Dead to Rights II is a third-person action shooter developed by Widescreen Games and published by Namco, released in 2005 for Xbox, PlayStation 2, and PC. Serving as a prequel to the original Dead to Rights, the game places players in combat-heavy scenarios that precede the events of its predecessor. The title continued the series' emphasis on action gameplay while expanding the narrative backstory established in the first entry. A related PSP title, Dead to Rights: Reckoning, was released separately in June 2005 as a further prequel set within the same continuity. Dead to Rights II represents Widescreen Games' contribution to the franchise, which Namco had established as a gritty, gun-focused action series across multiple platforms during the mid-2000s.
A reputable judge Alfred McGuffin uncovers a citywide crime syndicate, and is kidnapped. The judge was a friend of Jack's father, so the cop is obligated to send a few hundred men to their graves in order to make things right. Before long, all hell breaks loose, so Jack and his K-9 cohort Shadow must take on a powerful mob in the fight of their lives to break the city's spiral of betrayal and corruption. In the end, the judge is murdered and although Jack gets the killer, goons of a high-ranking Russian crime lord named Blanchov get the judge's files. Jack's girlfriend Ruby is murdered by Blanchov and although Jack never retrieves the files (they were likely Hennesey's files from the first game), he goes after Blanchov for revenge. Jack kills Blanchov, but gets no satisfaction out of it knowing that Blanchov is just a highly placed puppet that can easily be replaced. Having lost Ruby, Jack has nothing to really live for anymore. Also he claims that who has him Dead to Rights as they got the files and he ended up with nothing.
