Rise to Honour (PS2)

By JON MINIFIE

Herald rating: * * * *

This new PS2 beat 'em up from Sony Computer Entertainment follows martial arts maestro Jet Li as he attempts to kick the crab dumplings out of every crook and lowlife in Hong Kong.

Rise to Honour is designed to play like a Hong Kong action flick. It's packed with hours of kick-ass martial arts, two-fisted gunplay and the dialogue is in Chinese (with English subtitles).

Jet Li is cast in the lead role as a cop (Kit Yun) working undercover as a bodyguard for leading gangland figure Boss Chiang. Chiang is gunned down and Kit promises to deliver a message to his estranged daughter. This is where we pick up the story, but as with any decent film from the Hong Kong action genre, plot is secondary.

All the punch and kick combos are delivered by slapping (or steering) the DualShock thumb sticks towards your proposed targets. This allows players to throw a lot of kicks and punches swiftly and in all directions: helpful when you're taking on multiple foes.

The early levels walk you through a list of basic moves that will serve you throughout the game. Avoiding an enemy assault is as simple as holding down the L1 button: players can then execute powerful counters, slow-motion

Matrix-style adrenaline attacks and throws with a flick of the thumb. Jet Li and famous fight choreographer Cory Yuen assisted with the motion capture process, resulting in many moves that will be instantly recognisable to Jet Li fans.

The levels are divided into large, ongoing brawls and brief shooting sequences. Once again the control is super easy, using the thumb sticks to aim and tapping R2 to fire.

There are no multiplayer options, and a few camera and pacing issues but these don't detract from what is an impressive beat 'em up.

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$119.95