Def Jam Vendetta

"WCW Revenge version 2.0"

''5 out of 10? What?''

When it comes to wrestling game fanatics, there are two schools of thought. The Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth school and the WWF: No Mercy school. If, like me, you don't enjoy smashing the circle button all day until you win, Def Jam Vendetta is the game you have been waiting for for a long time. Hey, it's the sequel to No Mercy; it has the famous AKI engine, combined with EA Big-style presentation and a roster of unique, albeit totally unlikely wrestlers. How could you go wrong?

Through some odd turn of events, however, someone dropped the ball. I don't know who it was, and I don't care, but this game doesn't at all compare to WWF No Mercy. It doesn't even compare to WWF: Wrestlemania 2000. Def Jam Vendetta stands out as the first AKI wrestling sequel that offers less than its predecessor, substantially less.

The truth is, I can only compare this game to WCW Revenge, which embarrassingly enough manages to beat Def Jam in several areas. But I digress, lets move on!

Gameplay:

Oh boy, what happened here? It's the same old AKI grappling engine, but with an emphasis on ''old.''

To it's credit, AKI's engine here is faster than Revenge's, but I only chalk that up to the faster hardware.

The moveset is just barely a step up from Revenge's set, with refined/added animations and the inclusion of a running grapple, and an extra move from standing grapples. But tell me, AKI, what if I want to flip my opponent over? I can't? I could in Revenge. Well never mind that, why can't I drag my opponent away from the ropes? Half of the special (blazin) moves end up next to them anyway. I could certainly do that in Revenge. How about the Tree of Woe, and reverse turnbuckle grapples, alternate turnbuckle front grapples ,etc.

The point is, half of the things in this game that you could do in past games in the series you can't do anymore. This is inexcusable. And don't tell me you ran out of buttons AKI, because the L2 button isn't at all used while wrestling. AKI was able to add more and more to each N64 game it released, all on the same hardware! Now they're given a whole new, advanced hardware to work with and they turn out an engine that at best is an updated Revenge? AKI has done better than this, I've seen it, and I won't accept anything less.

Features/Customability

The totally unexplainable thing about this category is that Def Jam Vendetta has so few features(4 match types, one story mode, and an incredibly limited options menu.) You'd think that if AKI neutered it's engine it would make up for it somehow to keep the appeal there. I won’t even talk about Create-A-Wrestler or Ladder/Table/Garbage matches options, because neither Revenge or Def Jam has them, and these modes offer way more customization than either game is prepared to offer. Unfortunately, I have to aim lower.

The infuriatingly frustrating thing about Def Jam's matches is that you have to accept them as-is. And as-is, they aren't much. Single player mode works, as does handicap and free for all, but you can't change anything about the matches. In Revenge you can toggle on/off match time length, pins, submissions, K.O.s, and most importantly ROPE BREAK.

Does anyone play with rope break? I mean, c'mon AKI, either let me drag the poor bastard away from the ropes or let me turn off rope breaks altogether! Is it so much to ask? You've done it before.

Tag-Team mode is totally confused, partially as a result of every match being No-DQ (except for the rope breaks) and partially because no option to toggle on/off tagging was included.

The result is every tag-team match starts out with partners on the apron, but they are free to get in whenever they want, regardless of whether their partner tagged them. After 15 seconds, (a time limit you could adjust in Revenge but not here) the partners have to go back to the aprons, at which point they are free to return to the ring at will. Simply put, in terms of features, buy Revenge, you get more out of it.

Graphics & Sound

Well at least the game looks pretty. The wrestler's models are very well done, and most noticeably (and importantly) 99 percent of the major clipping issues prevalent on the N64 are nonexistent here. At least the game did something right. Also a total step up from Revenge are the moves and movesets, which are all beautifully animated (old animations from No Mercy and prior games were tweaked nicely), and the finishers, though ridiculous, don't look totally out of place, and come across nicely.

Whether or not you like the music offered in the game, the music is presented well. Real songs from rappers in the game are played, with overtures of those songs playing in the background during matches. This is another step up from the boring techno/rock music from Revenge.

Story Mode

I don't play wrestling games for story mode. To me, that's kind of like playing Grand Theft Auto just for the Ambulance missions, or Zelda for the fishing. This story mode is kinda bland, just an organized series of events. Unfortunately you can only pick from four characters in story mode, none of which are rappers from the Def Jam label. Odd, you could pick anyone to go through the belts/stories in Revenge...

The End Part

In short, this game can't even compare to WCW Revenge. Revenge!!! That game was released in 1998, when AKI's engine was still in its early stages. Revenge offered so much more than I mentioned here, like a bigger roster, entrances, valets, a royal rumble, and even limited create-a-wrestler (you could only edit existing costumes, but thats a lot more than Def Jam can do.)

And that's just Revenge! Don't get me started on what Wrestlemania 2000 and No Mercy do better than this game, I would be here all day and it wouldn't be fair.

The truth is, you would have to be desperate for a brand-new, genuine AKI wrestling game to buy this and call it great.

Def Jam Vendetta had the potential (and more importantly, the designers) to be a 10/10 game. It only used half of its potential, and half of its otherwise famous engine, and so it is only half of the game it could have been.

5 out of 10.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 04/20/03, Updated 04/20/03