Rise To Honor

by Sony

Product Features

• Pledge to deliver an envelope to young Michelle, the mobster's daughter - and unravel hidden agendas which will tear up Kit's sense of duty
• Travel from Hong Kong to San Francisco, fighting through 11 intense levels
• Take out enemies using a 360-degree martial arts fight system - combos, attack blocking, counter moves, and adrenaline attacks
• 3rd-person gunplay action as you shoot it out with the world's deadliest killers
• Dramatic camera angles and cinematic storytelling bring you a story that could have come from a classic Hong Kong film!

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000099T2G
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches ; 4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: February 17, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,624 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Game Informer Review

With the electrifying combat prowess of Jet Li at your fingertips, and the ostentatious fight choreography of Cory Yuen fueling your every move, Rise to Honor successfully captures the cinematic flair and rip-roaring excitement of a Hong Kong action film. Jet Li's superlative fighting style has been replicated perfectly through motion capture technology. As you catapult off of a wall into a spin kick, and exchange countering attacks with a foe in a lengthy choreographed sequence that can best be described as poetry in motion, you really do get the feeling that you've stepped into the shoes of the almighty Jet Li.

To successfully bring Li's signature fighting style to the video game front, Sony Computer Entertainment America's Foster City studio developed an innovative combat system that allows gamers to assail multiple enemies at once. With context-specific moves assigned to the right analog stick, you can seamlessly transfer attacks from one foe to the next. For instance, if you find yourself in a situation where two enemies are advancing from opposite sides, tapping to the right will throw a jab at the enemy on the right, then hitting left will send a back kick to the enemy on the left.

Assuredly, the combat system feels a little awkward at first, but once you understand its intricacies, you'll love it. Taking down 30 enemies without getting hit truly is a remarkable feeling. The only area where this unique formula comes up a little short is in countering attacks. To dodge a move, you simply need to hold the counter button and tap the analog stick in the direction of the foe when an attack is thrown. Rather than pushing gamers to hone their reflexes, the timing of your counter doesn't have to be precise. In fact, you can simply jam in the direction of the foe without penalty – which results in uncontested retaliatory strikes.

To offset the martial arts and inject variety into the mix, Sony has incorporated run and gun and stealth sequences. These stage-specific gameplay styles appear frequently, but neither matches the quality of the hand-to-hand combat. As clunky as the shootout controls can be, and as odd as it is that you never once have to reload, I actually enjoy the simplicity and epic explosiveness of mowing down dozens of enemies in no time flat. As for the stealth exercises, let's just say that you're basically playing the children's game "Red Light, Green Light" with a bunch of dimwitted security guards with flashlights. In other words, they couldn't be more dreadful.

As is the case with most brawlers, Rise to Honor is as linear as linear can get, and does little to invite gamers back for a second time. The entire game can be completed in roughly five to eight hours. As rewarding as the hand-to-hand combat is, Rise to Honor's thrills are short lived. It's an enjoyable play, but much like Jet Li's films, is nothing more than a lazy afternoon of fun.

Concept:
Jet Li stars in a beat ‘em up with motion-captured, choreographed sequences and unique analog fighting

Graphics:
Other than the awkward running animation, this game's visuals scream "big budget." It looks great.

Sound:
The soundtrack is hit or miss, but I absolutely love the fact that the characters speak Cantonese in Hong Kong and English in the U.S.

Playability:
The analog combat system works incredibly well

Entertainment:
Highly enjoyable, yet far too linear and way too short

Replay:
Low

Rated: 7 out of 10
Editor: Andrew Reiner
Issue: March 2004

2nd Opinion:
I must say I'm impressed at how well Rise to Honor pulls off the kung-fu movie experience. Sure, it's a tad short and can be a bit repetitive at times, but overall it's not a bad attempt at mixing the two art forms into a meaningful, and at times, entertaining game/movie. However, I want to make it clear that I'm just referring to the game's overall presentation and story arc, not the combat system that I feel leaves a lot to be desired. Like Xbox's Grabbed By The Ghoulies, Rise uses the right analog stick to deliver its combat, which is not only limiting but inaccurate, and quite frankly annoying as hell. Brawlers are typically shallow, so I won't hold that against this title, but its combat system just doesn't offer the precise control and interaction that I'm looking for in a game. Not a bad rental if you love Jet Li, but everyone else should steer clear.

Rated: 6.5 out of 10
Editor: Andy McNamara


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Product Description

Jet Li: Rise To Honor - Dive into an action-packed storyline inspired by the excitement and cinematic styling of Hong Kong action movies! Jet Li stars as Kit, loyal bodyguard to Boss Chiang. To fulfill Boss Chiang's last wish, he'll enter a web of deadly alliances, defined by family, deceit and honor.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Poor gameplay, but does capture Jet Li's moves well., May 23, 2004

By 

D. Mok (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Rise To Honor (Video Game)

Any enjoyment you might derive from this game is from playing as Jet Li in an old-school fight setting. When the novelty of that wears off, what you have left is an incredibly repetitive game with a godawful camera and an ill-advised control scheme.

Yes, bonus marks are in order for using Cantonese in Hong Kong with subtitles. (As a native Hong Kong person I can say the dialogue is less stilted than usual, though still flawed) Though I might add that international espionage games like Syphon Filter has been doing that for years. The settings are authentic enough, with the battles in the Hong Kong settings being especially evocative of kung fu films.

But is it worth the very problematic gameplay? Just barely. If you've seen/played the demo already, you'll know that the entire fight system consists of slapping the right analog stick. While the array of moves you can unleash is impressive, motion-captured well from Li's own silhouette, this system is very ill conceived from a fighting-game perspective. Worse still, the camera is so restless that you could be in the middle of a combo against an enemy, and then the perspective shifts so that you're suddenly hitting at air and the enemy's to the side. So many game designers have misled notions about being filmmakers, not realizing that the best perspective for gaming is a fixed perspective. This problem came to a head during the ludicrous "escape from capture" stage where the camera actually cuts you off, preventing you from seeing what's behind you, even though there are guards sweeping flashlights that way that you're supposed to avoid! This is simply a moronic use of the camera.

Aside from this, the fighting gets tired awfully quickly, especially since the designers committed the ol' "this level never ends" sin. This game alleviates this problem by having lots of checkpoints where you can continue the game, but during some of the "one against 14" stages, the endless brawling still gets tired. And whose idea was it to have enemies pull off 18-hit combos, where if you get hit the first time, you get to watch your character get pummelled for 10 seconds straight?

I actually find the gunfight segments of this game more fun than the endless, endless hand-to-hand stages. This is where the dual analog sticks truly shine, allowing you to smoothly run from spot to spot forwards and backwards while your hands can aim independently and a top button allows you to do Time Crisis-style ducking. There's even a crazy level where you fight off about 100 enemies with two nailguns!

This game would probably remain tempting to Jet Li fans because of the role-playing aspect of it. And I wouldn't blame them -- this was my reason for buying this game, and there are a few levels that I truly enjoyed. The overall game, however, is really not that great, and I would recommend only playing it in small doses. It will get tired mightily quickly if you sit with it for more than an hour.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Its Okay, February 23, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Rise To Honor (Video Game)

I am currently playing Rise to Honor, it is definately a different kind of adventure/fighting game. I know of no other PS2 game that doesn't use the triangle, Square, Circle, and X button.

This game uses only the Right and Left Analog, R1, L1 and R2, L2 buttons. For fighting you simply push the right analog towards your enemy.

The plot moves along briskly and there is alot of fighting.
I sincerly hope that you aren't looking for a great story with the game. This story is merely the excuse for fighting and shooting) Get ready for some tired fingers particularly during gun fights when you have to push the R1 button and push right analog forward everytime you want to fire. Diffculty wise I found it not too bad I've played a total of maybe 5 hours and am 80% finished.

Graphics are okay Jet Li looks a little fat and if you are looking for realism, remember this is like a remake of a Hong Kong action movie. (Where reality takes a back seat). But on the bright side your dual handguns, ala Chow Yun Fat, will never run out of ammo. However your stamina, and blocking ability will drain if over taxed. I hope I gave you some of the answers you are looking for.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars cool game, some good stuff some bad, March 2, 2004

By 

Johnny F. Herndon "sharpshooter57" (NORTH CAROLINA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rise To Honor (Video Game)

i love fighting games, and in this one you fight, you shoot alot. not much of a story, just enough to give you a reason to kickass, the game has great graphics, and sound, although it is strange not using the gamepad buttons, o button etc, you use the l1 r1 and analog buttons, it is a different, not bad thing.

pros: good graphics, lots of action,

cons: the controls get screwed up, you opponent will get you in a place where you can't turn or block, very frustrating. the game should also have a way to roll away, or straf

all in all i suggest you give it a try.