First Impressions: John Woo, eat your heart out
People have been saying for years that video games will basically become interactive movies. As of now, I've yet to see that done with a successful balance between gameplay and story. There are beautiful looking games out there that are kind of like movies, but they have no soul. Namco's forthcoming action title, Dead to Rights, is aiming to bridge that gap between the two with an ambitious mix of realism, story, and Hong Kong style action.
As every big movie person knows, even an action flick needs a solid story to succeed, and that is what Namco is basing this whole experience on. For this one, meet Jack Slate, a cop that arrives at a firefight only to find his father brutally gunned down. Jack then finds that vengeance isn't always the best solution. As he shows up to kill the man he believes is responsible for his father's death, he finds that he is already dead and that murder is pinned on him. And those are just the first few levels. Expect to spend the rest of the game trying to figure out who is behind the conspiracy and trying to fight your way to them.
To complement the story, Namco is implementing an astonishing game engine. The twist to this engine is that it will allow you to navigate most levels by either employing stealth or by coming out with your guns blazing. This idea has been seen before with Deus Ex from Eidos, but has never been attempted with the genuinely cinematic feel that the early screens are showing. When all is said and done, Jack will be able to pull off such moves as taking an enemies weapon and shooting him with it or using the same guy as a human shield (and when you don't need him any more, you can shoot him yourself). You will have complete control of everything in the game, all the way up to whether or not the slo-mo sequences are included or not.
