Jet Li Rise to Honor – PS2 – Preview 3

Kung-fu
hasn’t been the most appealing aspect of a video game.  Sure, many of us love
fighting games, but few of us can stand the awful single-player titles that
have hit the market.  They "dared to be different" and caused us to dare our
friends to see who passes out first from playing them.  Names do not need to
be mentioned; these unmemorable games left a bad taste that will last a
lifetime.

Thanks
to an ambitious developer and one martial arts movie star that may finally
change.

Coming
to PlayStation 2 this February is Jet Li: Rise to Honor.  It’s a game that’s
practically a movie, but if it were a movie it’d be too interactive for
conventional theaters.  Packed with Jet Li’s precise moves, a unique control
scheme, and a superb polygon representation of Li, Rise to Honor could be the
game that makes this sub-genre seem worthwhile again.

Although I’m not yet sure how the final version will begin, the demo of Rise
to Honor started with the typical kung-fu movie setting: a small restaurant,
men eating, angry guy standing in the doorway.  Bullets are fired, [innocent?]
bystanders fall, and Jet Li takes charge by telling his people to get out of
there.  Who his people are was not revealed, nor was it revealed why there’s
an angry man with a gun just waiting to kill them all.  The full version
should answer all questions, but until that time the important thing is that,
after the intro movie is over, Jet Li gets the chance to kick some butt.  And
since you play as Jet Li, technically you are the one who gets to kick
some butt.

Five
guys just surrounded me, what do I do?  I move around and furiously tap the
square and triangle buttons!  What, you mean that’s not what I’m supposed to
do?  You mean to tell me that Jet Li: Rise to Honor doesn’t use any of the
four face buttons?  How is this possible?

It’s
all due to the game’s interesting take on multi-character fighting.  The right
analog stick is being used in an entirely new way.  Since it can be moved in
any direction, or spun around 360 degrees, the developers thought it was the
perfect fit for an attacking device.  Thus, when an enemy from the top left
corner of the screen approaches, press the right stick in that direction to
attack.  Consecutively pushing the stick in that direction will unleash one of
Jet Li’s many combos.  Only a few were present in the demo, but hundreds of
moves are promised for the final version.  Granted, most of them will be
performed by doing the same analog functions, but at least it’ll give you
something new and exciting to watch.

Jet Li
uses attacks that correspond with his position to the enemy.  If an enemy is
in front he’ll obviously attack in that direction, using everything he’s got. 
But from behind Li will send a quick backhand-fist flying toward the enemy’s
head.  Li can pick up chairs and throw them; doing so when an enemy is weak
triggers a slow-motion sequence that intensifies the hit.  Li can also pick up
other objects and use them as weapons, including a chicken.  Why he’d want to
use a chicken as a weapon is unknown, but it was fun to play around with in
the demo.  I couldn’t figure out how to throw the chicken, though I’m certain
there’s got to be a way to dispose of it.  Otherwise Li would be fighting with
dinner till the end of the game.

Like a
movie with real interaction, the game shifts quickly from fistfights to movie
sequences and then to more fist fights.  Along the way you’ll encounter
interactive bullet-dodging sequences, and near the end of the demo (which is
presumably the game’s first level), you’ll run down a dark alley, hide behind
boxes and return fire in a simple (but exciting) gunfight.

The
demo concluded with an evil lure.  Li sees one of his foes climbing up a
building.  Being the hero and all, Li must follow.  On the roof he sees that
his foe has a twin, or at least someone who looks very similar (a clone,
perhaps?).  The demo ends, tells you the game is "coming soon" and walks off
into the sunset.  Okay, so the demo didn’t really walk off into the sunset,
but it did leave me salivating like a dog underneath the table during
Thanksgiving dinner.  It was over too quick – I want more!

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d become so
excited about this game.  But one play test can change everything.  It changed
my mind, and it’ll change yours when it’s released this February.