Developer: Volatile Games
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Release Date: Out Now
Players: One
Words By:
It really doesn’t seem like nearly eight years ago we reviewed Dead to Rights on the Xbox, the story of Jack Slate, a cop investigating the death of his Dad and seeking revenge. DtR was a game that, despite some flaws and less than amazing visuals, won us over with its mix of action that was clearly inspired by Hong Kong movies and Max Payne’s bullet time. Jack had a faithful dog named Shadow as a companion and at the time this was a real attention grabber, the fact that you even got to play as Shadow for some sections (to access areas too small for Jack) made it unique.
Retribution would appear to be a prequel or maybe even a remake as it tells the story of how Jack’s father was killed, and how Jack sets about bringing the men responsible to his own unique form of justice. Now an embittered outcast from the Grant City police force, this “one man and his dog” also uncover a disturbing conspiracy between the city’s gangs and the militaristic GAC cops that are now running the city. Jack seems to have been on the steroids or at least down the gym in the last few years because he’s now a muscle-bound hunk with bulging veins and a constant moody look. He’s also now gained some serious fighting ability and at times will just as happily punch his way through swathes of bad guys as use bullets. The game limits ammo quite severely so you’ll be picking up dropped weapons a lot, or alternatively using Jack’s not insignificant hand-to-hand combat skills.
Apart from simply punching and spin-kicking enemies to a pulp (presses of triangle and circle) there are plenty of nice touches to the combat system; you can grab enemies into a clinch position (X and square) and use them as a human shield (press square again), or throw them into another enemy (press X) or, if you’re near an edge, over a handrail to plummet to their death—an ability that never gets tired. If you run out of ammo and find yourself weapon-less you can use the disarming button (X when prompted) to nick a weapon and use it against its previous owner. You can block punches with a timely press of square (vital against some of the heavier hitters) and if you pummel an enemy enough you’ll get to do one of a set of predetermined finishing moves on them, some of which are quite sadistic, but in a cartoony kind of way. Pressing ‘X’ also makes Jack hunker down behind an object or stick to some walls for cover, and this works well for the most part. Holding ‘X’ down doubles as a sprint button so you can run from one cover immediately taking cover on the next object, or pressing X again just before you reach a waist high obstacle makes Jack vault over it in a similar way to Uncharted or Gears of War.
The original DtR had a helpful camera and clearly defined routes through the levels that meant you never got confused or lost. Retribution’s levels are less linear and, on the odd occasion, left me wondering where to go next. There are Police badges hidden away on each level to collect, and finding all these will add some replay value as it’s highly unlikely you’ll find them all on the first play through.
When disarming an enemy sometimes the just-grabbed weapon isn’t aimed anywhere near them, and it’s amazing how easy it is to miss an onrushing enemy because there’s no aim assist whatsoever. If this happens they knock the weapon out of your hands and disarm you. This might seem like whining but it really does amaze everyone who plays the game how difficult it is to shoot someone at close range. Even when using Retribution’s version of bullet time (by pressing ‘L1’) targets can be difficult to hit, and I’d have liked to have been able to turn the sensitivity down a fraction, it might have helped. I’m going to give the designers what is possibly some undue credit and say maybe they designed it this way so you’ll regularly switch between gunplay and fisticuffs. I really think it’s about time all developers let us alter joypad control setups as I’d also have liked to be able to re-map the focus mode to another button, as having it on ‘L1’ and aim mode on ‘L2’ meant that if I was zoomed in on a target and wanted to slow things down I suddenly needed two index fingers, and the game made me feel cack-handed, as I then have to use my middle finger to aim while triggering focus with my pointy finger. It’s hard to believe the testing team thought this was okay and no-one complained about it, especially as ‘L3’ & ‘R3’ are sitting there not doing anything. Anyway, enough about my digits and dopey joypad setups and on to the best bit about the game.
Shadow was the best thing about the original DtR and to be honest he’s probably the best thing about Retribution too. Virtually an ever present companion he will often come to the rescue and if you do find yourself pinned down you can even send him to pick up dropped weapons for you. You’ll soon get used to pressing up on the D-Pad and sending him to attack enemies that are hunkered down behind cover. At this point when they get dragged to their feet screaming I usually switched to focus mode (like bullet time) and try and cap them with a headshot so a) Shadow doesn’t get hurt (this is rare as he’s such an awesome killing machine) because you’ll then be fighting solo until you revive him or clear the area of enemies, and b) so I can order him off to rip the next poor sap’s throat out.
During the sections where you actually play as Shadow you’ll really appreciate how vicious he can be, and how violent some of his attacks are. It’s all justified by the situation Jack and he find themselves in but playing this in front of impressionable kids could put them in fear of dogs for life! It should be said though that during ‘down times’ he has plenty of playful moves (rolling on his back, scratching etc) and shows affection to Jack & his few friends like any good family pet. But make no mistake, when he goes to work, Shadow is way more vicious than any of the Cerberus hounds I came across in the Resident Evil games! Although you do get to charge around like a bloodthirsty werewolf on a couple of occasions Shadow’s sections usually involve finding a keycard or some such in an area that Jack couldn’t reach, and many of them require a stealthy approach as the enemies are heavily armed. Pressing ‘L2’ enters sneak mode and heightens Shadow’s senses, meaning you can see enemies through walls and sense their mood and awareness level. Combined with sprint (‘R2’), attack (’X‘) and bark/growl (press/hold ‘triangle’) you use this to outwit enemies, lure them alone to a spot and jump them. Dead enemies can be dragged away and hidden MGS/Splinter Cell-style to avoid alerting their buddies. I fully expect to see Shadow appearing in his own game at some point; maybe he’ll have some loyalty to his master and offer Jack a cameo role.
The plot may well be typical action-revenge movie fare, but the dialogue seems to have been written by a 13 year-old who’s just learned the F-word. At times it’s used SO often (both by enemies and Jack) that the game actually becomes unintentionally funny. I wouldn’t expect Jack to resort to calling enemies “you scoundrel”, “funny funster” or “motherfluffer”, or his enemies to use the word “Frick” instead of “Fuck”, but sometimes the strong, silent approach would definitely have been best. It’s just one more facet of the game that makes it feel more B-movie than A-list blockbuster. At least Shadow doesn’t use any profanity, although his barks may mean something in Doglish (or is it Dogese?) that I’m not aware of. The game tries to be intense throughout - the oppressive rain never stops and combined with some dramatic music this conjures up a classic noir atmosphere. It may make for a moody and dramatic backdrop to a game but having recently finished Heavy Rain I don’t care if I see nothing but blue skies and sunshine in a game for a while!
The game’s visuals are an odd mix. Realistic settings with plenty of detail (rats scuttle around, pigeons flutter to safety) and destructible scenery are offset by Jack’s OTT look and some cartoony, comic-book style enemies. Sometimes the game looks like a PS2 port, sometimes everything comes together and it looks like a truly impressive “this gen” game, but it’s not the first game to exhibit this sort of variation in the quality of graphics on show. There are some odd glitches with enemies clipping through doors and dead bodies ‘spazzing’ as the over-lively ragdoll effects sort themselves out.
I mentioned earlier that Jack is now unfeasibly muscle bound and he’s also a tad too big for the screen. The camera is slightly too zoomed-in so he blocks too much of the action. It’s frequently a problem in TPS (third person shooters) but time and time again Jack’s broad shoulders block your view of the action and you have to manoeuvre the camera to get a decent sight of the enemy. Maybe the designers should have had enough confidence in their game to go with an effortlessly cool, Bruce Willis-type character (which Jack was in the original game) rather than the generic, musclebound Arnie-esque character that we ended up with.
Towards the climax of the story there’s a stand-out mission that sees you infiltrate the GAC Alpha base. With elements of stealth, teamwork with Shadow and explosive heavy weaponry, you take control of one of the GAC’s most powerful weapons and this section is worth the entrance fee alone. If Retribution were a movie you’d be cuing up the DVD to watch this sequence over again.
DtR:R is an interesting mix of shooting, fisticuffs and stealth and will certainly entertain you for a few hours. Like the action movies it tries so hard to emulate, it isn’t going to win any BAFTAs or Oscars, but despite some reservations about the level of polish and some control issues it plays a good, solid game. Plus it has one winning factor: what other game allows you to play as a dog and maul street thugs and bad cops to death?
Best Bits
- Shadow the dog - Atmospheric intense shooting & beat ‘em up action
Worst Bits
- Sometimes looks dated - A few glitches and camera problems - Control issues - Too many unnecessary expletives - A co-op mode would have been nice
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