Windows

Dead to Rights

Overall, though Dead to Rights does contain a few features not available on other games like it, it doesn’t do enough in separating itself from the group of recent action titles trying to get a little of the spotlight still focused around Max Payne 2. But if you are looking for a nice action game after completing MP2, you may just find it here.

The game is a good deal of fun once the patch is in place. Had the fighting engine been better, this one could have trounced Max Payne as king of the bullet-time games. But the fighting is too plain, too poor, and there's far too much of it. Namco may have been too subtle in presenting this as a movie-style game. You'll hear comments that you dismiss early on that actually have a subtle relevance later on. Things that in a Stallone movie would include a close up on Sly's face as he made the odd remark.

Dead to Rights ist nach den beiden Max Payne-Teilen sicher einer der beste Vertreter des Genres. Viel Action, mit tollen Kampfeinlagen und interessanten Features. Leider mangelt es etwas an Abwechslung und an guter Grafik. Ansonsten kann man das Spiel jedem empfehlen, der auf gute Action steht. Auch Taktiker können einen Blick riskieren, aber bitte ohne große Hoffnungen.

We experienced a major bug in the first level of the game, which prevented us from playing any further. Publisher Hip Games quickly addressed the problem with a patch, and the rest of the time we spent with the game was spent without incident. Or, rather, it was spent without any additional technical foibles, as the game itself is full of "incidents" and pure action. Though Dead to Rights looks like a watered-down port of an aging console game (in fact, its looks were never its strong suit), its gameplay still holds up and survives the translation intact. It's not just another cookie-cutter shooter but plays differently in a number of key ways. So if you're looking for a unique twist on the single-player PC shooter, then Dead to Rights is worth your while.

DTR is niet echt de Max Payne killer die het claimt te zijn, maar dit spel heeft toch genoeg potentieel om alvast uit te kijken naar het reeds aangekondigde DTR 2. Kort, repetitief, geen multiplayer en al bij al gewoon een zwakke Max Payne kloon. Je kan beter voor 'the real thing' gaan.

Jack Slate suffers from an identity crisis. On the one hand, he thinks he’s Chow Yun-Fat in The Replacement Killers. On the other, he thinks he’s our friend Max Payne. But what Mr. Slate can’t escape is his true identity: just another console-port action hero.

Dead to Rights est un jeu techniquement dépassé, mais son facteur d'amusement en fait un titre à ne pas dédaigner. Sauf si vous êtes un être sensible et doux bien sûr.

Dead To Rights sort un peu trop tard et aura du mal à se faire une place au soleil sur PC, Max Payne 2 tenant lieu de gigantesque parasol. Si on peut reprocher au jeu ses graphismes épurés, quelques soucis de caméra ainsi qu'une adaptation PC un peu foireuse (souris non gérée dans les menus, jeu qui se déconnecte en pleine partie, c'est très rare ceci dit), le jeu n'en possède pas moins de bons atouts (diversité des phases de jeu, action soutenue, boss demandant une technique particulière pour être battus) et une fois dedans on prend pas mal de plaisir à diriger Jack malgré une violence exacerbée qui ne rime pas à grand-chose.

It should happen to you. You’re a cop and while being on the beat you get called for something which seems like a little problem but once arrived at the scene of the crime you get shot at and only half a level further you see your dad getting killed by a gang of masked gangsters.

All that said, by Christmas 2003 Dead to Rights has aged rather poorly. It was originally released on Xbox over a year ago in the US and hasn't really changed to any great extent since then. It's been tweaked (repeatedly, actually), but in cop cliché terms it's still Dark Blue to Max Payne's Training Day. And in English, it lacks the style, glossy finish and gunslinging simplicity of Max, and particularly its unadventurous but hugely enjoyable sequel. It also lacks the narrative draw, even if it has the gravely voice and gritty banter. In short, it'll probably last you longer than Max Payne or Max Payne 2 (or both, if you play it thoroughly on Hard or Super Cop) and it has some good ideas, but at the end of the day it doesn't look, sound or handle as good. Next time out, it could do with less clichés and a more coherent, mould-breaking exhibition of its lead character's versatility. Hopefully that'll be Dead to Rights 2 in a nutshell.