Arts & Entertainment
 

Jet Li's name not wasted on PS2 game

Martial artist brings beautiful moves, interactive environments

by Paula Saleeba
The Daily Cougar

With the exception of Lord of the Rings, licensed games have been the worst of all gaming. From the technical failure of Enter the Matrix to every Dragon Ball, X-Men, Superman and Batman game ever made, licensed games have been insipid and uninspired, half-finished games with a popular character thrown in. Gamers probably will expect no more from the Jet Li-touting Rise to Honor.

Graphically the game is standard PlayStation 2 fare ? passably good. But the controls are a little different. Use the left analog stick to move, right to attack. That's an immediate turn-off for players used to fighting games with stupidly complex button ballets. Push it up to six times in the same direction at the same enemy to pull off a combo ? the same punch and kick combo every time. But it works well in a 3-D world where enemies surround you and attack one at a time so you can switch targets easily. Add in an "adrenaline/bullet time" button and combination action, block, dodge and hold button and the game's controls for fighting are completed ? extremely simple to a fault.

However, what makes this game great is what it does extremely well. It emulates Jet Li's old Hong Kong blood operas. For those not familiar with the concept; it's what film director John Woo does. The formula calls for a hero who fights skillfully with both fists and guns, doing the whole over-the-top fighting style from one scene to the next. Have him fight using chairs, ladders, or whatever as a weapon against hordes of faceless villains in between dramatic gun battles where the hero bleeds buckets, takes out everyone but the head villain with one shot and makes dramatic shooting dives through a hail of bullets.

And the game plays out exactly like that. The makers have sacrificed any concept of a complex fighting system in favor of a living Hong Kong action-flick world. Anything you've seen in a film can probably be done in the game. Enemies can be thrown into each other to knock them down, chairs can be used to smash windows and backgrounds can be used as weapons. The defining moment in the demo is during the kitchen fight when players are able to throw one man into the other goons, knocking them all down and having one land on the stove, which causes him to jump from the flames and die on the grill. Everything has been tweaked toward being stylish and fun, sometimes to the point of being goofy. Gunfight scenes have to be the easiest part, as one never has to reload ? just like the movies.

Other than the fighting and shooting sequences there are action sequences where the character has to run and jump over obstacles. They are also very easy but stylish sequences like dodging machine gun bullets while running toward the door jumping over tables and ducking under things.

Rise to Honor will definitely be one of the best "beat ‘em up" games. It easily outclasses the over-hyped Dynasty Warriors series based on the demo alone. Sony will release Rise to Honor Feb. 17. It's definitely for anyone who likes Jet Li's Hong Kong work or likes action movies in general.

Rise to Honor

Rated: RP

Sony Computer Entertainment

The verdict: It's more like a movie than a game, but it's a beautiful movie.

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