Def Jam: Icon

"How can a game with rappers be so terrible?"

My name is dafreestyleking, and this is my review for Def Jam: Icon. Is this game fun and exciting, or boring? Let's find out. When DJ: Icon first came out, I immediately searched for this game at different Blockbuster stores so I could rent this. I am a huge fan of the Def Jam video game series, so I couldn't wait to pick this up. A fighting game featuring rappers is like a dream come true for me. A couple of weeks later, I finally got a chance to rent this game, and I was very disappointed.



STORY-3/10

You're a low tier wannabe rapper/producer and you build up your rep by beating up other rappers and signing them to your record label. Your idol gets shot and now it's up to you to deliver some street justice. At certain points in the story, I didn't know what the hell was going on. The story is pretty linear, so you aren't going to have many choices to choose from. You end up fighting the same people over and over and you fight possibly to lamest boss character in the Def Jam series at the end of the game.

Female characters aren't playable. The only purpose they serve in this game is to be your girlfriend. The women in this game are useless since all they do is take your money. The story is really short, and there isn't much replay value unless you play this crap with your friends or have XBOX LIVE.




SOUND-8/10

If you're a rap fan like me, you'll like the soundtrack. The kicks and punches sound really painful and the voice acting is solid.




GRAPHICS-9/10

I'm not a graphics nerd, but EA really did a great job with the graphics in this game. The rappers look exactly like their real life counterparts.




CAF(CREATE-A-FIGHTER)-6/10
My problem with the create mode is there is not enough options. There is not enough clothes, there is not enough facial options, meaning all your guys look similar, and there isn't enough hairstyles. The clothing in this game is quite limited, which is odd because FFNY had more clothes to choose from and that game is on an inferior system.




GAMEPLAY-1/10

This is where the game fails most, the gameplay. The fighting engine has been changed completely from DJ:FFNY. You can no longer select multiple fighting styles for your created fighter. Instead you can only select 1 lame fighting style for your fighter and their isn't much of a difference in the styles.

This game is billed as a fighter, but the fighters are as slow as molasses! Punches and kicks don't damage your opponent that much. To deliver mass damage, you're supposed to throw your opponent into an environmental hazard, like some large speakers, a helicopter, and a flaming gas station.

To activate environmental hazards, you have to pretend like you're scratching a record and if you do it correctly, you're character's theme song will play and you will move faster.
There is no character rating system, so there isn't a way to see how strong your character is. The fighters all fight the same too. And you'll get pissed off when the A.I. is throwing you around like a rag doll. Blocking in this game is basically impossible. If you actually win a match, it'll be because of luck, not skill.


Story-3/10
Sound-8/10
Graphics9/10
CAF-6/10
Gameplay-1/10
Overall-5/10


PROS:
-Rappers in a fighting game.

-Nice graphics and background stages.



CONS:
-NO D-Mob, he's a staple in this series, this is inexcusable. Also gone are the cool EA created characters like: Manny, Snowman, Baxter etc.

-Unlike DJ: FFNY, there aren't many clothes to choose from.

-There aren't enough rappers to choose from.

-The story isn't nearly as strong as DJ: Vendetta or DJ: FFNY.

-Sluggish, slow, gameplay. This game isn't fun at all, not even with friends.

-Removing the fast paced, action packed fighting from DJ: FFNY and replacing it with this new, “more realistic” horrible gameplay killed this game, which is why this game did not sell well.

-No way to check your fighter's stats, so you won't know how they measure up against other fighters.

I wasted $8 bucks on a rental and thats $8 bucks that I will never get back. Do yourself a favor by not buying/renting this game.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 05/28/08

Game Release: Def Jam: Icon (US, 03/06/07)