Dead to Rights: Hell to Pay (PS2, PSP, PC, Xbox)

2004 Namco Hometek

Platforms: PC, Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox and Sony PSP

The original Dead to Rights was a breakout hit for Namco Hometek in 2002, earning several awards and nominations. Riding on that success, the studio set its sights on an even bigger and bolder sequel.

Development on Dead to Rights 2 kicked off almost immediately after the release of Dead to Rights, with a planned 2004 release. Originally titled Dead to Rights 2: Hell to Pay, the game aimed to deliver an even darker, grittier story – once again putting players in the shoes of hardboiled cop Jack Slate and his loyal K-9 companion, Shadow.

This time, Jack finds himself entangled in a deadly conspiracy while battling to save his friend, Preacher Man Jones. And if there’s one thing Jack Slate doesn’t do, it’s sit back while a friend suffers.

In the November 2003 issue of Game Informer, the magazine sat down with producers Andre Emerson and Mike Kennedy to discuss the highly anticipated Dead to Rights 2: Hell to Pay. Emerson emphasized that several core elements were being significantly upgraded, including the combat system, visuals, and even Jack Slate’s canine companion, Shadow, who was set to play a more integral role in the sequel.

But just as things were shaping up, disaster struck. Namco of Japan abruptly pulled the plug on the project, shifting its focus toward outsourcing development to external studios – leaving Hell to Pay buried before it ever had the chance to deliver on its promise.

At this stage, Dead to Rights 2 was still planned as a direct sequel, though its story had undergone a strange change. Jack Slate was no longer fighting to save his friend; instead, the plot shifted focus to protecting a mysterious girl.

But this version, too, was scrapped, and with time running out, key elements were hastily downgraded to push the game across the finish line. When Dead to Rights 2 finally launched, it was no longer a sequel – it had been rebranded as a prequel, only to receive a lukewarm reception from both critics and players.

In a last-ditch effort to salvage what little remained of Dead to Rights 2: Hell to Pay, Mike Morishita, Pierre Roux, and Mike Kennedy attempted to revive elements of the original vision only by making a PSP spin-off. Unfortunately, their efforts were fruitless.

Dead to Rights: Reckoning failed to make an impact, struggling both commercially and critically. With that, the last remnants of the original Dead to Rights 2 were lost – marking the end of what could have been a truly ambitious and fantastic sequel.

Early screenshots from IGN, Eurogamer, and GameSpot initially suggested that Dead to Rights: Reckoning was simply an enhanced port of the PS2 version—a common practice for companies to do at the time. However, it soon became clear that Reckoning was Namco Hometek’s last-ditch effort to salvage what remained of the franchise.

Evan Hanley unearthed an interview where story writer Mike Kennedy explained:

“That decision led to the shutdown of Dead to Rights 2: Hell to Pay [which itself was looking awesome. Well over half-done. Bits of it showed up in the farmed-out sequel and PSP spin-off, but that’s a whole other story].”

Senior Producer and Co-Director Pierre Roux later elaborated in email with me, saying:

“Mike (Morishita, who was a designer on DTR2 internally), tried to ‘recover’ the license while we were doing external development by creating a PSP version, truer to the original. I think it was better, but if I recall, I was leaving Namco at the time…”

In the end, Dead to Rights: Reckoning failed to make an impact, commercially or critically. Sales figures remain unclear, but one thing is certain—the original vision for Dead to Rights 2: Hell to Pay was lost.

FRANK: “Just a quick note: our friends at Unseen64 also have a page on this game, featuring many of the same screenshots, as Yassine has also uploaded them there too recently.”

With thanks to Evan Hanley for information and shots, Additional shots and scans from Archive.org, Gamespot and Riot Pixels. Page-setting by Frank Gasking.