Dead to Rights: Reckoning Review

I don't like using the term "guilty pleasure". I really don't but this game really comes off as that. I can see why it got the lukewarm reviews that it did but in spite of all of that, I respect it so much for it's purity and solid gameplay. I'd even go as far as to say I prefer it over the first two console games because of the aforementioned purity.

Yes, there is no doubt about it, the game was a quickly put together rush job to cash in off the hype of the PSP. It can be beaten in less than 2 hours, the story is an excuse plot and that said story has cutscenes that are put together like a fan made mod.

With all that said, there is fun to be had here. I tend to view it more like an arcade game under the guise of a 3rd person shooter. Levels are linear, you get markers that tell you where to go to activate the next wave, you rack up points and all you do is kill enemies, nothing else.

What I especially like that unlike the first two games, there is no mini games or awkward beat em up sections, you mainly just shoot your way through everything. It doesn't have as much going mechanically as Retribution but nothing as obnoxiously stumping and difficult like the drowning mini game in DTR1.

When it comes to translating the gameplay of the first two games, it's shockingly faithful. Sure you have no camera control but the auto aim is very generous and you can cycle between targets too where in DTR1 you where locked in place when shoot dodging. Of course slo mo is in the game. There is no reloading all you have is a clip on each gun you can fire. Shadow can be sent in to get a quick kill and even damage bosses. You can also shoot dodge and stay on the ground like in Max Payne 2. There is also disarming but my personal favorite is that you can a chain shoot dodge into a disarm. I never thought a game like this would even have this kind of bizarre mehanical depth but here we are. It always feels satisfying to pull off and I always did whenever given the chance.

Add to all this the quick pacing of levels, a forgiving checkpoint system, the game reasonably spreading out health packs and armor on top of everything I mentioned and this is why I enjoy it despite it's obvious shortcomings.

The only big problems are that enemies can still damage you while doing a disarm and that the final level can be a huge difficulty spike due to fighting enemies and a damage sponge boss before the next checkpoint. I also wished sending Shadow on the L trigger rather than being crouch since you won't even doing it that much in the campaign.

Overall, in spite of the lukewarm reception going in, Dead to Rights Reckoning turned out to be one of the more fun portable spin offs I went out of my way to trying out.