Fist meet face: A look at Dead to Rights: Retribution's combat

by Richard Mitchell on May 22nd 2009 2:00AM

Earlier this year, we got a chance to see Dead to Rights: Retribution and learn how the game's combat system works. Essentially, Jack, the main character, can attack in any direction at all times. Thus, even if you're dealing with an enemy directly in front of you, you can still backfist the sneaky baddie coming from behind. If you're having trouble actually picturing that, then fret no longer. 1UP has posted a video showcasing the game's combat system so you can take in all the bloody, brutal details for yourself. Check it out after the break.

Based purely on the video, we're hoping that the combat feels more engaging than it looks. We'll find out when the game releases this fall.

Source

Tags: dead-to-rights-retribution, Microsoft, namco-bandai, volatile-games, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (22)

It's a dummied down version of assassins creed mesh fighting scheme..

Why is this fighting gameplay so impressive?

i was just about to type the same thing... same shit as Assassins Creed.. just looks faster and with fist

oh and looks much lamer ....least AC made the fights some what cinematic when you took down an enemy

the only thing similar to AC is that they're both combat. Everything else is different. AC is about counters, DR is about beat-em-up.

Fix the brain-dead AI and I'm sold.

IRONY!

i was playing the infamous demo for like 3 hours. after seeing that, this looks lame

i think the issue with the combat system is the fact that it seems kind of gimmicky in this instance. Sure its cool you can punch from different directions on the fly, but they act like just throwing it out there will mean people will want to play it. It needs a paint job bad. If the punches and hits were a bit more flashy and more fluid, more overstated then this might look really cool. But it the character animations make it look like a fast punch or slap to the face, like it is almost nothing to do that at all.

Because of that i feel bored with this game, nothing stands out really

*laughing*

well we certainly have our shoe-in for this year's "who the hell told them we wanted another one?" award.

I enjoyed the first one a bunch. The 2nd one was stupid and wasn't anything like the original,but i'll be happy to check out a 3rd in the series.

Not the least bit impressed.
I hate the dumbing down of AI so that the other characters are just standing idly by, staring into the back of your head, while you're beating up another guy. Waiting for you to finish him and then turn around.
Typical, but at the same time depressing that this is what we're getting these days. Especially from a game that emphasizes it's fighting system..

Not impressed. Dumb AI stands around, dull 'next=gen brown' graphics, animation looks stiff, fist-hitting sounds like someone captured sounds of a fist hitting a punching bag in an empty room.

I'm going to buck the trend here. I actually like it. Admittedly, I haven't played Assassin's Creed, so I can't comment on whether it's actually "new". But in most games like this the melee does seem to require that you focus on this person, then shift to focus on that person.

There is usually a definite feel of fighting one-on-one with whoever you're fighting against, with other guys pounding on your back and waiting for you to turn around and fight them. I like the concept that you could actually start to think of it as you against 2 or 3 people at a time, dodging their attacks and then punching/kicking opportunistically at whichever one you think is most open/vulnerable.

Regardless of the specific fighting animations, color palette, and graphics in this snippet, I definitely like the concept. If they pull it off well I can see it being a real plus.

The graphics really aren't up to standard. The characters look so square in the shoulders and the animations. I could go on...

Dammit. It still looks like garbage. I was really hoping they'd polish this game up. I loved the first two DTR games....even more so than, dare I say, Max Payne.

This got nothing on Batman Arkham Asylum. The fighting there has so much more flow and trumps this in the "hit whatever's near you" department. I played a demo set up in a gamestop where you're just in a room in the prison fighting some thugs and I couldn't stop until my girlfriend dragged me away! The cinametics you want from AC is also in AA.

Sorry if this read like a promo for it but really that game is really really good. I don't see how Dead to Right's combat shown here can top it.

It reminds me of Fighting Force on PS1. It was nothing more than a 'see how much you can beat the hell out of everyone before you die' kind of game. But at least it had co-op.

It was especially tacky at the end where a guy had a gun pulled on him and just watched as his friend got pummeled.

I'm not impressed in the least. Even Too Human let you attack multiple targets at once.

The animations aren't fluid in the least as a result it's disengaging, hopefully the developers have realized this themselves (unlikely) and have sent the work back to the animation staff for touch ups.