Dead to Rights

While Jack Slate obviously attended The Max Payne School of Ultraviolence, he's got a few tricks up his sleeve that separate him from his mentor.

When Dead to Rights works, it works like magic?a concentrated, brutal, bullet-time ballet of flying shrapnel, soaring debris, and airborne bodies, orchestrated by a student of The Max Payne School of Flair and Function who occasionally manages to outclass his master. When Dead to Rights doesn?t work, it's pretty painful.

Magnum Opus
Where Dead to Rights really clicks is in the gunfights. Jack Slate, the vengeful antihero K9 cop of this tale, has the stylistically evolved (and gameplay-enhancing) ability to dive, slow down time, and shoot like the god of ephedrine; he has no qualms about capping someone point blank in the back of the head after using him as a defensive receptacle for incoming bullets; and by the time a scene is cleared of thugs, the emptied pistols he's discarded outnumber the innumerable dead guys two to one.

Taste the Payne
Where Dead to Rights backfires (and nearly blows off its own hand) is in nearly everything else: Asinine timing-and-reflex mini-games break up the flow, and the hyper-basic punch-kick melee combat amounts to repetition repeated. Ill-advised attempts at being "mature" are either laughable, uncomfortable, or both; and the uneven, derivative framed-cop story involves what one character calls an unsolved case of "intentional murder." And Chapter Three, in which our hero is thrown in jail, stripped of his weapons, and forced to participate in a seemingly endless parade of tedious brawling and button-tapping mini-games, is nearly a deal breaker.

It's Not a Rip-Off, It's an "Homage"
While the Max Payne comparison is an obvious one, Dead to Rights does enough things differently to stand on its own merits. Little touches like the ability to disarm and grab enemies for use as human shields add a lot to the gameplay rather than seeming like throwaway gimmicks. There's really no penalty for dying, which is part of what makes these battles such a joy?should you fail, you just start the scene over again fully recovered with no penalty and armed with a little bit more knowledge about where you should duck or dive to look extra cool next time around.

Orchestrating the Old Ultraviolence
The game's setup is very linear as you move from one action scene to the next, shooting an alleyway, gambling den, or office space full of holes until it's time to move on to the next set. Thoughtfully placed cars, garbage cans, and pool tables can be used quite effectively to provide cover, adding a rather surprising element of tactical thought to the game; even the enemy A.I. is smart enough to use the cover to its own advantage.

Since the amount of tricks Jack is able to pull is a little higher than in most gun-toting games, the controls seem a bit complicated at first (Chapter One acts as a tutorial), though it doesn?t take long for things to click into place. The right trigger button cycles through all your different enemy targets; the A button fires your weapon; and the Y button hurls you into a slow-motion dive. While a lot of the fancy gunplay happens pretty automatically, the game offers a very convincing illusion that you're in full control of your actions. Occasionally, you'll find yourself struggling against the camera, especially in tight quarters, or when slow-leaping around a corner for a surprise attack.

You Have the Right to Remain Dead
In the end, Dead to Rights? good days outnumber its bad ones, and it?s worthwhile to trudge through the occasional dull punch-fight and inane spat of dialogue to get to the next wicked little gunfight. When Jack Slate is on, he?s on.

Comments [0]

post a comment

Post a Comment