New Dead to Rights confirmed for Europe via Atari

News by Patrick Garratt Founder & Publisher (Former)

Published on Feb. 25, 2009

Atari just confirmed it's to release Namco's Dead to Rights: Retribution in Europe later this year.

The action reboot's releasing for PS3 and 360.

The game's big "thing" is a "hybrid combat system" mixing shooting and hand-to-hand brawling.

UK-based Volatile's developing. Press release after the break.

NAMCO ANNOUNCES ‘DEAD TO RIGHTS®: Retribution’ FOR EUROPE

- Gritty Crime-Action Series is Reinvented on Xbox 360® and PLAYSTATION®3 with New Combat System that Seamlessly Blends Shooting and Hand-to-Hand Brawling -

PARIS, FRANCE – 25 February 2009 – NAMCO today announced the forthcoming European launch of Dead to Rights® : Retribution, a ground-up reinvention of the multi-million unit selling crime action series for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, developed by Volatile Games. Thrusting players into a mature neo-noir crime drama as a vice-cop Jack Slate and his canine companion Shadow, the game introduces new gameplay elements that unify the third person shooting and brawling genres for a brutal and relentless new action-driven experience.

Returning to Grant City, a boom town gone bust that is falling to the worst excesses of crime, greed and corruption, Dead to Rights: Retribution follows vice-cop Jack Slate as he fights to expose shadowy figures that will stop at nothing to exert their deadly influence over the crumbling metropolis. Dead to Rights: Retribution will form an original story portraying key events that shape and define Jack Slate's character including how he and Shadow first come together as partners against those who would bring the once great city to its knees.

Introducing an innovative new hybrid combat system, Dead to Rights: Retribution puts the full combat potential of a highly trained, highly agitated law-enforcement officer into players’ hands. Use your sidearm to pick off enemies from a distance, take cover and blind-fire with the game’s new ranged combat mechanics, or push the issue by taking human shields, stealing weapons with special disarm moves or dishing out Jack’s own brutal brand of justice with deadly takedown moves. Jack is equally lethal in close-quarters combat, offering players branching melee combos, counterattacks and disarms as they take the fight to the criminal element of Grant City. Jack will encounter a variety of ruthless gangs in the filthy slums and menacing alleys of Grant City, each with their own unique abilities and fighting style that will test his resolve to crush their murderous stranglehold.

Deadly on their own, Jack and Shadow are even more formidable as they team up to defeat the threats they will uncover. Players will take full control of not only Jack, but also Shadow at various points in the game to stalk enemies or reach areas of the environment that are not accessible by one or the other. Shadow’s heightened senses make him skilled in detecting new threats or flushing out enemies from cover so that Jack can easily dispense with them.

Developed by Volatile Games, Dead to Rights: Retribution will launch across Europe for Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 in 2009. For more information, please visit www.namcobandaigames.com or www.deadtorights.com.

About Volatile Games:
Volatile Games specializes in the creation of games for the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 platforms. Based in Leamington Spa in the UK, Volatile Games is dedicated to the creation of high-quality and high-profile boxed console games for a mature gaming audience. Volatile Games is a division of Blitz Games Studios, founded in 1990 by games industry veterans Philip and Andrew Oliver and currently one of the largest independent games developers in the world. www.volatilegames.com.

About NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe:

NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe S.A.S., is a leading interactive entertainment software publisher based in Cergy-Pontoise, France. The company is a part of the NAMCO BANDAI group of companies known for creating and publishing many of the industry's top video game franchises including the RidgeRacer™, Tekken™, SOULCALIBUR™, Tamagotchi™, Digimon™, Dragonball® and Naruto™ brands.

Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox LIVE are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

“PlayStation”, “PLAYSTATION” and “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

For media assets visit www.atari-press.com