Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7227 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2004-04-08
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Platform: PlayStation2

Manufacturer's Description
Rise to Honour is a fast-paced action game inspired by the excitement and cinematic styling of the Hong Kong action movie genre, starring and created in collaboration with Jet Li. The game places players at the heart of a Hong Kong action thriller incorporating a 360-degree martial arts fight system that allows players to battle multiple enemies in any direction simultaneously. Utilising high-energy hand-to-hand and weapon based gameplay, Rise to Honour depicts Kit Yun (Jet Li) as he struggles with family, deceit and honour in a chain of dangerous events extending from Hong Kong to San Francisco.

Rise to Honour offers an unparalleled level of realism by incorporating an authentic recreation of Jet Li's signature movements through motion-capture technology. Jet Li and acclaimed action director, Cory Yuen, who has partnered with Li on many projects, worked closely with the development team for two months to plan and perform the fight moves and action choreography seen in the game. In addition to his motion capture performance, Li provides voiceover for the game's main character, as well as contributing to the creative direction of the project.

Customer Reviews

If you want fighting, look no further!
I wouldn't call myself a big fan of Jet Li, although i do like quite a few of his films because of the action and his martial arts skills in them, and being into video games, i just had to get this game. For a while i have been looking for a game that has virtually non-stop fighting down alleys etc but with a storyline, and now i have found it in this game 'Rise To Honour'.

I won't go into details about the story, you'll have to play it yourself for that, but i found it a little weak when surely that could have come up with a great plot for Jet Li, or maybe even used an idea from one of his films. However this doesn't matter too much as the fighting really makes up for it. Its all choreographed by Cory Yuen, so you know that its going to be pretty good. There is a variety of cool moves that you can use to defeat either the many opponents that surround you on several occassions or the individual boss confrontations that you find yourself in, again quite often.

The only problem really with the fighting side of the game, is how you control it. Basically its all worked with the right analogue stick, which may not seem hard when you haven't played the game, but believe me it does get quite difficult. The game was probably designed this way to stop the 'button bashing' that you get with most fighting games, but i found even more difficult and it would have been nice to be given the chance to choose between 'button bashing' and the analogue stick. After a while though, you do get adjusted to it so don't let this put you off too much.

You don't just have to throw kicks and pucnhes, there are a number of grapple moves that you can perform on your enemy and if your near a wall or object then you can throw them into it. As well as this you can use almost anything else as a weapon that you can find including: chairs, baseball bats, fish hooks, pieces of metal and knives to name but a few. So if you come up against a tough opponent, which you will, then try abd find some objects to help deplete their health.

The graphics in the game i thought were very good. They aren't andything special but for this game they are fine, especially when you consider that the game is over a year old now. There are quite a few levels, which get quite tricky towards the end, so a casual gamer should find quite a long lifespan, although i'm not sure about a hard core gamer. Its not all fighting though; there are a few stealth missions and even some gun fights down alleys etc so there plenty for everyone.

Overall, 'Rise To Honour' is a good game from Jet Li, which i can't understand why it didn't become more popular. There are a few imporvements that could and should be made if a second game was to arrive in the shops (maybe for PS3), but on the whole a fun and entertaining game. If you want a game that has fight scene after fight scene, and the chance to beat up multiple opponents on a 360 degree level, whether you like or dislike Jet Li, this game is for you.

Good, but not great
Being a fairly big Jet Li fan, and being into computer games, i had to get this game, and i wasn't dissappointed either. You play Jet Li (known as Kit in the game) who is working for a friend when he is killed. Wanting to know more, he pursues the villains, to uncover the truth, and is reunited with some old friends (and enemies) along the way.

Gameplay wise, the game works fairly well, incorporating some stealth elements, all out shooting and martial arts combat. These all go together well, and the game seems to work well. The martial arts combat is the most interesting of these three though. You use the right analogue(i.e. to punch, kick etc) and depending on the way you move this, depends on the attack. This allows for a nice 360 degree feel to fighting. There are also some nice elements such as one area where you have to just run away from a massive helecoptor and need to press the right buttons to avoid the obstacles (think Shenmues button press action bits.) There are also some hidden characters to unlock and some making of videos which are a nice touch.

Graphically the game is very classy, with a nice selection of locations (including rooftops and buildings, to nightclubs etc) There is nothing particulally special about them (such as lighting) but they are good for what it is worth. The cutscenes use in game graphics, but because they are of a fairly good quality, this works well enough.

The sound, is optional! You can either have the voiceovers in english or japanese (you'll be pleased to know that with the japanese option there are english subtitles! This is a nice touch and something very rarely ever seen in computer games. It also gives it that sort of Jet Li authenticity to it.

Problems-it does get EXTREMELY hard towards the end, where you'll want to destroy your PS2, and secondly, its only about 5 hours long, and theres not much reason to play through the game a second time (unless you normally do that with every game) so i give the game a respectable 4/5 stars

Bloody Fantastic
This is fantastic game, great easy controls to master. Superb 360degree fighting a must buy for action gamers. Easily a five out of five star.