No career gets the glamour treatment quite like that of the modern day police officer. From the truly awe-inspiring waistline of Springfield's Chief Wiggum to the multitude of smart talking, street tough coppers pounding the beat around TV and movie studios of the world it's Dirty Harry who we will probably have to thank for the ever-popular image of the Lone Wolf constable, travelling the mean streets armed only with a sharp wit and a bloody big gun of some sort. Thankfully we can now indulge these violent law enforcement fantasies in our own lounge-rooms, with games like Dead to Rights.

A mere hint of a look at Dead to Rights, and thoughts of Max Payne are not far away. Lone Cop on mission in seedy urban underworld populated with scum and villainy, yep got that. Shotguns and dual wielded pistols, yep that as well. "Bullet Time” slow motion dives...check that on the list. A pet pooch on your beck and call, that puts the bite on crims? Ahh now we have some deviation from Max Payne! That's not the only feature steering Dead to Rights away from being an also-ran 3rd person shooter. The control system does away with free-reign aim, replacing it with an auto lock-on system. Press the right trigger, locks your aim point onto an approaching villain. Press again, and the next unfortunate gets aimed at. A colour coded target box even advises you of the relative odds of a successful hit. On paper, it might sound restrictive. In practice, the system works nicely, evoking a feel at times reminiscent of the glory days of arcade shooters like Sega's Virtual Cop. Dead to Rights though, is by no means on rails. Free movement is on offer and you'll need it. Enemies at times swarm from every which way, quick reactions are needed to find cover, duck, jump up..shoot...then run to the next cover and repeat the process as fast as your fingers can twitch.

That's where proceedings hit a bit of a problem. Fast paced games need a gaming environment that works with the player, not in frustration against the player. Here we see yet another example of developers not mastering 3d cameras and their predictable whacked out behaviour. Up against a wall, trying to do your best to use cover and shoot tactics and the camera will just plainly point in the wrong direction. It's not a constant problem, but it happens enough to annoy and that's one too many times. Please developers get on top of this long standing issue.

Another feature will annoy some gamers but will be an amusing novelties to others. Mini-tests of skill, including weight lifting and wait for it...stripper dancing. Yes, show your wives and girlfriends exactly why you scored an Xbox. It was never about Halo, it was about controlling a stripper doing her "thang”. Mostly lightweight button thrashing, these diversions aren't difficult enough to get forever get stuck on fortunately.

The unarmed combat on the other hand is a more major part of the game. One large section in a prison has you fisticuffing your way through inmates and guards..and the expected "boss” characters. The simplistic punch, kick and throw system will hardly rival Dead or Alive, but it will get those old enough to remember reminiscing about Streets of Rage on the Megadrive. The only real thrill in this area are the disarm moves, resulting in breaking an enemy's arm (or worse) in the progress...so as to steal their weapon. Guilty but tasty fun.

Time for the graphics, and things are, well - plain. There's no real other way to say it. Textures are for the most part lacking detail and washed out looking. I sense the disturbing presence of a development team more friendly with that "other” console than our powerhouse machine. Bullet-Time seems everywhere these days, but when it's executed this nicely ...who cares if it's not new anymore? I prefer the "perfect shot” lock-on effect to Max Payne's free aim style, as it just feels a darn more satisfying to leap through the air and see every shot count and end in a graceful roll. For a moment you might even feel like Keanu.

Sound is also a bit plain vanilla. Weapons fire sounds a bit dull and generally underdone. At least your pet pooch Shadow when called upon, has a fairly nice growl. The criminal element speak in predictable growls and curses, in contrast to our hero Jack Slate who is the dark and brooding "get the job” done type.