Dead to Rights: Reckoning

A good time but ultimately a forgettable time. This is fun for the bus ride, but not much else.

A port of the latest console game down to the PSP, but for some reason the basic style of the gameplay just works better on this portable medium.

I’ve passed this game around to people who have never even held a PSP before and they have picked up on the gameplay in less than ten minutes and have enjoyed it just as much as I have.

Gameplay is fast, fun, and frantic.

If you enjoy blowing stuff up and pretending to be in Hong Kong-style action movie then Dead to Rights: Reckoning is your game.

Perhaps the most damning thing about this game is that its simple nature is almost out of necessity. [Aug 2005, p.106]

The game ultimately boils down to mindlessly shooting everybody in sight, which is only compelling for so long. [Sept 2005, p.85]

Not even a crime-fighting dog can hide the fact that this is generic shooting with a wonky lock-on system. Distinctly average. [Apr 2006, p.97]

While there's something to be said for a game that cuts to the chase and focuses merely on your ability to lock onto targets and mash the fire button to blast them in the face, Reckoning has shoddy control and some ugly graphical glitches. Its handful of problems really get in the way and make this PSP game short, uninteresting, and not much fun at all.

Playing through the game takes only a few hours the first time, making it great for quick gaming spurts. Combining that with the lackluster multiplayer modes and shoddy controls you won’t be going back very often though. It just isn’t worth the headache.

What we’ve got here is a fair game that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone except for a mindless, young teenager that likes shooting games and puppies.

I think it's possible to have a success shooter on PSP. But if fundamental elements like a functional camera and control systems aren't there, the game just won't work.

If Namco just spent another month or two polishing the camera and targeting, it could have had a rock solid action title under its belt.

A great looking game with no personality.

No grenades or rocket launchers, not even a clever mission are to be found along Jack's path. Just guns, dead bodies and pools of blood we've seen before.

Namco's foray into the PSP platform hits a huge snag, as Reckoning's overly simple and repetitive gameplay takes the skill (and fun) away.

An almost uncontrollable camera. [Aug 2005, p.58]

While multiplayer is a nice feature, its novelty wears thin quickly since part of the fun is being in a hectic firefight with several enemies and not just a couple of people.

It's broken, it's brief, and it'll only make you wonder "what if" every time you play it.

There are times when the game is fun, but it simply fails to overcome its numerous shortcomings.

Despite its relative good looks, Dead to Rights: Reckoning is more an exercise in frustration than an enjoyable diversion. Not even the four player WiFi deathmatch mode is enough to save this one from the bowels of the budget bargain bin.

I really love how shallow this game is, but at the same time Namco should be ashamed for even releasing it since it obviously needed more time to cook.

Imagine an aging Max Payne with debilitating rheumatoid arthritis, failing eyesight and prone to fits of epilepsy. That's what you can expect when you play as Jack Slate in Dead to Rights: Reckoning...This game gets no points for trying. Dead to Rights: Reckoning, in no uncertain terms, sucks.

An abomination of a product that wasn't really all that solid to begin with. When a game that depends on a lock-on system and camera to deliver compelling action can't even get that right, it's just not worth playing, and Reckoning is the very definition of wasted money. Stay far, far away.