I picked up Red Steel and I found that after getting used to the controls, that I liked it. Even the sword fighting. That's after an hour or so of play so things can still change.
I too wanted to try an FPS at launch, and so far, I don't regret my purchase at all.
As a side note, if you play this game and stop before accomodating to the control scheme for guns and swordplay, you will not like this game. From there, it's your own opinion.