Def Jam: Fight for NY

"Def Jam is the ugly duckling."

Well, EA has released another fighting game. This game is Def Jam Fight for NY, which also had a game before it which was Def Jam Vendetta. Now Def Jam Vendetta was an ok fighting game when it was out. Though when Def Jam Fight for NY was released and I played it, major improvements were made. To put it simply this game is simply incredible. This game shines in all types of categories that every fighting game needs. I will be scoring the game starting from graphics, sound, control, game play, and value. Each of these categories will be scored from 1 to 10, 1 meaning the worst and 10 meaning the best. So enough chit chat, and let's get on with the review.

GRAPHICS 9/10
First, off I will be talking about how i thought of the graphics. Simply, the graphics are superbly done. The shadowing on the characters, the fighting arena's are incredible. The audience don't look like cardboard cut outs, they are in full 3-D. I also enjoyed the smooth texture EA really put a lot of work on the character faces and bodies. Some of the cinematics are computer animated which still look nice. They use the actual game graphics for most of the cinematics.

SOUND 9/10
Now, the sound in this game. The sound in this game are magnificent. Like when you slam your opponents face into the wall you can hear the sound from the wall, and I also noticed they use different sounds for kicking, punching, and weapons. Also, when you slam somebody into the wall, EA didn't use the same sound as if you slam somebody's head into a metal cage. What was also nice, was the rain drop sound and the lightning you could hear in the game. The crowd would also cheer and yell out stuff. The voice acting is just perfect. The things that the fighters would say, they all have voices which is good, which means not much reading in this game. And the rappers in real life use their voices for their character, which is awsome. The music of course is hip-hop which i enjoyed to listen to, I loved it.

CONTROL 8/10
So what did i think of the control? I thought it was ok. This game needs a tutorial so you can learn all the moves, such as blocking and counter attacks. It took me forever to learn how to block and counter. Furthermore, I didn't know how to use my blazin'. Blazin' is a special and unique move that consists of multiple attacks to totally, annihilate your opponent if used against him. Though once you learn how to punch and kick, learn all the controls, it gets a whole lot better. I think the controls fit this game perfectly after you get use to them.

GAME PLAY 9/10
Finally, the game play. The gameplay is marvelous in this game. You can interact with almost anything in this game. You can throw people into the crowd, and they will help you beat up the opponent, they will hold him, or even hand you a weapon. You can use the walls around you to smash your opponent. Or climb the turnbuckles and do an aerial attack on your opponent. Or even throw your opponent onto the train tracks, and have him get ran over by the subway and get killed ( which i thought was cool ). The fighting arenas or venues are similar and different. There's a venue where your surrounded by fire and you can throw you opponent into the ring of fire and have him roasted. Or you can simply throw your opponent threw a window and have him fall three-stories and die. The weapon of choice on this game is truly gold. You can beat your opponent with pool sticks, sledgehammers, crowbars, wooden planks, and other demonic weapons of your choice, at your disposal, to have that upper edge on your opponent.. The fighting styles I also enjoyed in this game, which showed a variety of fighting your opponent, and you can also combine different fighting styles which was awesome. Character can learn martial-arts, street fighting, kick boxing, wrestling, and submissions. The characters I enjoyed, they put a lot more rap artists in this game then in Def Jam Vendetta, and they had other fighters, you can choose from who I have never herd, I'm not sure if they are rappers, or just made up people. The story mode was great, I love the story in this game, it's a real epic story, and as you play you want to know what happens to your character as you progress. The create-a-fighter is really good to. You can customize the clothes he wears, jewelry, hair style, give him a shave, and give him tattoos. You can decide what kind of eyes he has, his skin color, ears, nose, mouth, weight, height, size, and his fighting style, and skills. This game will keep you playing for months, even after you beat the story mode, there is up to 4 player fighting matches.

VALUE 10/10
In conclusion this game is great. It's packed with all sorts of action. EA really took time and it all paid off. This game was polished, and was made the best it could be, and it probably is the greatest fighting games out in stores. Pick up this game it will be worth your time.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/04/04, Updated 12/02/04