Def Jam: Fight for NY

"Become the urban punk you’ve always aspired to be, and bust some heads with excessive style."

Games like Def Jam:Fight For New York expose how hypocritical certain gamers have become, and I am the finest example of this group. I often sneer at proponents of popular urban culture as well as newer generations of gamers that swear by titles which glorify said genre. It's a damn shame that such quality titles as this expose the deep seated desire we may have to live the sickening life of luxury, intensity and excitement that you see in many music videos and movies today, as much as we hate to admit to that desire. To other individuals in this group, I simply say get past the mental conflict, and plunk down the money for this immensely entertaining and unexpectedly deep fighting title.

Developer AKI brings together so many effective elements in Def Jam:FFNY, its hard to not enjoy this title thoroughly. The obvious draw (or deterrent, for those with closed minds) will be the extensive list of urban rap artists and actors incorporated as the actual combatants of the fighting game, with painstaking detail put into their likeness, voice acting, and overall vibe to assure of a convincing experience. What many gamers may overlook is an engaging fighting engine that has the style and grit to match the overall theme, a skill development system that is one of the most revolutionary to come in years in the fighting genre, and a “design-your-own” character feature that is so populated with options that I was effectively able to create myself and most of my gaming comrades as playable characters. The overall package works so well that you'll be hard pressed to stop designing and tweaking new fighters to see how they stack up in this tale of street justice.

GRAPHICS) 8/10: Being based on a culture where image and style are of the foremost measure of quality and status, one would have to imagine that the creators of Def Jam:FFNY would pay extensively close attention to its appearance, and it does little to disprove this assumption. The likeness of every incorporated artist or celebrity is essentially dead on. Facial expressions and gestures all keep with the individual attitudes and personas. Their has obviously been some artistic license taken in regards to the physical conditions of some of the male celebrities, but nothing that will detract from the experience. The ladies that appear in the game are nicely rendered and look extremely sharp (especially the curvaceous Lil Kim, who is a personal fave of mine).

The create a character feature will allow you to choose from many differing body and facial features, that you can essentially design anybody you could think of. The styling features which become available to you in story mode will include numerous different name brand clothes, jewelry, tattoos and hair styles. The duds you can don all look right on the money, as well as the various hair styles. The jewelry looks nice too, although sometimes seems a bit too...”blingy”, with excessive sparkling. The body ink is a nice feature to have, but often looks a bit pixelated, at least in comparison to the rest of the graphics. The overall effect however, is that you're characters NEVER look so generic as to not flow with all the real life celebs featured.

The “Venues”, which act as fight arenas, vary from chainlink fenced arenas to local bars and clubs to back alleys. The looks of these venues show no signs of being formulaic or repetitious, and provide the necessary urban sprawl to instill the unnerving feeling of a true street fight.
A notable blemish with looks comes from the animation of the characters, which is often times a bit choppy, likely a result of the high amounts of simultaneous movement coming from the fighters and the crowd members. I would not call it so much of a weakness, but those used to the lifelike flow of titles as Dead or Alive 2 and Soul Calibur 2 would notice the difference, although they'll likely pay it little mind as they admire their pimped out selves smashing Xhibit's head into a pool table.

SOUNDS) 9/10: Audibly, this game will either be perfect for those acclimated with and appreciative of urban culture and the prevalent music that accompanies it, or excellent for those who are not. In either case, the game sounds just how it should. There is a plethora of licensed Hip Hop/Gangsta tracks that paint a thuglike sneer on your face as you go to do battle with your opponents. The tunes tend to incorporate hard, pounding beats and be of a confrontational nature, which even a quasi Metal Head such as myself can appreciate. Busta Rhymes' “Make It Hurt” is a phenomenal track that never fails to get my hackles raised (I've always had a penchant for Busta's tunes....always innovative, never compromising).

Sound effects in general are just what's needed. Voice acting is typically top shelf in Def Jam: FFNY. Snoop Dogg, as the games' villain Crow, and Method Man as your dawg Blaze, both do stand out jobs here. There are a few points where you'll mock some butchered lines, but that's typically with more of the minor characters and narrators. The main players all do a great job with the dialogue, and really build up the cinematic feel as you venture as an underground fighter. Deep meaty impacts when you land haymakers, the smack of skin when going for a hard grapple, and the ultimately satisfying clang of a tire iron over the head all fill you with a sense of nihilistic, vindictive pleasure as you beat on your opponents. Background noises all fill in the gaps perfectly, from crowd cheers to subways approaching, even the brief time spent in the cop shop filling out the perp sketch, the sounds immerse you into the title.

PLAYABILITY) 8/10: Def Jam: FFNY is indeed a great step in the right direction for fighting games with regards to the nature of the combat, one that I hope many other companies pick up upon. Once you throw down, Def Jam offers an incredibly intense level of melee skirmishing that incorporates the harsh truths of street fighting along with just enough glitz to make it damn well addictive. The fighting scheme is simple enough, and can be picked up within an hour, mastered in a few days. You have a punch button, a kick button, a grapple button, a block button, and a button you hold to make all the aforementioned attacks “hard”. The effectiveness of these differing moves will be contingent upon the fighting style you employ, of which there are five: Kickboxing, Streetfighting, Martial Arts, Wrestling, and Submissions. You'll start out with one style under your belt, and can learn 1 or 2 more as you gain development points. Start out as a Streetfighter by nature, then hit the gym after you win a few matches and train to be a Wrestler; you'll be armed with sharp punching strikes and can perform devastating throws on your opponent. Combine a Kickboxer with a Martial Artist and you'll be able to deliver crushing kicks, elbows and knees, and possess the ability to counter an opponents strikes very effectively. In addition to the styles you can train, you'll spend a great deal of Development Points developing your Upper Strength, Lower Strength, Speed, Toughness, and Health. You see how the limits of fighter development grow exponentially with all the options available.

The complexity of development is deepened given that each style provides a differing method of finishing off your opponent in this game, which has to be done in a specific fashion, and can not be accomplished by simply beating your opponents health bar down. Martial artists must perform flying attacks from the wall, whereas submission specialists will need to work on repeatedly bending a particular body part until it gives, which could require several grappling attempts.

Outside of honing your skills, you can even the odds by grabbing a weapon from the crowd, which will range from sledge hammers and baseball bats to bottles, pliers, even bricks. You can also use the environment against your opponent, throwing them into the wall and then smashing their head until they give. Finally, there are the blazing moves, which become active after you “Blaze”, which translates to “Lose It”, “Hulk Out”, “Go off”, etc. Once blazing, you can unleash a special move, one of four you can have in your repertoire, and that you'll earn as you go along. These are essentially Def Jam's versions of Fatalities, and like any finishing move, are the perfect way to humble your opponent with a stylish ash-whuppin.

The general interface outside the fighting arena works very smoothly. Access a T-Mobile Sidekick to check your messages to make sure you know what's going on as the story progresses. View your wall of trophies for notable accomplishments throughout story mode. Check the map of the 5 boroughs of NYC and head to the differing venues or to the shopping district in Staten Island to pick up new clothes, jewelry, tats, hair styles, or the gym. More and more styling options will become available to you as you progress, including a profound variety of name brand urban street wear, and you can even adjust HOW you wear them, such as having your hoody up, hat backwards or tilted, or pants sagging (ladies who are opt to play dress up with their boyfriends will be ecstatic with this title.)

While AKI was meticulous in implementing all the facets of the title that make it hard to put down, there are still several things that will grate your nerves. Employing the numerous fighting techniques will require a good degree of timing, as well as an unfortunate amount of patience needed with the sometimes confusing hit detection in the game, especially when you utilize weapons. There will be many fights which will frustrate even those experienced with the title, as the computer AI will often turtle too much, as well as get you bouncing off the crowd and the walls many times in succession, not giving you a chance to get any type of attack rhythm going, no matter how much you slap the buttons to get your character moving. Finally, the strongest complaint I have in general with Def Jam: FFNY is the loading times before fights, which are often 45 seconds or more, and will make you smack your head in frustration if you're in a hurry to catch a few fights before work. Outside of these relatively diminutive flaws, the title's interface is intuitive, entertaining, and does everything it needs to facilitate your assimilation as an urban street thug.

STORY) 8/10: Def Jam: FFNY's storyline is surprisingly involved (if not completely coherent), given that this is from a genre whose strength typically isn't plot twists and turns. Picking up where Def Jam Vendetta left off, local crime kingpin D Mob has lost the ultimate competition, and is being carted off to prison by two detectives. Fortunately, a mysterious stranger has conceived an intricately elaborate scheme to free the criminal leader from his legal confines; ramming the ever living S out of the cops' sedan at top speed with his Escalade, and hoping nobody else notices. That mysterious stranger turns out to be you, you soon discover when one of the detectives “describes” your looks down at the station, in a seamlessly integrated create-a-character feature. Because of your altruistic gesture, D Mob volunteers you for his crew. Blaze, D Mob's right hand man, see's your potential and essentially becomes your mentor. After he coaches you through a quick test match against their bruiser, House, Blaze becomes your primary source of info regarding your quest to establish governance over various locales, and keep Crow, D Mob's rival ganglord, from permeating his influence. As you progress, the storyline will open up differing types of fights, including free for all and tag team battles, as well as specialty fights, which can including a battle where you can win via smashing your opponent's car thoroughly, using your opponent's face as your tool.

The story, like the majority of this title's elements, is streamlined enough so as not to anchor the flow, but facilitate the gameplay and general motif of the tile, and subsequently your enjoyment of it. It provides a relatively convincing reason for you to go around and participate in illegal street fights, much more convincing than your standard fighter.

REPLAYABILITY) 8/10: Def Jam: FFNY's unique style, vicious battling system, and huge variety of options are the elements that perpetuate a fighting title like this. Its hard not to want to view a multitude of street brawlers ranging from sinewy martial artists to hulking grapplers to scrappy thugs as they become immersed into this realm of urban posturing and violence. The range of fighters you can create is profound, and it'll cause fans of the title to keep hitting the fight circles for months.

OVERALL SCORE) 8/10: While not possessing of nothing terribly innovative, EA and developer AKI attack and conquer their goal in Def Jam: FFNY with a ferocity to match the fighting found in the title itself, and it is ultimately a highly rewarding experience. Escapism at its finest, this title fulfills the aspiration of the most devout young urban socialite or the whims of a daydreaming straight edged introvert. Def Jam is stylish, engrossing, and darned fun. Step to, and get poppin.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/03/05