Thrusting players into a mature neo-noir crime drama as a vice cop Jack Slate and his canine companion Shadow, the game introduces new gameplay elements that unify the third person shooting and brawling genres for a brutal and relentless new action-driven experience.

Returning to Grant City, a boom town gone bust that is falling to the worst excesses of crime, greed and corruption; Dead to Rights: Retribution follows vice cop Jack Slate as he fights to expose shadowy figures that will stop at nothing to exert their deadly influence over the crumbling metropolis. Dead to Rights: Retribution will form an original story portraying key events that shape and define Jack Slate's character including how he and Shadow first come together as partners against those who would bring the once great city to its knees.

Introducing an innovative new hybrid combat system, Dead to Rights: Retribution puts the full combat potential of a highly trained, highly agitated law-enforcement officer into players’ hands. Use your sidearm to pick off enemies from a distance, take cover and blind-fire with the game’s new ranged combat mechanics, or push the issue by taking human shields, stealing weapons with special disarm moves or dishing out Jack’s own brutal brand of justice with deadly takedown moves. Jack is equally lethal in close-quarters combat, offering players branching melee combos, counterattacks and disarms as they take the fight to the criminal element of Grant City. Jack will encounter a variety of ruthless gangs in the filthy slums and menacing alleys of Grant City, each with their own unique abilities and fighting style that will test his resolve to crush their murderous stranglehold.

Introducing an innovative new hybrid combat system, Volatile Games has unified third person shooting, hand-to-hand fighting and AI dog, Shadow, into a visceral, intense and seamless gameplay experience. Experience Jack’s full combat potential: use your sidearm to pick off the enemy at a distance, take cover and blind fire, take human shields, steal enemies’ weapons with special disarms or unleash his deadly takedowns.

“Dead to Rights: Retribution is a fresh look at the franchise, with a ground-up design for the game mechanics, world, characters and narrative,” explains Imre Jele, Project Director for Volatile Games. “We’ve reimagined Dead to Rights for both fans of the franchise and a brand new audience alike.”

“We’re excited to be working with Volatile Games on Dead to Rights®: Retribution,” says Todd Thorson, Director of Marketing and PR for Namco Bandai Games America. “As one of our key franchises we’re confident that Volatiles Games’ combination of innovative design and powerful technology will make a great game that fans and newcomers alike will love.”

Deadly on their own, Jack and Shadow are even more formidable as they team up to defeat the threats they will uncover. Players will take full control of not only Jack, but also Shadow at various points in the game to stalk enemies or reach areas of the environment that are not accessible by one or the other. Shadow’s heightened senses make him skilled in detecting new threats or flushing out enemies from cover so that Jack can easily dispense with them.

Developed by Volatile Games, Dead to Rights: Retribution will launch for Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2009.