|  | Dead to Rights screenshots |    | The Final Say! | Gameplay
8.5 | Graphics
7.0 | Sound
7.2 | Value
7.9 | Dead to Rights - reviewed by Andrew B
Review Date: 29 August 2003
Review Score 7.9/10
Distributed By: Electronic Arts | | | Dead to Rights is the latest arcade style game from Namco that not only pays homage to the arcade games of yesterday but also to that of Max Payne. And what better way to hold you over till Max Payne 2 is finally released in Australia? In Dead to Rights, you play the role of Jack Slate, a tough and street wise cop from Grant City whose life is soon turned upside when he discovers his fathers dead body. Although Jack's father promised him that he was no longer involved in the shady underworld of Grant city, Jack soon discovers that his father was hiding more than just his good parenting skills. Denied access to his father's case, Jake must now sneak his way into the shady criminal underworld of Grant City that is filled with corruption and betrayal. Although originally released on the XBox, Dead to Rights finally finds itself on the PlayStation 2 and fixes many of the bugs that were apparent in the original version. Dead to Rights has that classic Namco arcade feel to it and is a cross between Virtua Cop meets Max Payne. Apart from rehashing old stories of good cop, bad cop, Namco have introduced a very unique aspect into the game and that is of Jack's partner, Shadow, a K-9 police officer that sometimes steals the show. In its most simplistic form, Dead to Rights is an arcade game where you must complete certain objectives before you can finish the level. Fortunately for Jack Slate, he has access to a variety of weapons and when his weapons fail, he can then attack his opponents with hand-to-hand combat or use his trusty K-9 sidekick, Shadow. The game also contains a variety of mini-games that helps breaks the monotony of the arcade style game, these mini-games include a wide variety of objectives such as controlling a lap dancer's moves to distract a bouncer, so that Jack can sneak into the premises. It did take me awhile to figure out how to controller the dancer and it actually reminded me of Britney's Dance Beat or Space Channel 5. Other mini-games include arm wrestling, picking locks, disarming opponents and diffusing bombs. The game is also littered with a variety of equipment that Jack can use such as body armour and a plethora of military arsenals. The control system of Dead to Rights is a little tricky but fortunately you can get away with the basic manoeuvres in the game. Jack can perform a variety of actions such as auto-aim, manual aim, duck, use objectives, use opponents as human shields, fight hand-to-hand, order Shadow to attack enemies, control Shadow and last but not least has the ability to use "bullet time" which brings back memories of the Matrix and Max Payne. |
