Dead to Rights: Retribution Updated Hands-On

Jack Slate's an angry dude, and you really don't want to be a bad guy in his path. He's a cop, but he's not the rotund kind that prefers doughnuts and a leisurely stroll around his neighborhood beat. Instead, Jack prefers punching bad guys in the mouth, shooting first and avoiding questions altogether, and shouting curse words as he snaps necks by the dozen. He's also got a dog by his side known as Shadow that's just as efficient a killing machine; together, they form the dynamic duo that is at the heart of Dead to Rights Retribution. This is Namco's upcoming reinvention of the original Dead to Rights, which was released in 2002.

As Slate, you'll be fighting crime in the rapidly deteriorating Grant City; a city that's been overrun by criminal gangs known as the Union and the Triad. Slate isn't one to negotiate or compromise, and as a result, you'll often be diving in fistsfirst into confrontations that will end up getting very bloody, very quickly.

The game's prologue kicks things off midway through the story--with Jack and Shadow arriving on the Grant City docks after an attack of sorts. Jack is injured and Shadow must do what he can to protect him. Your goal is to keep Jack safe from harm as he slowly makes his way through an open area of the docks. To do so, you'll make use of Shadow's impressive brute force, dashing around obstacles as you attack Union goons and viciously take them down one ripped-out throat at a time. Once Jack reaches safety, the prologue ends.

After a leap back in time--before Jack and Shadow partnered up--we move to Jack's point of view. Terrorists have taken control of a huge skyscraper in Grant City and are prepared to execute hostages inside. No, this isn't a job for a professionally trained police negotiator or a highly skilled SWAT team; instead, it's a job for lone-wolf Jack Slate who barges into the Temple Tower and begins kicking copious amounts of rear end.

He'll do that butt-kicking with weapons and his fists, though Retribution places a clear import on the latter. That's because weapons are treated as throwaway commodities, with limited ammo available most of the time. In addition, thanks to a regenerating health, Jack is pretty much impervious to harm--at least in the early goings. As such, there's no real point to hiding behind a wall with a pea shooter when it's just as effective--and often more fun--to get up close and personal with your enemies. There are two basic melee attacks; press B (on the Xbox 360 controller) for strong strikes and Y for quick attacks. You block with the X button and can dash around opponents by holding the X button and moving the left stick left or right.

You can successfully fight multiple enemies, even when surrounded, just by mashing the B and Y buttons. There are some advanced melee maneuvers that will serve Jack well, including the ability to punch through an enemy's block by pressing the B and Y buttons together. Clinching opponents by pressing the A and X buttons together also gives you a number of fun options. With an opponent in the clinch, you can use him as a human shield, beat him on the back of the head with a press of a button, or toss him into the air. As we found out on the roof of Temple Tower, tossing enemies is especially fun; you can either throw them off the roof or, if your timing is right, you can boot them into the air and shoot them before they hit the ground.

Melee combat is over the top and bloody, but there are times when a gun is necessary. When armed, you can aim by pressing the left trigger and fire by pressing the right trigger. When timing is of the essence, you can use focus mode by pressing the left bumper; this will temporarily slow down time and give you a chance to take down as many bad guys as you can in the time allotted. Using focus mode when hostages are present is a good idea because you can take out the enemies before the enemies can execute the hostages. You can add to your focus meter by using special moves, like the finishing moves Jack can use when he's sufficiently softened up an opponent. By pressing the A button at the right time, you can pull off a spectacular kills that usually involve gratuitous bone breaking and crotch-kicks.

After dealing with the mess at Temple Tower, Jack meets up with his father, Frank, who is also a Grant City policeman. After sparring in the ring (which also serves as a tutorial for some of the game's advanced melee combos), the two head down to the Grant City docks with Shadow in tow. At one point, the trio is stymied by a locked gate so Jack and Frank send Shadow off to scout for the key.

It's little wonder the developers at Volatile Games refer to Shadow segments of Retribution as "vehicle levels" because he's big, fast, and darn-near unstoppable one on one. But there's more to Shadow than raw strength, as we found out while creeping around the warehouses looking for the gate key. By holding the left trigger, you can creep around with Shadow and see enemies behind walls (the game justifies this as Shadow hearing enemy heartbeats). You can perform silent kills by sneaking up to enemies and pressing the A button. Once an enemy is dead, you can drag his body to a hiding place by pressing the X button and moving Shadow around. You can lure enemies close to you by pressing the Y button, which will cause Shadow to bark (or, for a more muffled bark, you can hold the left trigger and press Y). Once an enemy is close, you can attack with Shadow for a bloody kill. Later in the game, you're able to indirectly control Shadow by giving commands on the directional pad.

After retrieving the gate key, Jack, Shadow, and Frank continue through the dock warehouses, gathering evidence against the Union, as well as bashing heads along the way. Eventually, they come upon a Triad boss who is somehow tied to the whole conspiracy, and without going into too much detail, things go very, very wrong for all involved. Saying much more about Dead to Right's plot would be dipping into spoiler territory; suffice it to say that Jack and Shadow team up and begin a bloody path toward…ahem…retribution for the crimes committed against Grant City's citizenry. The two-fisted action of Jack and Shadow's mix of stealth and brutality, sets Retribution's variety apart from most third-person shooters. Whether that variety will be enough to carry players through the game's pulpy storyline remains to be seen. Dead to Rights Retribution is due for release on April 27.