When I looked at this I was thinking that this would be a great way of bringing back that BBC favourite One Man and his Dog for the new millennium. A crime fighting cop who sees his father die whilst investigating a big case decides to take life into his own hands by dealing out death on the bad guys with the help of his blood obsessed wolf. Certainly beats ten out of ten for the pen, if you ask me.
As many of you will know, Jack Slate and Shadow are no strangers to the video game scene. This is their 3rd outing, but the first on the current generation consoles. The third person action genre has been swelling up a little though, with quite a number of fresh ideas being chucked into the old styles since their last release, resulting in classics like Gears of War or, if you want a different slant, the Ghost Recon series. Fair enough they don’t have a canine companion in them, but does the added bonus of a pedigree chum help the gameplay any?
Well it certainly adds to the dimensions of the story, as even though there is an extreme amount of predictability in proceedings (I mean how many times have you come across someone in the movies who loses a loved one and then goes all out for vengeance?), the way this tale is told is rather solid and in a way, captivating. Shadow might be a wolf, but you begin to really feel a bond similar to that between him and Jack; and that says a lot. It does mix in enough different bad guy types, from the Union to the Triads and beyond and they bring a necessary colour to a very dark and overcast environment.
The darkness is needed to help provide the required atmosphere and it hangs around from start to finish. From the cold and uninviting boating dock at the start of the game to the big enemy headquarters all you will notice is how bleak it is. For all this doom and gloom though it certainly looks the part in terms of a present day title, with Shadow looking particularly nice as he runs and sneaks about getting stuck in to whatever foe he decides to leave his impression on. The cut scenes are really impressive, with some nice mo-cap and lip synch techniques, but I do feel that not ALL of the in game stuff was done the same way, as a few of the execution moves just don’t seem to flow right.
The vocal talent is decent enough, with our lead character sounding like Christian Bale gave him lessons in how to ask for something. The performances won’t be grabbing any awards anytime soon, but at least it doesn’t sound like it doesn’t belong, which is vital in a plot driven story. The music is ok, but very repetitive, as I must have heard the same piece so many times that I lost count. What that can do is take away from any atmosphere that the other parts of the puzzle have almost put together. It can be touch and go, but with some clever mind tricks you can blank it out from memory.
In order to score highly, Dead to Rights: Retribution needs to have a very polished and enjoyable single player experience, as there is no multiplayer option to speak of. Sadly it’s here where things start to go a little bit downhill. The time taken to finish it is good enough, averaging in at about 8 to 10 hours if you don’t rush, but the downsides really do affect your enjoyment of this game; and no amount of swearing or gore can hide that disappointment.
The AI can be okay in some areas, but there will be times where it borders on the embarrassing. As well as the usual old school feeling of having enemies pop their heads out in the same places time and time again, we also have them running to turret guns even if the best man to their future wedding had just been massacred there. One special mention should go to the one minion who decided to hide behind a couch and stop me from progressing to the next part of a level because I couldn’t find him to take him out. He didn’t put up a fight or anything, as he was rather enjoying his little squat behind some furniture. The Shadow controlled sections are really good fun, but the AI can be a bit dumb here to. I mean, if your mate had just disappeared from his post after talking to him a minute ago, wouldn’t you raise suspicion or alarm? These guys don’t. They just carry on as if nothing had happened.
Another annoyance is the cover system, which has a possibility of leaving you angry, bordering on throwing a pad. Too many times arose where pressing the X button (or A, Mr 360 owner) did absolutely nothing, even if you were totally convinced that that nice flat surface you’d found could be used as cover. Too many deaths resulted from this problem and I feel that this just shouldn’t be the case, especially when you see the Rainbow Six series and Gears pull these moves off with ease.
The Execution moves are fun for the first hour or so and then manage to get a little irritating, as well as this strange obsession to out slow-mo Max Payne and The Matrix combined. This happens with every headshot performed and for all the major explosions in the game, which bearing in mind that the quickest way to kill everyone in this title, as well as saving ammo, is by a headshot can get your blood boiling all too easily. These things should be used sparingly and not constantly.
What we have here is a game that has some really good plus points, but in the end is let down by some really bad negatives. Great characters, decent controls and an adequate story are brought down by bad AI, a dodgy covering system and too many “fancy” moments. It’s annoying when you know that this could have been very enjoyable and not very stressful at all, instead of having a grown man screaming at the telly for the umpteenth time. How ironic that Dead to Rights is let down by the one thing it’s trying to make look really fancy, it’s execution.
VideogameUK verdict: 6/10
