Rise to Honor

"Good, at the start, but slows down near the end"

So I was sitting on my ripped up couch thinking of what video game to play, and then I saw the Jet Li' Rise to Honor commercial. I thought "Wow, that looks good" So I bought it. Now, Onto the review!

Story: 7/10

You play Jet Li, who....ummmmm.....well....The story is pretty good..and seems like a real Japanese kung-fu movie plot. But it's not easy to follow at times. A lot of the time you'll be asking "Who's that guy? Where did she come from? Why does he want to kill Jet Li?" The cut scenes do move the plot nicely and don't take much away from the gameplay, but they just aren't interesting or fun to watch. It's all dialogue and when the exciting moments you'll be saying "Why didn't I get to do that!"

Game play: 5/10

This has good points and bad points. The fighting is complex, but when you get used to it, it's great. You can wipe out 20 surrounding goons easily. But, the fighting may be good, but the rest of the game play is pretty bad. The stealth mission are crap. The guards can't hear anything. Even a trash can being busted open. And you would think in the "Run and Gun" missions, it would be a good idea to hid behind things, pop up, shoot, repeat. But due to your unlimited ammo, you can just run down the level constantly shooting up bad guys with ease. Lastly, the "Run away from the bullets mission" Were fun sometimes, but after the 4th try, the excitement wares down and it turns into pure frustration. The level that gets the most credit is the one where you have to run away from the helicopter. You can't even see where your going! Also, for these levels, the animation seems very clunky and slow.

Graphics 9/10

Pretty good for the PS2. They aren't as good as Metal Gear Solid 2 or games like that, but they are nice.

Replay Value: 5/10

Like the game play, beating on villains and thugs with your unique fighting style is fun, but the rest of the game is just plain boring...

Buy or Rent:
RENT! Trust me, Fun for a while, but not a great buy. Moments in the game will be fun. But buying it won't satisfy your gaming needs. If your looking for a break from fighting with button mashing and combos. Try this unique fighting game for a week. But it's just boring after the first few levels...

Overall: 6/10
Well, After I bought this game, I went back to target to see if I could swap it for something else. But it will be a fun game for some. It has good points, but shining moments like when you wipe out 10 thugs without even moving around the room don't appear to often. Graphics are very pretty but the story isn't terrible. Nice rental but nothing more.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/24/04