The original Dead to Rights first began its life as an Xbox exclusive action game. It provided excellent action, innovative gameplay elements, and a surprisingly good story. The game eventually made its way to PS2, PC, and GCN. Later it rose to become a best-selling game on both the PS2 and Xbox. Now this rough and tumble third-person shooter is back, but has it been able to outdo itself this time around? In some respects, yes, but in a number of others, no. It almost seems like Namco didn't try as hard this time around. The original Dead to Rights seemed much more abitious. Even though the title was sort of average, it showed a lot of potential. Unfortunately that didn't come through with this game as much as I hoped it would. First off, the story is not nearly as good as the first. The original had a surprisingly intricate story that was much more deep than this game. DTR2's story seems more watered down and shallow. Basically all it does is set up why Jack kills tons of people. The gameplay has both improved and worsened. Most of Jack's abilities have stayed the same. The disarms are one of the best parts, though this time around they seem less varied. He has picked up some helpful new abilities like rolling over things an onto small ledges. However, a lot of things that made the game unique have been dropped like all of the mini games, which I personally thought were a good addition to liven up the gameplay. Graphics were nothing to gawk at originally and this time around it's no different. The character models and textures have gotten better though. Although, don't be surprised to see the same enemies over and over. The CG cut-scenes have gotten better whereas in the first a lot of the animations looked clunky and unfinished. But in-game the characters mouths don't move and hands are always fists, which is remeniscent of something like Perfect Dark on 64. Sound in the cut-scenes are fine, but is very poor in-game. All of the sound clips aren't clear. They sound muffled and of poor quality. Your enemies have a very small range of things to say as well, which gets annoying quickly. The gun sounds are fine though; a plus. The music is really simple and repeats often as well, nothing special. After finishing the game there are a few unlockables, but not much incentive to play though again. DTR2 is a good pick-up and play game. After finishing you can go back to any part of the game you want and just shoot people. It's a good game for if you're angry. It's not the best game out there, but I thought it was still fun in spite of it's many imperfections. It still has some good action and pretty decent gameplay. More than likely you'll probably only want to rent it. Either that or wait til it hits the sale rack.
Dead to Rights II is like fast food, it's quick and dirty, but in the end you end up feeling fat and unfulfilled. Despite being the sequel of 2002’s Dead to Rights, which featured a lot of run and gun action in addition ... Read Full Review
Once again, players take the role of Jack Slate, a hardened cop who is willing to kill wave after wave of men to achieve his goal. And what is that goal? Originally, he was framed for a crime he didn't commit and sought ... Read Full Review
