Dead to Rights

Never before have I seen an action title with such deadly depth. [Sept 2002, p.86]

Despite the less-then-mediocre camera movement and control, Dead To Rights is a fun romp through a Hong Kong-like movie with all the thrilling elements and action sequences that would make John Woo proud.

With so many ways to kill your enemies, you will never get bored of the same sort of stuff every gunfight.

This game is about variety to the Nth degree. You can fight a hundred different ways and still never be wrong.

Had the fighting engine been better, this one would easily trounce "Max Payne" as king of the bullet-time games. But the fighting is too plain, too poor, and there's far too much of it.

The challenge comes from learning how to avoid the enemies, not figuring out what to do...it provides a quick paced progressive story with a very nice game. [Sept 2002, p.89]

But taking it for what it is -- a fast-paced, story-based action game with plenty of enemies and violent ways of eliminating them -- Dead to Rights is a highly enjoyable adult diversion for Xbox owners.

A game that won't bore you after an hour of gameplay and will literally leave you speechless at times.

An unapologetic action game in the same vein as Max Payne, but with a dog sidekick and hand-to-hand combat.

Even with its visual shortcomings and ambition that keeps the game from being as tight as it could have been, Dead to Rights is a riot, packed full of non-stop action that will have you and the buddies playing hours through the night.

Finally, I should just add that this game features sexy looking strippers in tight thongs! And you get to play one! I mean, what more can you ask for really?

This story-based, action-adventure title is probably the most gratifying Xbox-only game this summer, even though it does have some flaws.

The run-and-gun portions of Dead to Rights come together so perfectly that you become enraptured by your ability to take down hordes of bad guys in classic Jon Woo style. It's these intense, visceral, wicked gunfights that make you forget reality and draw you completely into Slate's fantasy world of fast and furious gun-slinging action. Sadly, the beat 'em up sections of the game mar what otherwise would have been a perfect title.

There's no denying that this brave attempt at combining styles has resulted in a good solid title that's entertaining and fun to play.

I think DTR should also get some credit for its control scheme, which is very intuitive.

The escalated difficulty of mixing all these together (now instead of one or two game types, you have half a dozen) and inconsistency in pacing the sequences ironically makes the holistic package less accessible.

This game is jam packed with a range of fighting moves, weapons and a particularly vicious but faithful attack dog that our Max could only wish for.

A great game for action lovers, even though it lags at points. It doesn't quite compare to the total immersion of "GTA3," but when you're more kicking ass than Charles Bronson and looking better than John Shaft while doing it, who cares?

The lock-on targeting system can be a royal pain as well, since it almost always targets the enemy that is closest to you. This leads to an abundance of problems that occur during the game's most difficult scenarios.

Could have been great, but has to settle for being good because of the annoying camera issues and the graphics shortcomings.

No one said being the hero was going to be easy. Overlooking its problems and getting past that learning curve certainly won't be, but if you manage to, you'll find that Dead to Rights is an intense and challenging game.