MSXbox found itself in London, but this time, in a more familiar and public setting (Westminster) to take a look at some of Namco Bandai's forthcoming titles.
So, what was exactly present at this event? Well, what we knew was going to be at the event previously was a variety of the now very common sequel category. And some of these had been three new Dragon Ball Z titles spread across four platforms, a good old JRPG sequel called Magna Carta 2, the next in the series in Dead to Rights called Dead to Rights: Retribution, and probably the most well known, and certainly the game that was emphasised throughout the evening, was Tekken 6. MSXbox’s hands on was fairly limited unfortunately, and we only got to play Tekken 6 and experience 2nd hand play of Dead to Rights: Retribution, both of which were fairly decent, one of the games’ is enjoyable but as expected, and the other is surprisingly interesting.
Firstly, it was unexpected to find that Dead to Rights: Retribution (which according to Volatile isn’t a sequel, but a separate original storyline to Dead to Rights) was being developed by Volatile in the first place. This is because we hadn’t heard anything from those guys since the Reservoir Dogs game – and for those of you who don’t know who Volatile are, they are a mature game affiliated subdivision of the British based company, Blitz games.
Watching this game in the pre-release announcement trailer didn’t present the greatest of impressions, solely for the reason every game teaser tries to be like a movie, and when it isn’t pre-rendered, it just doesn’t come across ‘right’. It was in-game, which is risky unless the game is really stunning – which this isn’t exactly – and then there’s a cinematic voice-over, with brief fade-in one-liners.
The game itself though does look rather impressive. The same protagonists are involved from the originals, so you’ll be playing as the hardened and stern cop Jack Slate and his malamute/wolf hybrid dog Shadow. And when I said playing, you’ll also be playing ‘as’ his dog in the literal sense in certain elements of caution during the course of the game.
As games become rapidly repetitive – even more so if it’s an action based game over 10 hours long – developers are jumping on the bandwagon of chopping up the gameplay mechanics into a number of parts, whether it be jumping into a vehicle for a few missions, being given a new weapon of some sorts, or just playing as a differing character, excuses are given to play the game from another angle. With Dead to Rights, there’ll be moments where our protagonist is in a dire situation, and so you take over the more subtle yet lethal sidekick of a dog, and this changes the pacing of the game completely.
Whereas with Jack you’ll be pretty frontal with your approach to combat, with the dog Shadow you’ll be a bit more tactical with singling out enemies, and eliminating them one by-one, making for some stealthy elements, yet being just as brutal.
One of the reasons why we were so intrigued to find out more after seeing a quick peek at this game was because of how much potential we saw in the mechanics of this very close combat obsessive shooter; we had witnessed a substantial amount of crazy rough and ready take downs, from high kicks to jump punches, and your dog isn’t shy of leaping on the odd bad guy and biting his face off.
On top of the jump about and excessive close combat moves, there’s also a good amount of shooting involved here, and you’ll find yourself taking cover, picking your shots and then quickly finding another bit of cover, seeing as the combat is so swift and fast paced. It was also apparent that the gruesome finishing moves didn’t end with your bare hands, but you’ll have some nasty yet satisfying life ending manoeuvres up-close with your guns as well. Running up to an enemy, disarming him and with a press of a button taking him out with his own weapon in an automatic slow motion effect shot; just to add to the drama.
If there is one thing we could pick out that did seem unusual, it would be that the AI and close quarter fights were a little disjointed in animation. But of course this is a working title and still has a long way to go yet, but we’re definitely looking forward to seeing more of it nearer its release date in 2010.
Preview By: Lee Burton
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