Gaming Target - Xbox: Dead to Rights

Written by Nick Doukas on August 21, 2002

Full Review: Robert Leroy Parker and Harry Longbaugh got nothin' on Jack Slate, who brings the spirit of John Woo to a videogameЕ

Picture a dark, rain-slicked street deep in the heart of Chinatown. Garish neon signs reflect off the wet blacktop and a distant foghorn signals the wee hours of the morning. Jack Slate steps from behind a bus-shelter, hot on the trail of a crucial piece of evidence. Suddenly, a gunshot rings out. Ambush, not good. His back to the wall as the huge hail of bullets commences, Slate steps from cover and blows away a leather-jacketed hood with his dual .45 automatics. Moments later, three more thugs step out from behind two nearby parked cars. Switching to his Spas-12 shotgun, Jack leaps into the air as time slows to a crawl, the whine of ricocheting bullets and the roar of weapons fire becoming muffled and distorted. In rapid succession, Slate dispatches each criminal with grim efficiency, quickly targeting and then exterminating each and every last one. As soon as it's clear, Jack quickly moves on. It's gonna be a long nightЕ.

Dead To Rights is the new Action-Noir title from developer Namco Hometek. Combining shoot-outs that play like the best of Hong Kong action films, with interesting, unusual plot advancing minigames and cinematic martial arts brawls, Dead To Rights grips the gamer from the outset and never lets up. DTR is the story of Jack Slate, a tough-guy loner cop (and all around larger-than-life action hero), and his fight to bring his father's murderers to justice. After a stunning opening cinema, you're treated to an excellent tutorial, which takes place late at night at a construction site, and teaches you the various game mechanics. All the gameplay features of Dead To Rights are designed to allow players to stage their own versions of classic, over the top movie gunfights. The Replacement Killers, The Lobby shoot-out from The Matrix, Face Off, you get the idea.

The setting is Grant City, the hardest place on earth. The game reveals, through it's cinematic opening titles, that crime and corruption go way back in the history of Grant City, which was originally called Glitter City, a lawless mining town in the old west. Slate's family tree stretches back a ways as well, and the city's Mayor has roots in corruption and greed. Jack's been framed for the killing of a local philanthropist (who's really a crime boss), which is the impetus that takes you through the first few chapters in the game and engages you in martial arts battles, boss fights, as well as endless gunplay with waves of gangster foot soldiers. After a stretch in the big house and a dramatic escape, it's back to the task at hand: Tracking down dad's killers, dead or alive. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but suffice to say that you'll be blown away by the movie-quality visuals, sound, music and story of Dead To Rights.

As I stated earlier, DTR is all about visually stylistic gunfights that combine numerous, incredibly fun play mechanics with the need to strategize your way through each standoff. To this end, the controls are well mapped out and very intuitive. The left thumbstick will move Jack around, while the right is used to move the camera and, when engaged with enemies, cycle through available targets. Pressing the D-pad left or right will allow Slate to select and equip different weapons, and the A button is used to fire the currently equipped armament. The B button performs several different action-related functions, depending on the given situation. If you're standing near an action icon, Jack will open doors, trigger events, or just examine nearby objects. If you're confronted with an enemy, pressing B will cause Jack to grab the cretin and use him as a Human Shield, which works as an additional layer of frontal body armor. You can also fire at the rest of his crew, over his shoulder. If his own buddies don't cut him down first, pressing B again will result in Jack executing his hostage. Since the insane gunfights in DTR will have you using every move in Slate's arsenal to survive, the developers have included the ability to press up against a wall and pop out from cover to take a few shots before returning to safety. You'll also be able to crouch, and taking cover behind a car during one of the numerous street shoot-outs is probably a good idea. By pressing the Y button Jack will leap into the air. If you hold the Y button for a moment, the Dramatic Dive is implemented. Everything slows to a crawl as Slate Targets enemies and terminates them. Hold the Right trigger to lock your aim onto the nearest enemy, quickly release and hold down again to take aim at another enemy target. Tap Y again to return to normal speed. Use of the Dramatic Dive is governed by the Adrenaline meter, which you'll need to keep your eye on to insure it doesn't run dry. The meter replenishes over time, and Disarms, taking Human Shields and other cool moves will earn you Adrenaline at an accelerated pace.

The Targeting system is fantastic; it's one of the best I've ever seen. When Jack takes aim, a color-coded ring appears around the opponent. A green crosshair indicates that the enemy is out of range, a yellow crosshair indicates a reduced chance of hitting your intended victim, red means you've got a killing lock, and blue represents a defeated enemy. You can also use the manual targeting feature to go for headshots. Speaking of headshots, the team has equipped Slate with one serious arsenal. Dual .45 automatics (hey, you gotta have one for each hand) an M629, M11, Spas-12 shotgun, an assault rifle, and more. Basically, all the tools necessary for a war in the streets. A big part of Jack's defense presents itself in the form of Shadow, Slate's K9 partner and virtual Сsmart-bomb'. Shadow can be sent after a targeted enemy, where he'll kill the adversary and retrieve his weapon for you. Good boy Shadow, go fetch!! Shadow is only available when his stamina gauge is full. Fortunately, it slowly replenishes over time. Another strategy in Jack's bag of tricks is the ability to toss flammable canisters at a targeted group of enemies, and then fire on them, taking out 4 or 5 jailbirds with one well-placed shot. Even without a weapon, Slate is a formidable martial artist, and certain sections of the game will have you doing the man-dance with 6 or 8 thugs at a time. Jack can punch, kick, block and dodge, as well as use combos to string spinning roundhouse kicks together with a flurry of uppercuts and body-shots. Slate also has the ability to do grabs and throws. It all looks very cinematic, particularly one brutal confrontation on the dance floor of a seedy club. Jack can grab weapons from fallen enemies, as well as disarm them himself in dramatic in-game cut-scenes, which feature the hero breaking necks and performing all manner of cool finishing moves. Throughout the adventure, you'll unlock various Disarms, which will then be listed in the games menu. Slate can find health packs and body armor strewn about the environments, as well as level specific items like pass cards or keys. The game can be saved at any time, but you'll always begin from the last checkpoint. Checkpoints are pretty liberal throughout the game, and you mostly won't mind replaying some of the УscenesФ numerous times. Trust me, you will find this game a challenge in every way. Some of the battles may take you hours to complete. You'll need to figure out the best strategies for a given situation, and that can take a while, considering the high enemy count populating some of the levels. It's all a blast though, as each level is broken up into Сscenes', incredibly, brutally graceful Уbullet balletsФ that will blow your mind. Everything you've ever seen in a Woo or Anton Fuqua film is faithfully recreated here. You'll find yourself pinned down in the middle of the street and taking fire from all directions. You'll need to pop from cover, slow dive and carefully use Human Shields to stand a chance at surviving the flying lead.

Visually the game looks good and in certain sections, downright excellent. Environments are well modeled, with clean textures (for the most part) and detailed signs and buildings. The framerate is always solid as well. Some of the character models are a bit blocky, but generally, everything looks quite good. Additional eye candy like muzzle flashes from guns, bullet holes and scoring on vehicles and walls, and nicely realized weapons add to the atmosphere. The enemies are well animated, and blood sprays from stricken foes. Canister explosions are filled with cool particle effects, and all of the in-game sound is excellent as well. Jack Slate is ably voice acted by Chris Bruno, who really injects the hero with personality. All the voice acting is well done. Thugs scream: УImpress me, Hero!!Ф and УDog pile on the cop!!Ф as Slate enters the room, and Jack's stripper girlfriend sounds like the stereo-typical bad girl with a heart of gold, a staple of tough guy cop movies. Which brings us to the other aspect of DTR's play mechanics: the minigames. At various times you'll control a dancing stripper (accomplished with timed button presses) to distract bouncers so Jack can sneak by, or be required to manipulate an on screen strength meter to clean a heavy barbell over your head. Arm wrestling, boxing, picking locks, and a bunch of other stuff make for an interesting break from the combat.

Dead To Rights is made up of 15 chapters that fit neatly into the overall story arc. The game can be difficult and I'm afraid there's no option available, so one size fits all. The most important thing to remember is to use everything at your disposal, every strategy you can come up with to take out the trash. The game truly captures the feel of a Hong Kong action epic, and the characters, story and settings will really draw you into Slate's world. Flint Dille's script is filled with cool plot twists, and Kevin Manthei of KMM Productions has composed a powerful score that is integral in establishing a feature film quality to the game. Dead To Rights features about 15 hours of play (though the need to repeat some of the tougher sections may inflate that number a bit) and the story, as well as the action, will keep you coming back for more. The only real draw back is the camera, which sometimes requires a bit of baby-sitting. It mostly gives you a solid view of the proceedings, but sometimes spins out of control in tight corners. You can always swing the camera back behind the character by pulling the right trigger. It's more a matter of diligent manipulation of the controls, and once you get the hang of everything you'll be busting moves with Jack that would make any action hero proud. In the end, Dead To Rights is a solid addition to the Xbox library, and a game that no action fan should be without.