So, funny story, I picked up this game (apparently) thinking it was Freedom Fighters (thanks, Sarge!). Regardless of the fact that I misremembered a game from a video I watched YEARS ago, I ended up having a great time anyway!
The story, as with every Dead to Rights game apparently, revolves around a cop named Jack and his hella-jacked dog Shadow going around doing very 80's movie-esque crazy shit in order to bring a stop to the corruption and gang violence which plagues Grant City (which is MOST certainly not New York :P ). It's all played very seriously, but it came off as very hammy and silly to me most of the time. I don't know if Jack's voice actor is trying to overact or ham it up, but it certainly comes off that way, especially with some of his one-liners X3 . The really over the top, one-man-army combat really helps extenuate that parodist, hammy feel.
According to the promo/extra material inside the game, they really wanted a "seamless" combat system that could shift between melee and ranged combat very quickly and fluidly, and I think they did a pretty good job. Jack is a well practiced boxer, but more like a crazy freaking martial artist. His ability to do crazy combos to not just one but many opponents is nearly God Hand-esque at points, especially with his finishing moves. They don't restore health or anything like in Splatterhouse (another Namco released, last-gen Action game from around the same time), but they do kill enemies a little quicker as well as give a somewhat horrifically brutal display of just how pissed off/inhumanly strong Jack is. The stunts he does are just so ridiculous that they just couldn't make me laugh sometimes with how horrific they are x3
Combine the elaborate melee combos you can do with just a light and heavy attack, quick blocking, evasion, and counters with the X-button, how you can also grapple opponents to use them as human shields, as well as swap between two different guns AND direct Shadow at people to maul/distract in the meanwhile, and things can get pretty crazy. The controls are laid out really well for it though. I never felt hopelessly overwhelmed with mechanics or anything. I actually forgot grappling was in the game for like 3/4ths of it, tbh Xp . Very satisfying third-person combat. B+ (because the camera is a bit too claustrophobic to be a perfect A).
Another bit that they throw in here and there are the just-Shadow sections, which I have sorta mixed feelings about. These are sections where stealth is not necessarily required but very recommended. You're just a big freaking dog, so while you have very efficient melee you can't use guns, so taking down enemies stealthily (and you can see/smell/hear through walls so it ain't hard to track movements) will certainly make the combat easier, but if you wanna just run in and go ham there's nothing stopping you. I liked them, and thought they broke up Jack's action quite nicely.
Verdict: Recommended. I suppose those of you who've played many more shooters than I have might consider it some generic cover shooter with fancy melee, but I very much enjoyed my time with it. Definitely worth a look for the very cheap price it goes for :)
The story, as with every Dead to Rights game apparently, revolves around a cop named Jack and his hella-jacked dog Shadow going around doing very 80's movie-esque crazy shit in order to bring a stop to the corruption and gang violence which plagues Grant City (which is MOST certainly not New York :P ). It's all played very seriously, but it came off as very hammy and silly to me most of the time. I don't know if Jack's voice actor is trying to overact or ham it up, but it certainly comes off that way, especially with some of his one-liners X3 . The really over the top, one-man-army combat really helps extenuate that parodist, hammy feel.
According to the promo/extra material inside the game, they really wanted a "seamless" combat system that could shift between melee and ranged combat very quickly and fluidly, and I think they did a pretty good job. Jack is a well practiced boxer, but more like a crazy freaking martial artist. His ability to do crazy combos to not just one but many opponents is nearly God Hand-esque at points, especially with his finishing moves. They don't restore health or anything like in Splatterhouse (another Namco released, last-gen Action game from around the same time), but they do kill enemies a little quicker as well as give a somewhat horrifically brutal display of just how pissed off/inhumanly strong Jack is. The stunts he does are just so ridiculous that they just couldn't make me laugh sometimes with how horrific they are x3
Combine the elaborate melee combos you can do with just a light and heavy attack, quick blocking, evasion, and counters with the X-button, how you can also grapple opponents to use them as human shields, as well as swap between two different guns AND direct Shadow at people to maul/distract in the meanwhile, and things can get pretty crazy. The controls are laid out really well for it though. I never felt hopelessly overwhelmed with mechanics or anything. I actually forgot grappling was in the game for like 3/4ths of it, tbh Xp . Very satisfying third-person combat. B+ (because the camera is a bit too claustrophobic to be a perfect A).
Another bit that they throw in here and there are the just-Shadow sections, which I have sorta mixed feelings about. These are sections where stealth is not necessarily required but very recommended. You're just a big freaking dog, so while you have very efficient melee you can't use guns, so taking down enemies stealthily (and you can see/smell/hear through walls so it ain't hard to track movements) will certainly make the combat easier, but if you wanna just run in and go ham there's nothing stopping you. I liked them, and thought they broke up Jack's action quite nicely.
Verdict: Recommended. I suppose those of you who've played many more shooters than I have might consider it some generic cover shooter with fancy melee, but I very much enjoyed my time with it. Definitely worth a look for the very cheap price it goes for :)