The Red Star

By Tristan Clark

Now this is an interesting situation: back in 2004, The Red Star, an action game based on a cult comic book series, was pretty much all set to be released on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC. Hands on previews popped up around the net offering encouraging glimpses of what looked to be a simple yet fun scrolling beat ‘em up. And then Acclaim, the publisher, went belly up - and The Red Star seemed to get lost in the ensuing chaos.

Since then, nothing much has been seen of the game. The PC and Xbox versions were seemingly cancelled, but the PlayStation version remained elusive. Now it’s early 2007, and it seems like The Red Star is going to shine once more, with a release date that fluctuates between late February and sometime in June. Of course, this information could end up being entirely incorrect, but on the off chance that the game does finally see the light of day, we thought we’d fill you in on what to expect.

The Red Star takes place in an alternate future, where the Soviet Union is the world’s greatest superpower, thanks to advanced technology, mysticism, and ‘metahumans’. In spite of this intriguing set up, expect the actual storytelling in the game to be minimal - this is, after all, a beat ‘em up, and plot just gets in the way of beating up endless waves of bad guys.

There will be three playable characters in the game – Kyuzo (slow but tough), Makita (fast but weak), and Maya (a bit of both). Whoever you choose, the game will throw huge amounts of enemies your way, and it’s up to you to use melee, ranged, and special attacks to fight back. Similar to other beat ‘em ups, The Red Star features very light RPG elements, in the form of experience points that can be used to beef up your character’s stats.

Overall, the gameplay looks like a throwback to the classic 2D beat ‘em ups of old – which is certainly not a bad thing. Most importantly, the game will allow for two players simultaneously – a feature that many recent beat ‘em up games inexplicably left out. The graphics look solid, but it remains to be seen how they stand up next to games like God of War – this is, after all, a game that should have come out around 2004.

Keep an eye out for this one if you’re a fan of the genre – just don’t look forward to it too much, or you’ll be sorely disappointed if it slips back into the æther once again.

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