allowing you to be grazed by closely-spaced enemy shots without taking a hit. A changing camera perspective guides you between the various styles of play, from side view to top-down, and sometimes somewhere in between.

A few additional gauges round out the gameplay. When guarding against attacks, you'll need to keep an eye on your shield to be sure it doesn't give out. Your gun can also overheat and become temporarily unusable if you fire it too much in a short period of time. And you can't overlook the protocol gauge, a special attack that does a ton of damage, but you have to charge it up with melee combat before you can use it. Upgrades are available when you complete a level, and your rank (C, B, A or S) determines how many upgrade points you get. Better performance equates to better upgrades, which gives you an edge in the later, more difficult levels, so it's worth it to restart from the beginning once you've gotten a little practice. There are a variety of enhancements, from new weapons to more powerful attacks, to reduced damage, and even improved heat-up and cool-down periods for the guns.

Starting out you have two playable characters to choose from, Makita (fast and agile but not particularly strong) and Kyuzu (slow but powerful), and a third (Maya) is unlockable. I started with Kyuzu and found him a bit like God of War, with a triple-button-press combo attack that delivers increasingly powerful blows and can knock down multiple enemies at once, every bit as responsive but not quite as fluid (Kyuzu is a bit slow compared to GoW's Kratos). I haven't done as much with Makita, but her attacks are very quick and it's easier to dodge around enemies with her, though it takes somewhat longer to bring them down. The characters all have their own set of basic attacks, special moves and weapons, so it's a new experience playing through the game with each one and it forces you to completely redefine your strategy. There are a variety of enemy types, each of which must be approached differently, and new ones are constantly encountered as you progress.

Once I learned to string together moves -- such as impaling a guy on Kyuzu's spear, then spinning around and launching him at another enemy, sending them both falling off the platform -- I found this game to be about as fun and entertaining as they come. The graphics, while nothing eye-popping, look good on the PS2, and the music matches the action without becoming distracting. I haven't been able to try the 2 player co-op mode yet, but I can only imagine it being even more enjoyable.

In short, I'm having a blast playing The Red Star, and am glad I took a chance on it.

It's Finally Here Comrades!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: May 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The Red Star has finally arrived and it's a blast:

If you like fun and easy shooters than this game is for you.
If you like throw back arcade style action games like Contra and Gun Star Heroes than this game is for you.
If you are the newer generation of gamer who is used to easier, hand-holding, and friendlier type of games this one will kick you in the face and may not be your cup of tea.

Nevertheless, the bottomline is this:

1. It's fast paced and fun!
2. It's easy to figure out the controls!
3. It's great alone, but even better with a friend!
4. The action is intense and the music matches it well!
5. After years the game is finally here!
6. The price rocks!

The negative:

1. It's for an older system so it's not as sophisticated as the next generation games we are being spoiled with in 2007 versus 2004 when this game was supposed to come out.
2. Some levels and enemies may just be too tough.

Overall I say this is a must buy for PS2 action gamers. I will say I am still disappointed this never came out for the X-Box, but at least it's here and I know I'll be keeping this one in my library of games for years.

great game, if it ever comes out

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 11
Date: April 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

with numerous delays, I know a lot of people have just bought the leaked copy..... The game is worth buying, and is a throwback to old school shooter like Contra etc. too bad they keep messing with their fan base with these numerous delays, and are burning their bridges with the hardcore fan base that will help this game sell more.

Pretty Cool, Finally

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: May 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is based on the critically acclaimed graphic novel of the same name by Christian Gossett (Example:Red Star, Vol. 1 - The Battle of Kar Dathras Gate). This game has been delayed time and time again and was originally slated to be released on the PC, X-Box, and PS2. The game is currently only going to be released on the PS2 although if I remember correctly there was a PC demo some time ago.

The game feels like equal parts of Gunstar Heroes, Einhander, and The Bouncer. The integration of melee combat and shooter features is done well but from a gameplay standpoint it's nothing completely original although it's certainly one of the better examples. I like that you can level up your various abilities on your chosen character which adds enough variety to make it rise above a large number of run and gun games and it also allows for a certain amount of replay value by being able to try different leveling schemes with the 3 different characters. The graphics are alright, they're good for this genre but again they aren't ground breaking by any means. The graphics feel like a PS2 spin on Einhander from the PS1, which to me is a good thing. There's plenty of levels and a decent amount of challenge, but ultimately this game suffers from the same replay issues that most shooters do and that's where this game really fails for me. It's not like R-Type Final where there is a ton of unlockables that keep you playing it. Shooters are a style of game that really starve for replayability because from the get go they really aren't that complex or involved. After a couple of play throughs you will be done, again with the leveling up there is a little bit more calling you back but ultimately it isn't enough. You can milk it a little bit more given that the multiplayer is pretty sweet but this game isn't going to get the mileage most other games are.

At $20 you really can't argue though, it's a pretty good buy, especially if you're a shooter fan. Personally I would pick up R-Type final but this game has it's own charm to it and does provide some fun gameplay.

Surprisingly good

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: May 08, 2007
Author: Amazon User

A few years back, third party publisher Acclaim (best known for providing a number of lame, licensed titles dating all the way back to the 8-bit era until finally going under in 2004) had a few titles in the works before going down, and recently a few of which have seen the light of day. Red Star is by far the best of the bunch, and it offers some classic run'n gun action to boot. Based on the respected graphic novel, Red Star takes place in an alternate reality Soviet Russia as you run, gun, and brawl your way through the game, which provides solid blasts of action throughout. To spice things up a bit, every now and then the game's perspective shifts to a top-down shooter-esque type while throwing another horde of enemies your way. Co-op play is where the real fun of Red Star is to be had though, as memories of Contra and Gunstar Heroes will quickly flood back in your memory. The only real downsides to Red Star is that the game is pretty short, can get repetitive, and at times has a very steep difficulty range. All that aside though, you can't beat what you get with Red Star for it's budget price, making this game pretty much a steal. All in all, if you want some more than solid action on a budget with a slightly different flavor, give Red Star a look.

good but flawed

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: July 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The good:
Cheap price. Fun with 2 players. Multiple bosses per stage. If you're a good enough gamer it's theoretically possible to not get hit since bullets fly at you in a certain pattern.

The bad:
I'm stuck on Level 14 because my underpowered gun keeps overheating so I'm spending too much time dodging bullets like crazy. This is due to a flawed level-up system which only rewards you for how much health you have at the completion of a level. Therefore I'll have to replay the game all over again and try not to get hit in earlier levels just so I can have a chance at later levels!!! It's sorta ridiculous. Also, the slow character isn't very useful, as are the other guns you can buy. Melee attacks become repetitive since you'll be using the same combo chain everytime (slash-slash-slash,rush,slash-slash-slash,air,slash-slash-slash).

A good game, not great. This seems like a relatively hard to find game at the moment, so I'm keeping it for the time being just in case it becomes a rarity in the future. RENT IT FIRST!

such a waste of time and money

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: January 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is an awful game. The camera angels are really bad! The graphics are slightly above N64 graphics. I think they were trying to copy the game Cannon Spike and that game is a billion times better then this game so buy that instead because you will like it more since it is actually fun and it is the same kind of game.

The Red Star is REALLY Hard. The cheep kind of hard that just gets you frustrated fast and no one wants that kind of game. I have been playing multiplayer in the game with my friend and we think this game offers nothing you haven't already seen before. Actually it offers nothing. It has no story line or setting to change besides the volume kind of worthless settings so no changing your controls and chances are you will hate these controls because my friend and I do. X is Block until your little shield dies. O is shoot but not for to long or your gun overheats. Square lets you Hit bad guys fairly slow. That's pretty much it and all that you will be using. No jump or run. You walk really slow in this game. The lack of health packs in the game really make it hard. The same repetitive game play will get you sick of it fast. Every level feels the same, every boss and bad guy looks the same, the music sounds the same in each level. You can not go back to levels. If you invite your video game loving friends over don't expect them to play this with you more then 20 minutes before them hating the game and telling you that you got ripped off. I saw game play previews for this game and I was tricked, it looks fun but it is not.

A cool shooter/brawler hybrid that's great for co-op

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is a HARD game. If you grew up with punishing NES era games, then you might be able to pass the game without much difficulty, but to those who started gaming in the PS1 era or later, this game will smack you around in the last few levels (I've been stuck on level 15 for a couple of days currently.)

Half of the game is fighting grunt type enemies in a brawler fashion, like a combination of the PS2 "Dark Alliance" and the Sega Genesis "Streets of Rage." A couple of times each level, the brawling is broken up by boss fights, which play like vertical shooters such as "1942" meshed with "Smash TV", with tons of bullets everywhere.

Co-op is where the game really shines. It's a lot more fun when you are free to do fancy moves with a friend covering you, instead of doing the same combos in single player to stay alive.

A Mighty Fine Shooter/Brawler Hybrid.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

If you like brawlers (ex: River City Ransom, Yakuza) and like shooters (ex: Gradius, R-Type) this game is for you. The core game design is very fun and requires a lot of skill in the later levels. Add in multiplayer, unlockables, and a cheap price point and you can't go wrong. My only complaint would be the Mission Briefing screens which seem rushed as the loading bar is buggy, and there is no spoken audio for the dialogue.

All-in-all I'm very glad this game finally saw the light of day and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun diversion.

Fun Co-op game

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The Red Star is a lot of fun to play in co-op. If you like the idea of Final Fight crossed with Gradius, this game might be for you. The best "budget" game I have played on the PS2.

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