Dead to Rights

"Better than stale urine."

Well, I got out of school and looked around for my mom, I see the car and hop in. First thing out of my mouth is “Can we go to blockbuster?” as I new Dead to Rights had just been released on the ps2. Well I rented Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer and Dead to Rights. I don’t think Kelly Slater will ever touch my disc tray, because Dead to Rights is an amazing game.

GAME PLAY: 8/10
Although I find a lot of it is just “run into an area, kill everyone, run to another area, kill everyone” with the occasional slow motion dive while firing a shotgun. I still like the game for the sheer thrill of not knowing just what to expect around each corner. Will it be safe, heavily guarded, or certain doom? The fact is, running and shooting is what makes this game fun, it also helps to have a little help from your dog. A cool thing about this game is taking a human shield. It may not sound like a lot but being able to use a human shield is quite spectacular. It there was maybe a few missions-within-missions, this would get a ten, but an 8 is good enough.

STORY: 10/10
A cop’s father is killed, he seeks revenge, is framed for murder and is running from the law like a mad man. The whole story is basically you trying to find out who killed your dad, while you just keeping getting directed somewhere else. Occasionally you get some help along the way, but it doesn’t last long. I still think the story deserves and Oscar...right?

CONTROLS: 7/10
I thought the controls were decent but there were a little too many buttons to memorize. Other then the fighting the controls were good. A slight beef I have is having the R1 button do 4 different tasks. There are some buttons that don’t really do anything to my knowledge, so why not sub off some controls to other buttons. I got a little confused in game time but luckily throughout the game, you get hints on what buttons do if you’re in a pinch.

REPLAY: 5/10
Once you know the story and how it ends I don’t really see a point unless you want to replay on a different difficulty.

SOUND/GRAPHICS: 9/10
I loved the sound of gun fire in slow-motion and all together. The one beef I have is basically every bad guy is the same guy in a different suit. Also Slater (main character) has the same damn expression on his face the entire game. I didn’t really like the voice acting either.

OVERALL: 9/10
This game should definitely be a purchase because it is damn bloody and just plain fun to play. If you can master this game on super cop mode than I’ll buy you a cookie.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/05/02, Updated 12/05/02