Good Dog: Hands-On With Dead to Rights: Retribution

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What is a scrotality? It’s an achievement you’ll get by tearing off a thug’s testicles with a dog’s teeth. That fatal move, by the way, is called a testi-kill.

These are the reasons you will be playing the upcoming Dead to Rights: Retribution.

Even though this one maintains the lead character of Jack Slate, the upcoming release reboots the continuity of the previous Dead to Rights games. In this one, Jack’s still a rogue cop in seedy Grant City but he’s also looking to take down the men responsible for his police officer father’s death. To help him with his vengeance and with cleaning up the city’s streets, he’s got a canine partner named Shadow. Shadow’s half Alaskan husky, half wolf and all bad-ass.

He’s really what makes the run-&-gun action of DTR stand apart from other games. You can deploy him against enemies by pressing up at the d-pad. It becomes oddly hypnotic to watch him tear out throats. His more vicious kills include the above-mentioned scrotality and one where he digs out an enemy’s chest and rips the heart out with his teeth. Shadow will also fetch weapons for you when you’re pinned down behind cover out of ammo. But for all his usefulness, Shadow’s not invulnerable. He’ll get seriously injured and you’ll have to revive him. He returns the favor in another level where Jack’s too weak to fight. Playing as Shadow you get an enhanced viewing mode meant to replicate a dog’s senses and you’ll be able to see through walls to sneak up on enemies.

As for the game’s human lead, Jack Slate benefits from DTR’s seamless combo system, which moves from shooting to melee with out missing a beat. You can punch a guy in the head, pull a disarm counter and shoot him in the head in the span of three button presses. The game’s got a bit of a Lethal Weapon meets Big Trouble in Little China vibe with a bit of Sin City thrown in.

Dead to Rights: Retribution drops on April 27th. Stay tuned for a DTR-related swag giveaway in the next few days