Dead to Rights: Retribution PS3

The main characters in the game are Jack Slate, a police officer from Grant City, and his sidekick Shadow. Shadow is a Husky that follows Jack around and can perform tasks for him. Apparently, things have fully gone off the deep end in Grant City, and it’s up to you and your dog to fix it.

It might confuse you early on, and then through the whole rest of the game, as to why a police office would act like this. You don’t arrest people, you kill them dead as fast as you can. Even unarmed individuals get melee handled until they’re a broken, battered hulk. If you have a gun, you’ll often bust into rooms full of bad guys, and just start blasting away at them, no warrant required.

One issue with the gameplay is the way the camera follows your character. Tracking behind your head will often leave opportunities for individuals chasing you to be unseen. It’s not a great thing when you’re chasing one enemy to take them out, and then find you have one that you have to fight on either side.

One thing that is nice is the addition of Shadow to the gameplay. Sure, you can have him run around and pick up ammo or guns for you by controlling him with the D-pad. The fun with your pet really comes in, though, on the levels where you only control Shadow. These levels usually have you stealthily taking out guards, moving their bodies, and penetrating ever deeper into the midst of the enemy so that you can grab a keycard for Jack, but there are also a couple levels where you can just run around as Shadow, killing enemies wherever you find them. The capability to move bodies and see enemies through walls as Shadow is a nice addition to the game that is a welcome change of pace.

Unfortunately, the graphics are not very welcoming, especially when you’re playing as Shadow. The dog wasn’'t modeled very realistically, and in particular face shots of the Husky look fake. There are also issues related to clipping, and your four-legged character floating above the ground, instead of walking on it. None of these are enough to really take away from the enjoyment had in that portion of the game, however.

While Dead to Rights Redemption doesn't offer a lot, the inclusion of levels that specifically let you play as Shadow somewhat redeem the game. If you’re an enormous fan of third-person shooters, or really want to play a game as a dog, and you don’t mind the extremely graphic nature of the killing, then this game might be worth filling a day of your time with.