Dead to Rights: Retribution Hands-On Impressions

Characters aren't given tough, two-syllable names like Jack Slate for just any reason. This hero of the Dead to Rights franchise is clearly meant to be a no-nonsense force of destruction whose trail of fallen enemies is outnumbered only by his trail of empty bullet shells. That much remains true even as the series has undergone what Namco Bandai calls a "reimagining" in the form of the upcoming Dead to Rights: Retribution. We first had a look at Retribution back in April, but we've recently had an opportunity to leave our own trail of fallen enemies after going hands-on with it last week.

Dead to Rights: Retribution is a third-person shooter set in the fictional Grant City, an urban metropolis overrun by crime and chaos. It's a city dominated by lawless factions, and one of these--a militia known as the Grant City Anti-Crime Unit, or GAC--was the focus of our demo. Playing as Jack, it was our job to infiltrate a GAC stronghold in the middle of a gloomy salvage yard set against a light snowfall. The look of the environment was thoroughly gray and dismal--borderline postapocalyptic, even--suggesting that this version of Grant City looks to be a lot more downtrodden than previous installments in the series.

Retribution won't do a lot to distinguish itself from other third-person shooters in the first few moments after you pick up a controller. Jack moves at an average pace, can carry a pair of weapons, and has the ability to snap behind destructible cover with the press of a button. If things get heated, you can recall the game's early-2000 roots by engaging in Focus mode, which is essentially a Max Payne-style bullet-time effect that will slow down the combat and let you pick off helpless enemies much faster than normal.

However, with a few touches here and there, Retribution looks set to add its own unique stamp on the genre it resides in. For one, there's your canine companion, Shadow. This half-wolf, half-malamute hybrid should prove himself a valuable ally in battle. The directional pad functions as a tool to sic him on enemies and then call him back when he's done gnawing through layers of bulletproof combat attire. This comes in especially handy against enemies who refuse to leave cover, but it also works nicely when you're quietly sneaking up behind a pair of heavily armed foes. Have Shadow take one, you take the other--no need to fire any weapons.

Retribution also features a melee fighting system that's noticeably more robust than most third-person shooters. While the controls are simple--three buttons for light attack, heavy attack, and block--there's a decent bit of strategy involved in the fighting. For one, both you and your enemies have the ability to slap the weapon out of an opponent's hand. What that means is that if you're low on health and want to finish a brawl with your handgun, the enemy can easily knock it away from you if you draw your weapon too close to him. Similarly interesting is your ability to guide punches and kicks a full 360 degrees around you with the left stick if you're surrounded by enemies.

While we didn't get a chance to see them, we're told other levels in the game will find Jack and Shadow separated, with the player alternating between controlling Jack and Shadow. Yes, you can control the dog, complete with a lower camera, desaturated colors, and the ability to pounce on enemies dumb enough to mess with an angry half-wolf. We should have a better idea of how those levels play out as our coverage of Dead to Rights: Retribution continues, leading up to the game's early-2010 release.