Rise to Honor features a cinematic presentation designed to mimic an action film, with no loading screens and sections of the game split up into "scenes". A DVD-like chapter selection menu allows the player to go back to any past scenes once they have been cleared previously.
Played from a third-person perspective, the majority of the game is a beat 'em up, with the player using the right analog stick to direct blows at enemies, similar to the Xbox game Star Wars: Obi-Wan. The game also features a number of levels where the player uses firearms with unlimited ammunition. During levels, the player constantly builds up a store of adrenaline, which the player can unleash to perform powerful hand-to-hand combat strikes. An alternative is, when using firearms, the player initiates a temporary bullet time mode similar to the video game Max Payne. During the firearm scenes, the player can take cover behind various objects such as garbage cans or walls.