Rise to Honor: Rising to Action
Company: Sony Interactive Entertainment America
Jet Li is no stranger to action fans. And, as it turns out, a number of action fans are also gamers -- so leave it to Sony to combine the two into a game. One of Sony's surprise highlights at E3, Rise to Honor follows the story of a bodyguard named Kit Yun (played in the game by Jet Li), who works for Boss Chiang, leader of one of Hong Kong's most powerful crime syndicates. After Chiang is assassinated, Kit is asked to deliver an important message to a girl name Michelle, Chiang's estranged daughter. This starts the wheels turning on a series of events that engulf Kit in a tangled web of lies, deceit and hidden agendas.
Hollywood story aside, the real star of Rise to Honor (and the reason most people will play it) is the ability to pull off Jet Li's amazing moves. Totaling about 3000, each of Kit's actions were motion-captured by Jet Li himself (at least, he did the moves -- not sure if he ran the computers as well :) ). As an added bonus, Sony also took on Cory Yuen as a consultant. Unlike other games in this genre, which mainly focus on offensive moves, Rise to Honor will instead focus more on defensive moves. This should make combat an even more interesting affair. Combos will also play a big role in the game, which should make combat even more entertaining when combined with the game's interactive environments. Li will also provide Kit's voice in the game. Adding another level to polish, all of the game's locations are based on real-life places throughout Hong Kong and San Francisco.
Rise to Honor will also feature a number of action scenes to kick up the game's adrenaline rush, such as a scene that will require Kit to escape from vehicles trying to run him down. So far it's looking like Rise to Honor will be a game that will make its way into every action fan's collection. Rise to Honor should be out early next year. Until then, enjoy the screens.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
Related Links: SCEA - Official Site Jet Li - Official Site Jet Li couldn't handle this guy... ...or this guy.
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