Dead to Rights
Score: 90% ESRB: Mature Publisher: Namco Developer: Namco Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 Genre: Action
Graphics & Sound: Taking a page from the success Max Payne enjoyed in the marketplace, Dead to Rights is dead-on in its depiction of what an action game should look like. Take all the gritty, Hong Kong action films you can think of, take yourself out of the passenger seat, and you can imagine just how it will be to take the lead role in this awesome interactive action thriller. Now, I'll admit it may not be the equal of some other games in graphics, and the interaction with the environment is fairly limited. But, the mojo that you exhibit at all times as you go through the game makes up for the areas where most of what's in the room may seem like window dressing. We're not talking bland, featureless settings along the lines of Oni here, but we also don't want you to expect that you'll have as much to see or interact with as in a game like Metal Gear. At the same time, I've heard people claiming Dead to Rights fails to produce graphics as good as those in Max Payne, which I think is crazy. The gritty story plays out in chapters, and each section is split into lots of little levels where you have a chance to run around and try out your moves, most of them aimed at killing lots of people. The action looks great, the sound effects (especially for the weapons) rock out, and the music puts the whole game into either a 'dark alley' mood where appropriate or a 'balls to the wall' approach for the action scenes. There are some cut-scenes, but many times a critical piece of the game's story will just play out in the main engine, which is nice for continuity. The voice acting is okay, but it sometimes goes waaaayyy over the top. And, you'll be sure to notice this is a Mature title, since you're privy to a stripper getting her game on within the first 30 minutes or so... And the stripper scene actually advances the story, if you can believe that!
Gameplay: Jack Slate is pissed off. First, he finds his Dad gunned down while Jack is investigating a crime scene. Then, when he tries to investigate, he gets framed and turned into Enemy #1. The payback is gonna be a bitch on this one... From the first scene, you control Jack as you learn the controls. Mostly, you'll be firing your guns off, diving and ducking to avoid gunfire and occasionally getting into a nasty fist fight. I was skeptical about how the story would play out, and without spoiling it, I can say it's totally formula. The thing is, these games are modeled on the kind of entertainment (brainless action flicks) where people don't come in expecting dense plotlines and Pulitzer-quality writing. We know the good guys win, even if they have to become bad guys first. Even if Dead to Rights fails to build a surprising story, it's at least complete within itself. None of this surreal Japanese, dream sequence nonsense for the Dead to Rights team! They set out to build an action game, and they did a damn fine job. Once you learn the controls, events in the game and visual clues will lead you to do what you need to do in most cases. Disarms are a big part of the special things you do to build up your character. Each time you approach an armed enemy when you don't have a weapon, you can try to steal his gun and knock him out with a special move. Many disarms are possible, and one of the goals in the game that encourages replay is to practice new disarms and perfect the ones you've uncovered. You can keep track of the old ones and see your progress. Likewise, you can use one special weapon that gives Dead to Rights an interesting twist. Shadow, your loyal K9 Cop companion, is along for the ride. He's a badass, so when you use him, he always gets his man. He acts like some kind of Resident Evil dog, pulling bad guys down and ripping their throats out. It's not too graphic, but it's always a bit intense when it happens. Apart from the dog, a slew of weapons are available to use, and if you send Shadow out to tackle an enemy, the dog will actually bring the enemy weapon back to you! I liked how easy it was to switch between weapons, and smart gamers will pick up weapons the enemy is using against them, making it easy to gather ammo throughout a level. Moving Jack around is really easy, and he can interact with objects in the level according to how they appear on the screen. A kind of green and red glow pops up on objects you can use, and in the case of doors still locked you know what you have to do and where you have to do it. There isn't much that isn't given away in this process, but Dead to Rights is not a puzzle game, so don't come expecting one. As the story builds and the crap Jack is in just keeps getting thicker, you'll find yourself enjoying the ride and reveling in every new Disarm, weapon or fighting attack.
Difficulty: There are definitely some difficult stages here, and times when you really have to keep on top of Jack's health and stamina. If health fails, Jack dies. When stamina gets low, the only thing you'll notice is that Jack isn't able to bob and weave in a fight and is unable to pull off some of the killer moves he does. As an addition to the training, Jack wears body armor at times because he ain't nobody's fool. If you pick up some armor it will take the brunt of attacks until it loses effectiveness and then your health starts getting eaten up. On the easier difficulty settings, it is fairly easy to find health power-ups and armor, but just getting through the hail of bullets Jack seems to deal with all the time demands more than armor. Yes, you'll need some mad skills to see your way through to the end of Dead to Rights, but using all the tricks Jack has at his disposal will get you there.
Game Mechanics: The engine for Dead to Rights is fast and efficient, so you never feel the action dragging. Of course, if you want it to drag, you can slip into a slo-mo dive. The controls for 'action' are just the (O) button. It's a bit strange, but the game stacks the deck for you in letting this action do whatever needs to be done at the moment. Disarms seem similar at first, but button and D-Pad combinations create the different Disarms, so you'll have a little more input to do for these. The D-Pad is mainly used during battles to flip through your inventory and get the appropriate weapon. Pressing R1 locks onto enemies, and you can cycle through them quickly as you start mowing them down. A color-coded system shows you what kind of health remains in your target, even to the extent that a dead enemy has a blue circle to let you know he's not a threat anymore. Then you get their weapons! Not all the game is automated, and especially with more precision missions where head shots are required, you'll want to slip into a manual aiming view and go about your kill that way. Stealthy wall-hugging or crouching allows you to pop out from behind an object and bust a cap in somebody's ass, and in those moments you'll appreciate the auto-target. Fighting without a gun is pretty interesting, and a bit more complicated than your standard top-down brawler. But not by much. As long as Jack's adrenaline stays high, you can block and even avoid getting hit, but once he starts to tire you better knock that sucka out! The main diversions from the action are little mini-games like the stripper scene where you have to pull off coordinated button presses either in rhythm or according to some gauge or meter. These games are fun, and although they may seem a bit out of place alongside the crazy action, a well rounded game is a good game. And don't forget the dog. Periodically, you get to play Shadow, which is a riot. Rather than draw obvious comparisons, I'll say that Dead to Rights should be on any action fan's list right now. It has a lot of appeal visually, the story is straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster, and the controls put enough power in your hands without creating another opportunity to micromanage a bunch of game characters. If you like your action turned up to 11 but your gaming style is more suited to steady action/adventure titles than twitchy Platformers or Racers, Dead to Rights is just the thing. Somehow, playing this, I really found myself buying into that idea of 'gaming of the future' as a blend of movies and games. Not that you'll see me skipping good movies anytime soon, but there's probably enough action in Dead to Rights to make James Cameron or John Woo happy.
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock
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