Dead to Rights – PS2 – Review


Namco’s Hollywood inspired action game, Dead to
Rights, which was released for the Xbox console in August is now also available
for PS2 owners to enjoy.  The game’s fairly involved storyline revolves
around a cop, Jack Slate, who after discovering his father dead, decides to seek
the murderer and avenge the killing.  Unfortunately, for Jack, this manhunt
doesn’t quite go as planned and almost immediately he ends up getting framed for
another murder.  As things continue to snowball on him, Jack will run from
the police and fight against lawless villains with only the help of his trusty
dog Shadow and a few others.


Dead to Rights is a game that revolves around
nonstop action.  There are fifteen total chapters within the game and each
involves a combination of taking out hostile threats, solving
puzzles/mini-games, and defeating unique bosses.  All of this is done using
a mix of pure firepower and an assortment of awesome fighting tactics that are
unique to this title.  The whole game is based in Grant City, which
needless to say isn’t the nicest of places, and as Jack you’ll actually end up
fighting just about every single bad guy citywide, or so it seems.


Luckily, Slate is handy with the steel because
most of this game involves simply going to different locations and shooting an
extraordinary number of enemy characters.  Whether in a strip club or an
abandoned mine, this guy proves to be a one man killing machine, as he takes on
more enemies at a time than any known superhero and defeats boss characters like
nobody’s business.  The weapons found in Dead to Rights include a variety
of pistols, machine guns, shot-guns, assault rifles, rocket launchers, etc. 
Most of these can be obtained by killing enemy characters, but sometimes it’s
necessary to go fist to fist when there are no weapons around.


While the game has a lot of cool features that
are detailed below, once a decent amount of it has been completed it’s obvious
that a lot of the action is repetitive, even though the locations and characters
themselves are very unique and well done.  The AI is usually a little too
predictable and most of the enemies aren’t very challenging to defeat.  The
result is an expectation that you will always be able to conquer any given
situation.  Don’t get me wrong, Dead to Rights is enjoyable to play, but it
simply could have used more variation in scenarios.  Too often you end up
simply having to shoot at groups of enemies that are just standing around or at
guys that almost endlessly appear out of nowhere.  Especially since the
game has a film style setup and is focused on being somewhat realistic.


Dead to Rights is unique because in addition to
allowing you to kill an insane number of people in a number of ways, there are
also a wide variety of mini-games/puzzles that typically must be completed to
progress in the game.  These range from making a stripper dance by pressing
the right buttons at the right time in order to district bouncers to disarming a
bomb by directing a small piece of metal through its internals to lifting
weights, boxing and arm wrestling in order to collect cigarette packs in jail. 
While these games are often a nice break from the typical gameplay; they aren’t
something you’d expect in a game targeted at an older, more mature audience. 
Some of them are definitely more enjoyable then others.


This game has some sweet tactics for both close
range and longer range combat situations.  Some of them, such as those that
allow you to disarm enemies will send shivers down your spine.  No other
title has allowed for such a variety of ways to immobilize enemy characters with
such great camera views!


Much of this is a result of the control scheme
and what it allows for, which is as follows.  The left analog stick moves
Jack, while the right on changes the camera position, which allows you to look
around the surrounding area without actually moving.  Pressing R1 allows
you to auto-target enemies and besides x, the fire button; it is the most used
control in the game.  Since there are so many enemies that often come at
you very quickly, this button must be used to cycle through these targets
without delay to stay alive (it defaults to the closest enemy first).  The
auto-targeting system is actually pretty cool, as the crosshair changes colors
depending on the range of the enemy as well as their current status (dead or
alive), but it makes the game relatively simple and monotonous after a while. 
There is also a manual targeting mode, but it proves to be almost worthless due
to the number of enemies that constantly rush you.  The different weapons
can be cycled through by pressing the left and right d-pad buttons, making it
pretty easy to switch.


Circle, the action button, is used for a wide
variety of purposes in Dead to Rights.   First of all, it is used to
open doors, hit switches, etc, based on the particular situation in the game. 
Also, this button allows you to use an enemy as a human shield; that is, if you
have a gun and are in close proximity to the enemy.  Using this tactic is a
must during heavy gun battles because it gives you an extra layer of armor when
taking a lot of fire, but you have to watch your back!  If near a wall,
pressing circle will allow you to go into wall mode, so you can peek out and
shoot at enemies.  Triangle lets you dive in a variety of ways that can be
beneficial during gameplay.  Pressing the button briefly results in a
normal dive, while holding it down results in a slow motion dive (assuming your
adrenaline meter is full enough).  These dives are sweet because while in
mid-air you can target and kill multiple enemies.  While L1 lets you
crouch, no jump button has been included in the game.


When forced to fight unarmed against enemies,
Jack has the ability to block incoming hits as well as punch, kick, throw, and
disarm enemies in a variety of ways.  Overall, this hand-to-hand combat is
somewhat disappointing though, lacking a good feel and not allowing for very
good combo moves to be pulled off.  The disarms, however, consist of very
sweet animation sequences and it’s a challenge to unlock them all.  While
disarming enemies you have the option of going into slow motion or changing
camera angle to optimally view the amazing, very graphic moves.  Slate can
bust necks, arms and otherwise eliminate enemies without even breaking a sweat;
this guy is truly incredible.


Another integral component of the game that can
be used strategically in a number of ways is Shadow, Jack’s trusty K9 partner. 
Besides being used to sniff out bombs and go into areas where Jack simply cannot
fit, Shadow has the ability to attack enemies upon Jack’s command.  All you
have to do is use R1 to target an enemy (assuming they’re close enough) and then
press square for a quick Shadow attack.  The cool thing is that once he
kills the enemy for you, he returns with their gun, so it’s a great tactic to
use when weaponless.  To keep the game somewhat challenging, there’s a
meter that must be full to use Shadow that takes some time to fill back up after
each use.


There are other unique fighting tactics within
the game too, such as having the ability to throw a flammable container at an
enemy, or group of enemies, and then shooting it just before it lands, resulting
in a huge explosion.


A variety of meters in Dead to Rights keep you
informed of Jack’s status as well as the targeted enemy’s status.  For
Jack, there’s a meter for health, armor, stamina, and there’s also one that
shows Shadow’s stamina.  If the health meter completely runs out the game
ends and you must start over from the last checkpoint.  To keep this from
happening you must collect the health packs that are placed around the levels in
addition to armor packs.  Having armor is crucial because it allows your
health to remain constant until the armor is totally gone.  Having
adrenaline allows you to perform some advanced tactics, so it too is important;
this meter is automatically filled up over time.


The more advanced fighting tactics, which are
crucial to use during gameplay, are what really make this game unique. 
Dead to Rights is a game that looks great and sounds incredible.  However,
the gameplay overall is not varied enough.


This game is rated M for mature and requires 110
KB on a PS2 memory card.



Gameplay: 6.5
With all the different possible maneuvers
that can be performed by Jack, such as the variety of disarms, using a human
shield for cover, diving in slow motion, and having the ability to command
Shadow to attack enemies, the game is pretty intriguing.  In short, Dead to
Rights is nonstop action (a.k.a. nonstop killing).  However, even with the
backing of the developed storyline and all the unique features the game offers,
this action gets somewhat monotonous well before the end of the game.  This
is partially due to the fact that the game has to be played in a totally linear
manner.  Not just from level to level, but within each mission there are
certain tasks that must be done in a pre-defined order and as a result, the game
does get tedious.  Including the mini-games to breakup the gameplay is a
great idea, but after picking far too many locks or having to disarm more bombs
than seems necessary; these too get less enjoyable as the game progresses. 
Having received a mature rating from the ESRB, it’s obvious that this game was
focused at the older gaming crowd, so the inclusion of these often laughable
button-pressing tasks is surprising.


Graphics: 9
Graphically, despite some noticeable frame-rate
slowdowns when there’s a lot of action on the screen, this game is actually very
innovative.  The detail level is high, while the lighting and shadows are
generally appropriate for each particular environment.  However, Dead to
Rights really shines when it comes to the character animations that have been
included in the game as well as the player-controlled camera.  The
combination of these two components makes the game more enjoyable as it’s
possible to watch Jack perform one of his awesome disarm moves on an enemy in
slow motion from any angle you want;  this really gives Dead to Rights a
Hollywood, even Matrix-esque feel.  While the adjustable camera is great
for certain situations; the camera mode used during normal gameplay, which
automatically moves (rather than staying behind Jack) does get annoying. 
An option to lock the camera in straight on third-person view would have been
nice.


Sound: 8.5
The audio proves to be very well
done in Dead to Rights.  Continuing with the film theme, the background
music consists of an impressive score
that complements the action perfectly.  The sound effects won’t disappoint
you either.  From the noises that the different guns produce to those made
when bullets ricochet off of different objects; all
are of great quality.  On the dialogue side though, the game could use some
work.  While not all of it is bad; the handful of sub-par voice actors and
the enemies that constantly repeat the same phrases over and over again could
have been done without.

Difficulty: Easy

Three different settings allow for a decent variance in the difficulty level,
but overall the game is somewhat easy, which is largely due to the auto
targeting system.  On the normal (middle) difficulty
level the game can be beaten within a day or two without much trouble.  The
game becomes significantly less challenging as you learn how to best take
advantage of all the different tactics that can be used during gameplay. 
These tactics are all explained very well in a short tutorial that’s has been
implemented into the first level.

Concept: 8

Taking this strong movie-like storyline and putting it behind some great action
and innovative gameplay turns out to be a pretty impressive formula. 
However, the story is somewhat cheesy and predictable, while the gameplay is too
often repetitive.

Multiplayer: N/A


Overall: 8