|  | Rise to Honor Screenshots |  
 | The Final Say! | Gameplay
8.5 | Graphics
8.6 | Sound
8.7 | Value
8.5 | Rise to Honor - reviewed by Andrew B
Review Date: April 2004
Review Score 8.5/10
Distributed By: Sony | | | One could be mistaken in thinking that Rise to Honor is based on Jet Li's latest action movie but in actual fact, it's a PlayStation 2 exclusive that stars the Hong Kong action hero. Not only did Jet Li lend his likeness to this entertaining beat-em-up game but also the amazing martial art moves that he inhumanly pulls off in his movies. The story revolves around an undercover police officer called Kit Yun (played by Jet Li) who has been given the task of infiltrating an infamous and extremely powerful Hong Kong crime family. Your journey takes Kit from Kong Hong to San Francisco in one of the most epic battles to ever grace the PlayStation 2 that will cause some gamers to crave for more. In its essence, Rise to Honor is a classic beat-em-up game where the player must use his fists, and feet to fight way his way through a plethora of enemies. Fortunately for our hero Kit, he also has access to a police handgun that comes in handy when the odds are against you. Although the game pays homage to the arcade games of the 1980's such as Double Dragon, it also reminds me of True Crime but without the driving. The gameplay itself is rather straightforward with the left analog stick used to move Kit in the gaming world and with the right analog stick used to pull off your various martial arts manoeuvres. There are also a variety of combinations that are hidden in the game and apart from using your fists, feet and guns, you can also use a variety of objects from the environment, provided that they are breakable. The only difficult thing with Rise to Honor is the shooting mechanism that is unfortunately a little too fiddlesome and will take a few hours or so in attempting to master it. Graphically, Rise to Honor is a visual treat that features some extremely high detailed characters, especially Kit himself who also has a brilliant resemblance to Jet Li, so thumbs up to the developers for a job well done. The manoeuvres that the characters perform are also well executed and move with an uncanny realism and the amazing thing is that most of the moves have actually been pulled off by Jet Li himself in real life. The story is also progressed through a variety of cutscenes that include pre-rendered CGI and also the in-game engine. The only disappointing aspect of the gaming engine are the backgrounds that sometimes go from highly detailed to lacklustre but fortunately the character animations are enough to keep most gamers entertained. The game also supports widescreen and 480p support for HD TV owners and being an owner of a widescreen television, the graphics look almost as good as it's distant console cousin, the XBox. |
