Jet Li: Rise to Honor
Encyclopedia
Jet Li: Rise to Honor is a video game released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2
. The game features the likeness, voice acting and motion capture work of martial arts actor Jet Li
, and features martial arts choreography by Corey Yuen
.
-like chapter selection menu allows the player to go back to any past scenes once they have been cleared previously.
Played from a third-person perspective, the majority of the game is a beat 'em up
, with the player using the right analog stick to direct blows at enemies. The game also features a number of levels where the player uses firearms with unlimited ammunition. During levels, the player constantly builds up a store of adrenaline, which the player can unleash to perform powerful hand to hand combat strikes. An alternative is, when using firearms, the player initiates a temporary slow motion bullet time
mode similar to the video game Max Payne
.
), an undercover Hong Kong
police officer who is assigned as a bodyguard to Boss Chiang, a friend of Kit's father. A year into Kit's undercover assignment, Boss Chiang decides to leave the life of organized crime, but not without getting outraged protests by Kwan, one of his associates, only to have various gang members attempt the assassination of Boss Chiang. Despite Kit's efforts, Boss Chiang gets assassinated by a mysterious sniper.
During Chiang's dying moments, he tells Kit to deliver an envelope containing information about the crime syndicate to his estranged daughter, Michelle. Being a childhood friend of Michelle's, Kit obliges and heads for San Francisco to deliver the message to her, despite whatever obstacles come in his way.
In San Francisco, Kit meets up with Chi, a childhood friend of Kit and Michelle's. While being pursued by thugs led by local gang boss Billy Soon, Kit and Chi successfully manage to regroup with Michelle only to end up being held captive by Billy. Kit eventually learns that Kwan hired Billy to find the envelope and that Billy is ordered to execute the three of them. Kit and Chi manage to escape captivity, defeat Billy, and free Michelle. After a melee fight, a defeated Billy attempts to shoot Michelle with his handgun, only for Chi to use his body as a human shield, which enrages Kit to kill him. Shortly after Chi succumbs to his gunshot wound, Michelle is resolved to return to Hong Kong and put an end to Kwan's activities.
Shortly after returning to Hong Kong, Michelle gets wounded by a sniper in the Cheng Chau harbor, while Kit pursues and kills the sniper. Shortly after transporting Michelle to a local hospital, Michelle gets kidnapped by Kwan's henchmen, while Kit attempts to pursue her. Kit's pursuit leads him to a skyscraper building previously owned by Boss Chiang, where he fights and shoots his way through scores of Kwan's henchmen. Kit eventually defeats Kwan in hand-to-hand combat, but during an attempt to arrest Kwan, Kwan attempts to shoot Kit's superior officer, Victor, only for Kit to disarm him and Victor firing fatal shots to Kwan's chest.
While holding a private funeral for Boss Chiang, Victor approaches the pair, demanding the pair to burn down the documents. Victor then reveals that he was responsible for the deaths of Chiang and Kit's father, as well as profiteering from the crime syndicate. Shortly after having burned down an envelope, Kit reveals a wire containing Victor's confession and promptly beats Victor in hand-to-hand combat. Victor is taken into H.K.P.D. custody while Kit and Michelle have a brief discussion about Victor living and their fathers being dead. Kit concludes the discussion saying "It is better to die with honor than to live without."
listing an average score of 68% from 72 reviews, and a Metacritic
score of 68 from 50 reviews.
Both IGN
and GameSpot
praised the production values and cinematic approach of the game, but were disappointed in the simple gameplay mechanics, cheap bosses
and short completion time. Eurogamer
called the gameplay "unbalanced and frustrating", and the fighting "dreadfully limited". In contrast to the general praise of the presentation, GameSpy
thought the "cutscene
s are completely uninvolving, with bored-sounding voice acting".
However, GamePro
gave the game a score of 5/5, calling the game, and the analog-based control scheme in particular, "innovative and fun".
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
. The game features the likeness, voice acting and motion capture work of martial arts actor Jet Li
Jet Li
The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce...
, and features martial arts choreography by Corey Yuen
Corey Yuen
Corey Yuen Kwai is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker and producer. He was a member of the Peking Opera Schools and one of the Seven Little Fortunes.-Life and career:...
.
Gameplay
Rise to Honor features a cinematic presentation designed to mimic an action film, with no loading screens and sections of the game split up into "scenes". A DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
-like chapter selection menu allows the player to go back to any past scenes once they have been cleared previously.
Played from a third-person perspective, the majority of the game is a beat 'em up
Beat 'em up
Beat 'em up is a video game genre featuring melee combat between the protagonist and a large number of underpowered antagonists. These games typically take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical or fantasy themes...
, with the player using the right analog stick to direct blows at enemies. The game also features a number of levels where the player uses firearms with unlimited ammunition. During levels, the player constantly builds up a store of adrenaline, which the player can unleash to perform powerful hand to hand combat strikes. An alternative is, when using firearms, the player initiates a temporary slow motion bullet time
Bullet time
Bullet time is a special and visual effect that refers to a digitally enhanced simulation of variable-speed photography used in films, broadcast advertisements, and video games...
mode similar to the video game Max Payne
Max Payne
Max Payne is a BAFTA Award–winning third-person shooter video game developed by Finnish developers Remedy Entertainment and published by Gathering of Developers in July 2001 for Microsoft Windows. Ports created later in the year for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and the GameBoy Advance were published by...
.
Plot
The game follows Kit Yun (Jet LiJet Li
The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce...
), an undercover Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
police officer who is assigned as a bodyguard to Boss Chiang, a friend of Kit's father. A year into Kit's undercover assignment, Boss Chiang decides to leave the life of organized crime, but not without getting outraged protests by Kwan, one of his associates, only to have various gang members attempt the assassination of Boss Chiang. Despite Kit's efforts, Boss Chiang gets assassinated by a mysterious sniper.
During Chiang's dying moments, he tells Kit to deliver an envelope containing information about the crime syndicate to his estranged daughter, Michelle. Being a childhood friend of Michelle's, Kit obliges and heads for San Francisco to deliver the message to her, despite whatever obstacles come in his way.
In San Francisco, Kit meets up with Chi, a childhood friend of Kit and Michelle's. While being pursued by thugs led by local gang boss Billy Soon, Kit and Chi successfully manage to regroup with Michelle only to end up being held captive by Billy. Kit eventually learns that Kwan hired Billy to find the envelope and that Billy is ordered to execute the three of them. Kit and Chi manage to escape captivity, defeat Billy, and free Michelle. After a melee fight, a defeated Billy attempts to shoot Michelle with his handgun, only for Chi to use his body as a human shield, which enrages Kit to kill him. Shortly after Chi succumbs to his gunshot wound, Michelle is resolved to return to Hong Kong and put an end to Kwan's activities.
Shortly after returning to Hong Kong, Michelle gets wounded by a sniper in the Cheng Chau harbor, while Kit pursues and kills the sniper. Shortly after transporting Michelle to a local hospital, Michelle gets kidnapped by Kwan's henchmen, while Kit attempts to pursue her. Kit's pursuit leads him to a skyscraper building previously owned by Boss Chiang, where he fights and shoots his way through scores of Kwan's henchmen. Kit eventually defeats Kwan in hand-to-hand combat, but during an attempt to arrest Kwan, Kwan attempts to shoot Kit's superior officer, Victor, only for Kit to disarm him and Victor firing fatal shots to Kwan's chest.
While holding a private funeral for Boss Chiang, Victor approaches the pair, demanding the pair to burn down the documents. Victor then reveals that he was responsible for the deaths of Chiang and Kit's father, as well as profiteering from the crime syndicate. Shortly after having burned down an envelope, Kit reveals a wire containing Victor's confession and promptly beats Victor in hand-to-hand combat. Victor is taken into H.K.P.D. custody while Kit and Michelle have a brief discussion about Victor living and their fathers being dead. Kit concludes the discussion saying "It is better to die with honor than to live without."
Reception
The game received mixed reviews, with Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
listing an average score of 68% from 72 reviews, and a Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
score of 68 from 50 reviews.
Both IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
and GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
praised the production values and cinematic approach of the game, but were disappointed in the simple gameplay mechanics, cheap bosses
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
and short completion time. Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
called the gameplay "unbalanced and frustrating", and the fighting "dreadfully limited". In contrast to the general praise of the presentation, GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
thought the "cutscene
Cutscene
A cutscene is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no or only limited control, breaking up the gameplay and used to advance the plot, strengthen the main character's development, introduces enemy characters, and provide background information, atmosphere, dialogue, and clues...
s are completely uninvolving, with bored-sounding voice acting".
However, GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
gave the game a score of 5/5, calling the game, and the analog-based control scheme in particular, "innovative and fun".
See also
- Jackie Chan StuntmasterJackie Chan StuntmasterJackie Chan Stuntmaster is a PlayStation game based on the actor and martial artist Jackie ChanMade by Radical Entertainment, the game sees the player in the shoes of Jackie Chan who must fight his way past numerous villains in different locations across the city of New York.-Plot:Jackie's...
- StrangleholdStranglehold (video game)Stranglehold, or John Woo Presents Stranglehold, is a third-person shooter developed by Midway Games' Chicago studio, released in late for Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 3...
, starring Chow Yun-fatChow Yun-FatChow Yun-fat, SBS is an actor from Hong Kong. He is best known in Asia for his collaboration with filmmaker John Woo in heroic bloodshed genre films A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hard Boiled; and to the West for his role as Li Mu-bai in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon...