Def Jam Vendetta

"Being a thug is fun, for awhile"

Imagine this scenario... You're driving down the street in a 'tricked' out 67' impalla. You know, the type with the 42,000 spoke rimz? You gotz da bling on your bling, and da girly girl on your side. Warren G is blastin from your 15's and there aint nothin thats gonna bring you down. You hit a stop light and look to your left to see the same ride, with an even hotter girly girl, and the infamous DMX with his hand on the steering wheel. Of course you can't let this thug bring you down, just cause he can rap you under the table. Don't bust out your glock playa, take this fool to the ring.

When I first heard about this game, I was quite skeptical. I mean honestly, a wrestling game based around the def jam records franchise? The only logical reason behind a game of this sort is the gaming industry wanting to capitalize on the obese 'hip hop' genre. A sure fire way to make a crappy game and still get away with a great deal of cash. But suprisingly enough, the game does some things right, and ultimately isn't too bad of a game.

Electronic Arts's 'big' is know for putting out some over the top sports games, and to this day, they have done it quite well. This time around, they aren't alone. Being backed by AKI who is known for their near perfect wrestling game engines, EA takes a step in the right direction. This blend of companies is apparent as soon as you pick up the game and makes for a somewhat unique gaming experience. To break it down, there are over 30 characters total in the game. A majority of these characters aren't the rap stars that you and I have come to expect, but street tough thugs, or what a major corporation would encompass a street thug to be. Let's face it though, the rappers are the reason to be playing this game in the first place, and luckily they are nearly identical to their human counterparts. The detail goes all the way down to the tattoos and wardrobe.

The controls are pretty simplistic, and are easy to pick up, but thankfully this doesn't take away from the ammount of moves and variety of each individual character. Each of the moves has a unique name, and are awarded different points for their degree of difficulty. The ammount of consistancy of these moves raises your 'blazin' meter. When this meter is full, you can pull off some over the top super moves.

The graphics aren't amazing, but they seem to do their job. EA brings in the slow mo matrix type camera when you pull off the blazin moves, and this is the only graphical achievement in the game. Far from original, but it works.

Def Jam has a high addiction level. As I said in the beginning of the article, I am not one for hip hop nor wrestling games, but the ease of playability and the amount of characters to unlock make it fun to keep playing. While you crawl through the long story mode, you are interrupted by lil' gangsta hoes that want your body, so much so that they are willing to fight it out over you. You pick which ho you want to keep as your own, and then take control of her to fight the opposing ho. Interestingly enough, the ho is designed after a real person, in which you get a photo album of after defeating them. These girls are straight from the ghetto, but their soft porn photos should keep 14 year old boys up for countless nights.

Where Def Jam Vendetta fails is it's replay value. Sure enough, the game is addictive for awhile, but after you fly through the game and unlock everything, the game becomes a shelf warmer. It's one of those games that you rent, laugh for a bit, and then return to the local blockbuster. Honestly though, there is no better feeling taking Ludacris's persona into your hands and beating the living crap out of DMX by means of a 'thug destroyer' move.

In conclusion, Def Jam Vendetta isn't too bad of a game, but it isn't anywhere near the unforgettable game status symbol that game publishers pray for. Get your girly girl and your bling bling, and make a trip down to blockbusta, but leave the glock at home white boy.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/07/03, Updated 04/07/03