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This would be
the game.
Dead To Rights has everything a typical Hollywood action movie should have,
but yet, it’s a game! You get to dictate movement, progression, and gunplay
while trying to solve two mysteries and participating in vital mini-games. Some
will make the obvious comparisons to Max Payne, but Namco has done a fine
job of making Dead To Rights stand on it’s own.
One Good Cop; One Very Bad Situation
And so says the tagline on the back of the game. You play Jack Slate, just a
regular cop on the K-9 unit on his regular beat in regular Grant City. Then, he
gets a normal call to investigate a gunfight at a local construction yard. When
he gets there, he finds something that begins the downward spiral into
corruption, betrayal and crime. Someone has executed his father.
I can’t really say to much more about the plot because there are some plot
twists throughout the game that are quite interesting and I wouldn’t want to
give anything away. The flow of the story takes the form of chapters. Each
chapter is it’s own little mission where you must accomplish certain tasks in
order to proceed. How you complete the tasks is up to you: with your fists or
your guns.
“I needed two things: Guns and information...preferably in that order”
Is it strange to have a favorite line from a video game? Well, the above is
mine. Let’s get one thing out of the way: the guns. Because this game resembles
a Hong Kong flick straight from John Woo, then guns are the first thing you
should talk about. Of course Jack carries his standard issue .45 automatic and
when the opportunities arises (which is often) he carries two. And two is always
better than one. Also in the game are shotguns, double barrel shotguns, assault
rifles, M8s (similar to Magnums), fire canisters, and Shadow.
Did I just say fire canisters and Shadow? Yes, I did. Throughout the game,
canisters can be found. Pick up one of these canisters, throw it at an enemy
(strategically in a group of baddies) and wait until it is over their heads,
aim, and shoot. The canisters provide a nice little firework display while
extinguishing the bad guys. And Shadow? In the second paragraph, I mentioned
Jack Slate is on the K-9 unit. He has a partner, who looks like a cross between
an Malamute and a German Shepherd. The dog is also considered a weapon. When you
call Shadow up, whoever the target it he will maul the enemy, then take his
weapon and bring it to you (or the ammo). This is particularly useful if you
don’t have a weapon or need extra ammo. It is also useful, if there are a lot of
bad guys around because the only thing that hurts Shadow is his Stamina gauge.
Each time you use him, his stamina gauge depletes and you can’t use him until it
is full again. Normally, this is after about a minute. Also, in different parts
of the game, you may have to use him to get to places you can’t. For instance,
in the beginning, you have to guide him through two tubes and push a barrel over
the edge to knock down some scaffolding so you can cross a large gap. But
mostly, Shadow just loves to maul and bring you guns.
Colorful Film Noir
A game could be good or bad on the Xbox, but usually everyone agrees that the
graphics are typically decent, above average, or superb. Dead To Rights
operates somewhere between above average and superb. Characters are done nicely,
with a good amount of detail, though similar types of characters (cops, inmates)
look alike. The boss characters seem to have some distinct feature(s) that
distinguish them from the normal characters: like tattoos, a stylish uniform,
etc. With their attitudes and clothes, the characters in this game have some
great personalities.
The areas in Dead To Rights vary a bit in regards to graphics. Some areas
are just too plain and some are nice-looking. The prison, for instance, is very
boring. Yeah, I know that it is a prison, but maybe a little bit of color or
some paintings would spur some reform in those guys, eh? One area that looked
really good was Chinatown. Bright neon signs, lots of light to kill by, detailed
storefronts and differentiating litter on the streets make walking through Hong
Kong bearable.
One feature that Dead To Rights excelled is the FMV sequences. These must
have been directed by John Woo or Jerry Bruckheimer because they can rival most
of the movies out there. Besides the great action and awesome filming, they
looked spectacular. One of my biggest pet peeves was quelled as I watched them.
My pet peeve is that the mouths in video games tend to just “flap” and never
resemble words nor do they shape to form the words they are talking. Games have
gotten better, but Dead To Rights has done a nice job with mouth movement
and syncing the words.
The introduction FMV is fantastic to watch. The first time I loaded the disc up,
I watched the intro, then restarted it to watch it again!
I Haven’t Met a 3-D Action Shooter Control System I Did Like
A problem plagues many 3-d action games and that is a poor camera system.
Dead To Rights follows in the footsteps and unfortunately is in my top ten
of Bad Camera Systems. While not horrible, you will find yourself in corners,
small corridors trying to fight your way out, but you can’t see your opponent,
or even yourself. And don’t bother trying to use the Right Thumbstick to swing
the camera around because it seems to me to be reversed and if you think you’re
going to go one way, you’re actually going the opposite and that got really
frustrating. While you can invert the aim, you can’t invert the camera movement.
Otherwise, everything about the control is decent. The left thumbstick moves you
around, the left trigger crouches, the right trigger auto-targets, and the D-pad
switches weapons. A and X are kick and punch respectively, Y is your
dive/adrenaline rush, and B is your disarm skill.
I didn’t mention the adrenaline rush because I didn’t want the comparison to
Max Payne done right away with this knock-off feature. Basically, you hit Y
(hitting it once just lets you dive) and your adrenaline kicks in allowing time
to slow down while you dive in slow motion. Yes, yes...I hear everyone chanting
Max Payne, Max Payne, Max Payne...but there are two good
things that I liked about Namco’s version. One, is that you can auto-target in
slow-motion much better, letting you take out groups of enemies before hitting
the ground. The other thing I liked is that it replenishes over time instead of
having to find pills to increase the level.
Now disarms and human shields are a very cool and different addition to the
shooter genre. When you are close to an enemy and you don’t have a weapon, you
can hit B to engage in a disarm and instant kill. You will get his weapon and
terminate his bad guy career in the same breath. If you want, you can just turn
on the random Disarm option or input your own combos (direction plus B) for a
fun, slow-motion disarm. And as you progress, you will unlock and learn
different disarms to use. The human shield is the most fun you will have in this
game. I know I had fun. If you are close to an enemy and you have a weapon, hit
B and you will grab the bad guy by a choke hold and use him as a...you guessed
it, a human shield. You will hold him in front of you while bullets riddle the
body and you are shooting away. You can say the person acts as armor until he
dies. If you decide to relinquish his duty as the shield and he isn’t dead, Jack
Slate has no problem kicking him to the ground and firing a Goodbye slug to the
back of their head. Wow, no wonder the game is rated ‘M’ and has the warning
‘Violence’ on the back.
Play That Funky Music
Hopefully, there will be a soundtrack to this game. The sound effects are
rightly-placed and sound like they are suppose to, especially on a surround
sound system, but it’s the music that increases your enjoyment of the game.
There is a stripping song (see below) that should be in a porno. There are the
fast action sequence songs and the sad ‘My father just got murdered’ songs. The
music pops on in the right places and diminishes when it is suppose to. Imagine
the music from the Gladiator in the opening scene and how much it moved you when
you watched that scene. I had similar feelings about the scenes in this game. It
just goes to show that the right music can enhance a game-playing experience.
It is a Game, but 1/8th the Original Size...I shall Call It Mini-Game
There is much more to do than just shoot people and unleash Shadow’s fury upon
those who don’t understand that Jack Slate is the man. Mini-games are dispersed
throughout the game so you don’t get bored of the shoot/run through a level to
get to the next. Sure, some levels are straight from point A to B, but most have
at least 1 or 2 mini-games for you to solve. A lot of the mini-games involve
button presses and maintaining a certain level of consistency, but they are fun.
The best mini-game? Early on, you have to enlist the help of a stripper to
distract the bouncers so you can get into the next room. You make the stripper
dance and you must succeed (in every gyration possible) by timing your button
presses at the right time. Think Dance Dance Revolution without the rhythm. But
hey, you get to make a stripper dance...I guess that’s where the Mature Sexual
Theme comes into play.
Despite the less-then-mediocre camera movement and control, Dead To Right
is a fun romp through a Hong Kong-like movie with all the thrilling elements and
action sequences that would make John Woo proud. Perhaps I see a movie spin-off
in the near future.
I wonder if Jerry Bruckheimer is available?
 
DEAD TO RIGHTS
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Dead
to Rights
