Instead, there is a brief cinematic introduction to the main character (Brad Hawk) who is apparently the new hard-arse in a town ruled by crime and violence. Bloody hell…get with the times old man! That shit was so 1992.
You would have thought I’d have learnt by now that this just isn’t enough to sell a game in the modern era but even so, I popped the disc in and was prepping myself for perhaps ten to fifteen stages of ‘scrolling’ through streets and alleyways, punching thugs and making my way towards a boss at the end of each level.
I was expecting Urban Reign to be a 3D version of the old-school arcade beat ’em ups. Like its rivals however, Urban Reign isn’t quite the game you might expect and simply expecting it to be a straightforward beat ’em up actually invites disappointment as I recently discovered. One game that frequently gets brought up when gamers are questing for a good beat ’em up from the new millenium is Namco’s Urban Reign for the PS2. The core beat ’em up objective (to smash the crap out of thugs and hoods) was still there but the purity of the arcade classics was lost. I’ve already reviewed Final Fight Streetwise here but that game – along with Beatdown: Fists of Vengeance – included semi-free roaming gameplay as well as other features such as stat upgrades, side missions and cutscenes. When they did appear, they weren’t quite the same as their 2D forerunners. The PS2/Xbox/GC era was a particular low point as far as beat ’em ups go and there genuinely aren’t many decent ones to speak of. After all, the likes of Fighting Force can hardly be discussed in the same breath as Final Fight…not by anybody with any taste anyway!
Ps2 urban reign cheats update#
Developers attempted to take advantage of polygons and update their classic franchises but the results were a mixed bag to say the very least. The beat ’em up is one such genre that flourished in the late 80’s and early 90’s but quickly became irrelevant to the mainstream. But it's hard not to imagine that things could still be a lot better if the designers of Tekken 5 put as much effort into this spin-off genre that has barely impoved since Streets of Rage.Ĭool counters, grapples and double-team techniques make Urban Reign entertaining enough, but despite a number of good points, it's marred by a hundred missions of repetitive play, with no real deviation whatsoever, and bosses that some players will find cripplingly hard.Ever since the decline of the arcades and 16-bit home console era, there have been quests to find worthwhile modern examples of the genres that were driven close to exctinction by the arrival of cinematic, story-driven games. Namco's Tekken influence is here, with players able to juggle foes, and cameos from Paul Phoenix and Marshall Law. Another nice feature allows players to switch roles and take control of their AI partners in mid-play. You can perform some pretty cool double-team moves with them, and you can interrupt your partner's attacks to call them over for some assistance. While the choices are pretty slim at first, additional AI-controlled partners are unlocked as you progress through the game. While the main story mode is unfortunately a single player affair, players have the option of teaming up with AI-controlled partners before starting certain missions. As you might expect, the bar depletes as you use it and fills as you attack enemies with regular techniques - hardly a new dynamic but one that still works.
With some additional presses you can also use 'Special Arts' attacks to get you out of heavy situations or when facing bosses.
Some well animated martial arts moves even have you running up and flipping off of walls, performing diving grapple attacks, and taking two enemies out with one well-positioned technique, while quick swipes on downed opponents can prove useful in sampping that last bit of energy. You can also use grapple dash attacks to smash enemies into walls and other objects.
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