Def Jam: Icon

"Hate the playa, not the game. No, wait... hate the game"

The Def Jam franchise hasn't been around long, but on the last round of consoles it made a name for itself through a mix of brutal fighting and a cool roster of hip-hop legends. For its third (and probably last) iteration, the series was handed over to EA Chicago, colloquially know as the “Fight Night dudes”. Perhaps that should have been an ominous foreshadowing of things to come, given the slow-paced, highly technical nature of their premiere franchise.

The career mode, where most players will dedicate their time (and the main concern of this review), is vastly improved over Fight for NY. But before getting into all of that, players will be tasked with creating a custom brawler who will serve as the central character for the game. The character creation system is surprisingly robust, with the lots of areas such as body build and facial features to tweak. Interestingly, instead of using a slider system, the option works on a four point grid, allowing much more differentiation in what a person can come up with. Beyond that, it's possible to tweak a few other things such as hairstyle and facial hair, although these are too few and too similar (how many versions of cornrows do we really need?). The one real irritation is the fact that there's one standard voice, no matter what the character looks like. So, those who choose to create a white or Hispanic brawler will still end up having the voice of a black guy, which seems like a bit of an oversight. But I digress…

This time around the career mode revolves around building a record label (aptly named “Build a Label”) by signing rappers and managing finances. As crazy as it sounds to have this sort of tycoon building element in a fighting game, it is oddly compelling and ends up being the strongest part of Def Jam's actual gameplay. Whenever a rapper is about to release a new album, it's up to you to decide how to market it. Donating money for air time, marketing or PR all have an effect on the album's success and it's important to find a good equilibrium between the various elements in order to maximize profits.

Unfortunately, the games strongest component is also the one players will spend the least time with. Instead of micromanaging a burgeoning music empire, most time will be spent beating down random fools who get in the way. There is almost always some flimsy story element to why it has to be done, most often because the paparazzi are becoming a little too overbearing. So why do I sound so remorseful at the prospect of fighting in a game primarily about that exact thing? Well… it sucks.

As I mentioned at the start of this review, handing the franchise over to a developer primarily involved in boxing probably wasn't the best idea. Whereas the fights from Fight for NY were fast paced and brutal to the extreme, the fighting here is just boring. Fighters move slowly, they strike slowly, when they get knocked down they get back up slowly. To make matters worse, there is an emphasis on defending instead of offensive tactics. This does nothing at all but hurt the game and makes it a bore to play. Or at least it would if that was the only thing wrong with it.

If slow, technical fighting wasn't damning enough, the fact that the controls are utter garbage will be. Normal attacks of the high/low, strong/weak variety are handled with the face buttons. However, anything more complicated than that is accomplished via a combination of analog sticks and trigger buttons. Allow me to elaborate. Defending, now an essential move is accomplished by pulling the right trigger and pressing up or down on the right analog depending on where defense is needed. Sound familiar? Indeed, this mechanic is quite similar to the one found in Fight Night 3. In addition to that, the right analog stick is used to grab opponents. The left stick is used for moving, and pressing it in a direction twice will cause the fighter to roll or otherwise jump in that direction. In the end, there's just too much assigned to the analog controls, and it's not uncommon to try and grab the opponent when trying to block.

Just in case the weird control scheme doesn't ruin the experience, it's safe to say that having button commands register approximately half the time will. I can't even begin to count how many times I tried to grab, dodge, or otherwise hurt an opponent for my fighter to just stand motionless like a brain-dead moron while he got pummeled.

One interesting idea presented in Icon is the turntable mechanic. Players can choose a theme song for their fighter, which will play during a fight. However, the opponent also has a theme song. During any match, only one song plays at a time, but the song can be changed by using the turntable mechanic. In effect, this involves holding the left trigger and rotating the analog sticks. Once the song is changed, the environment will take on a completely different look. It is also possible to initiate environmental effects (such as explosions) by “scratching”, which is accomplished in much the same way as changing songs. Unfortunately, this whole mechanic is only explained in the vaguest of ways and despite messing around with it for quite some time, I never really got a handle on what it was supposed to do. While it's true that you can dish out some big damage by scratching, it's possible to do this regardless of which song is playing meaning it often seems redundant to change the song. Overall, it's a cool idea lacking in execution.

Standing in stark contrast to the woefully abysmal gameplay, graphics and sound design are top-notch. Interestingly, both aspects are woven together quite well. While music plays, things in the environment will move and bounce with the music, although this is more aesthetic than practical. It seems like this is all supposed to tie in with the turntable idea somehow, but in reality it really doesn't come together. Even so, it looks pretty cool. As far as the rest of the sound work goes, it is pretty good. I don't even consider myself a fan of rap music but the track listing is pretty catchy and all around great fighting music.

On the graphics front, everything looks superb. Environments are put together with painstaking detail, and all the parts that move to the music actually don't seem that out of place. As stated before, using the turntable mechanic to change songs will give the level a completely different look. For instance, in a nightclub level the room will go from brightly light to a dark rave party look complete with blacklighting. Unfortunately there aren't many environments to fight in, so the same handful are regurgitating every few fights which quickly leads to boredom. Character models are also very good, with realistic animations. Although, I think it's physically impossible to do a high kick in jeans that sag to the floor…

THE VERDICT
Overall, Def Jam Icon is a failure. The record label management is a cool and fun idea, there's just not enough of it to compensate for the utterly lacking fighting mechanics. What it all comes down to is that EA Chicago was the wrong developer to take control of this franchise. Street fights aren't about standing around protecting your face – it's about getting in the other guy's face and then beating it in, self-preservation be damned. In the end this tactical take means Icon is less brutal, less exciting and completely devoid of fun.

HIGHS
- Music/environment implementation is interesting
- Record label management

LOWS
- Too many functions assigned to analog sticks
- Clumsy, boring fighting
- Few environments

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 01/26/09

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