Dead to Rights: Retribution

Dead to Rights: Retribution is a solid game which looks pretty good based on a fictitious NYC. The combat whilst dynamic, does get a bit repetitious and by mission 10 you'll be glad it's over rather than begging for more.

It may not be the deepest or most original action experience out there, but it's hard to deny the cheap thrills, over-the-top attitude, and mind-numbingly brutal mayhem present in Volatile's latest.

Dead to Rights: Retribution is fun, fast and exhilarating. You go from shooting to cracking jaws with your fists in mere seconds, and the mechanics for doing so are rock solid. It slows down at times, but this is still a worthwhile ride.

Yes, it's cheesy and not the most polished shooter on the market, but it's the perfect rental, a game that'll last through the weekend and dish out plenty of rewards.

Dead to Rights: Retribution is a mediocre game. It has good points, it has bad points, but it never comes up with something special. It's a fun game to play, but just for once and never again.

We all need a Die Hard every now and then, and that’s exactly the kind of spirit Retribution evokes.

Overall if you are a fan of the Dead to Rights series be sure to check this game out. If you are brand new to the series you should definitely give this title a shot to see if you like it, however, rent before you buy.

With a forgettable story, bland characters and a huge sense of déjà-vu, Namco’s re-envisioning of its precious Dead to Rights franchise manages to keep you afloat, but never elevates your level of excitement beyond just treading water.

In the end, the game is a wash and quite forgettable. You’ll enjoy some moments as you play but won’t remember them the next day.

Sure, it could have been executed better, and yes there are better shooters/fighting games out there. But for something which came out of left field with little announcement, it’s got a good 10 hours of play in it, and I can think of a worse way to spend that amount of time. Uninspired, but respectable for being what it is, unashamedly.

It offers a good challenge for action gamers, but they'll probably miss some features like a multiplayer mode, or some more depth.

Comfortable in its saggy skin, and really quite good at what it does. A bargain bin gem. [July 2010, p.94]

Zesty and packs a punch, but becomes over-familiar very quickly. [June 2010, p.74]

Dead to Rights: Retribution is a decent shooter, but it simply has nothing new to offer, and doesn’t do a particularly good job of presenting itself.

Dead to Rights: Retribution is by no means a bad game, though it can't really be called a good one either. Redundancy runs rampant in nearly every aspect of the game.

The story is bombastic and gratuitous and level design can be needlessly frustrating, but the strength of the combat and Shadow’s stealth largely compensate.

The enemy AI is predictable, typically running straight at Jack; ordering Shadow around is hit and miss; there's zero help when it comes to targeting enemies (i.e. no lock-on function); and the animation can be disjointed and completely bizarre.

It is one of those games you can pick up at your local rental place, play for a couple days and completely forget about. It can be fun at times, but can be tedious and frustrating at others.

Dead to Rights: Retribution can provide some good B-movie fun at first, but it soon gets overly repetitive and the niggling flaws soon begin to grate more and more as the game goes on.

Dead to Rights: Retribution is an enjoyable game with huge action elements, mixing beat´em up and shoot´em up in some variety of ways. It has easy combat mechanics and amazing takedowns moves, but honestly the game doesn´t offer the same experience than other titles like Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Dead to Rights: Retribution showed a lot of promise with some innovative side-steps, but fails when it comes down to line.

It's simple, enjoyable, and in wisely steering clear of trying anything grand or complex, is an enjoyable if self-contained success. [May 2010, p.97]

Possibly the world's least anticipated sequel, but a surprisingly enjoyable brain dead romp all the same.

A far bigger problem is simply the fact that the game gets boring all too quickly.

Namco delivers violent and old school action that feels just like a Chuck Norris movie. Unfortunately, also in the bad way. That means the story stinks and the dialogue is unbelievably bad. Still, it feels good to just disconnect the brain for some heavy action that really feels like a direct to DVD movie.

It would have been much better if Volatile had given the game some personality, instead of using all ideas from other games like Gears of War, Arkham Asylum or Max Payne.

Go here, kill them, do it again. It’s rough around the edges –- shadows look like crap on people’s faces and the enemies aren’t smart –- but it could be worse.

Perhaps the greatest issue with Dead To Rights: Retribution is that it feels like last generation's ideas and standards reanimated for a new set of consoles.

A reasonably solid action game with a few good ideas, but definitely a step below the top-tier franchises.

An entirely average experience with mediocre graphics and a story laced with cliches. But it is fairly entertaining, fun even, while it lasts.

Competent. Functional. Other than the presence of your canine sidekick, there is absolutely nothing in Dead to Rights: Retribution that hasn't been done before (and probably better) in other games.

This new Dead to rights may appeal to B-Movie fans. For everyone else this is just a decent game with too many problems and a dog which just barks and doesn't bite.

There's not a single moment worth experiencing. It's a dull, monotonous title that needn't be played by anyone, especially with all of the quality already available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Dead to Rights: Retribution is a lukewarm 3rd person shooter, whose redeeming qualities are overshadowed by overly repetitive gameplay.

The shooting, hand-to-hand combat and sneaking segments can all be fun, but for a very short time. Apart from that, the game has little of true value. It's probably best to avoid it.

Dead to Rights is a lot like its belligerent hero, getting the job done in the crudest manner possible, leaving behind nothing more memorable than a sticky adolescent mess of blood, bullets and profanity.

The few saving graces offered by the inclusion of a scrotum-seeking pooch do little to alleviate the more fundamental problems the game faces as a third person shooter. Dead to Rights: Retribution is a load of balls in exactly the way Volatile Games didn't intend.

A disappointing sequel that resembles (in the worst way) everything we've seen in the previous entries of the series. Fun to play for a very short period, the linear gameplay and the lack of multiplayer and co-op mode make this game a failure under many aspects. It could be worth a rental for the week-end, but there are better ways to spend money and time.

For all your dull evenings, there is Dead to Rights : Retribution. An ugly, not very original and merely polished game, but still very satisfying when you just need some enemy-bashing.

Dead to Rights simply coats the environment in red and its characters in force-fed grime and loathability. What's left is an experience that provides some basic action sustenance, but lacks any real purpose or direction.

Everything on offer is sub-par. But if you’re a sucker for mindless violence and a distinct lack of storyline, then you’ll probably enjoy Retribution.

The plot wavers between comic-book badassery and awkward melancholy, making you wonder whether the writing team couldn’t come to an agreement on what kind of story they wanted to tell.

Retribution's grim, obscenity-packed narrative fails to hit any high notes. [July 2010, p.83]