Dead to Rights

"Meet Jack Slate: A graduate from Max Payne A&M!"

Dead To Rights is the game that has the run and gun gameplay complete with Matrix effects that put Max Payne on the map. Dead To Rights promised to be better than Max Payne with the ability to disarm your opponents in fancy ways and be able to use your foes as human shields. Also, you have the help of your trusty police dog Shadow to get to those hard-to-reach places. It is basically like a Jon Woo video game. It has guns blazing and cool effects. But there are so many flaws with this game; it is impossible to really think this game deserves a good score.

Gameplay: 6/10
The gameplay formula is basically the same as Max Payne with some new features. You can disarm your enemies and use them as human shields and you can use your dog Shadow to chew up some enemies or get to those hard-to-reach places. There are some flaws though. First of all when you do use an enemy as a human shield, it is very hard to maneuver around the area. Also, the biggest flaw is that every single level is practically the same and don’t offer that many styles of gameplay. Dead to Rights gets old way too fast.

Graphics: 5/10
The graphics for Dead To Rights just plain look like a PSX game! About 10 or 15 percent of the cut-scenes look pretty good but the rest are just bad for PS2 standards! There are no facial movements or expressions, and the characters and the environments look pretty dated.

Sound: 6/10
There isn’t much good in the sound department, except for the music and the gun sounds. The voice acting is not well done by any means and the sound is really rough. Actually, some of the weapon effects weren’t all that great and didn’t sound right.

Control: 7/10
The controls are pretty easy if you have played games like Max Payne. They are pretty simple and easy to master. There are some flaws in the control department. Sometimes the mini-games can be a little tough to handle in the jailhouse level. Also, it is a little hard to control your character when you are using a human shield. It may take a little practice to get the controls down.

Story: 6/10
The story is a cheap rip-off of Max Payne along with the rest of the game, but there are some cool plot-twists in it to spice things up. The story is that you are the cop known as Jack Slate who is sent to investigate a crime scene only to find out your father has been murdered. Now, you must get revenge on the one who did it.

Overall I expected Dead To Rights to be much better than this, but, for anyone who likes to kill a weekend with an average game about guns, drugs, and crime, I would recommend this as a rental. Do not buy this game.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/22/03, Updated 02/22/03