EA's Def Jam Vendetta for the PS2 and Gamecube was a standout hit because it was a beautiful marriage between hip hop and Aki's wrestling engine, the same one that powered the N64 title, No Mercy. Therefore, it goes to reason that because EA struck gold (as they usually do), they'd gear up for a bigger and more in your face sequel. Enter Def Jam Fight for NY, a sequel chock full of new characters, music, gameplay features, and more options than you can shake a bloody pool cue at. However, all of this stuff doesn't hide the fact that there are some serious issues with the combat.

The first Def Jam was a straight up wrestling game. Using Aki's fabulous engine, EA stripped it of its depth and tossed in a host of famous rap artists in what was an enjoyable and often times brutal romp, especially if friends were a part of the madness. For the sequel, the developers took an extreme chance and ditched the ring (for the most part). Instead, you're battling in underground fighting arenas, night clubs, and other seedy locales. The ring ropes have been replaced with surging crowds, and they can be used as an offensive weapon. In fact, they often hand weapons to you! All of this is a bold switch and it works rather well. Sure, we could've been blindly served an update to the prequel with some new modes, but instead, EA pulled out all of the stops.

Actually, no one can pull out stops like EA and it shows here. They managed to get the likenesses of numerous hip hop artists including Snoop Dogg, Fat Joe, Flava Flav, Ice-T, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, Red Man, Lil Kim, Busta Rhymes, and Ludacris, while at the same time including some other well-known characters that lie outside the rap scene, such as Henry Rollins, Carmen Electra, and Omar Epps. Basically, there are scores of guys and gals to select from that are both famous and EA created, so there's someone for everyone. They also managed to get the actual voices to match the characters, and they jam packed the game with even more music. When you combine that with tons of weapons, numerous arenas, and detailed graphics, it's difficult to turn a blind eye to what's been put together. It's truly a sight to behold.

The meat of the game is its story mode. D-Mobb, the crime boss from the last game, is saved from the slammer by an unnamed assailant that turns out to be you. Using a unique character creation system, you build your fighter and outfit him with all sorts of cool stuff. Unfortunately, the options given to create his body are few, but the amount of clothing and bling-bling is rather impressive and more than makes up for the lack of eye, nose, head, and hair options. You can even select the fighting style of your character, so whether he specializes in street fighting, wrestling, submission, martial arts, or kickboxing is entirely up to you.

After creating your brawler, you can then partake in various underground fights against Snoop's posse. Using a NY map, you select locations and defeat a set amount of characters before moving onto the next locale. Winning these fights earns you street cred, development points to level up, as well as cash to buy some new threads, tattoos, and haircuts. Acquiring all of this stuff is definitely incentive to keep playing, as your character's appearance becomes somewhat of a personal priority.

As far as the gameplay goes, Def Jam is a mixed bag. In its humble beginnings, Aki's wrestling engine was the best there was, and one of the reasons why the N64 was THE system for multiplayer gaming. With the first Def Jam, the engine was simplified but still very solid, but here it's somewhat annoying. True, the moves, including specials, are still over the top and brutal, and each character's deadly maneuver is definitely worth checking out, but the controls are very confusing. For example, you can pick up weapons that are on the ground, but the same button (X) that is used to pick them up grapples, so if an opponent is too close to you, you'll go for the lock up. Worse, the blocking system isn't as effective as it used to be, that is, if you can block at all. The game's biggest Achilles heel is its cheap AI. The computer is insanely aggressive to the point where most matches aren't enjoyable. Knocking people down with the most brutal of maneuvers doesn't seem to faze them early on, making weapon grabbing pointless. They also go rabid when your BLAZIN (able to use a special move). As you learn the nuances to the gameplay the AI becomes easier to deal with, but when I first started playing, I was ready to chuck my PS2 controller through a window.

The AI is made especially worse by the controls. As I mentioned, the X button has two functions, and this will cause you to lose matches. I was in a close fight where I had the guy beat and was BLAZIN, but instead of grabbing my opponent to finish him off, I went for the bottle on the floor. He recovered, threw me into a corner and KO'd me with a haymaker to the face. Continue? No!

Even though the combat has issues, the game is still fun to play because of the new things you can do. The crowd offers you weapons, and they can grab your opponent, setting him or her up for extremely painful moves. Of course, they can also work against you, so it's best to stay away from them when your opponent is on the offensive.

Also new are the numerous environmental moves. Throw people through wooden posts, into jukeboxes and cement walls, and through stereo speakers, and that's just for starters! Even better, fighters take damage, so the blood really flies. You also have new ways to knock people out. Time it just right, and a bottle to the noggin will send them crumpling to the floor.

Of course, part of the fun of smashing a bat upside a chump's head is watching the carnage unfold, because Fight for NY has very pretty graphics. While not as gorgeous as the screen shots would have you believe, the game is still quite a looker. The character models are highly detailed and feature this cool glow, and the environments are equally as impressive. The cut scenes, both in game and GG, are outstanding. I just wish the actual character animations were smoother. All of the fighters look stiff except when they're performing their special moves.

As you may have already assumed, the music is outstanding. Featuring songs from several artists that play during and after fights, Def Jam's soundtrack is definitely worth packaging and selling alongside EA's other music CDs.

The numerous options, pretty visuals, and cool tunes are definitely appreciated, but Def Jam doesn't present anything we haven't seen before. It's more like the hip hop version of Eidos' Backyard Wrestling games, though with a better engine and Snoop Dogg. With that being said, it's undetermined whether it'll have the staying power of EA's other games. After all, its character creation system is slim compared to other titles in the genre, and its story mode isn't incredible. It just kind of purrs at a steady pace; neither rising nor falling.

What also bothers me is the excessive cursing. Now I let four letter words fly more than the average person, so the language isn't the issue. It's the use of the same words over and over that bugs me. I guess EA figured that, since the violence earned the game an M rating, they might as well toss the word b&^%c into the game a thousand times. Expand the vocabulary! Please!

In addition to the game's story mode, there's multiplayer for up to four via Sony's multi-tap. You can battle the standard way with just four people, no frills, but why bother when you can slaughter them? There are numerous match types to mess around with, and each one requires you to brutally annihilate opponents by throwing them through car windows, into fire, and into the path of an oncoming subway train. Unfortunately, both the PS2 and Xbox versions lack online play, but the offline match types are enough to keep you and your friends busy for a long time.

Def Jam is a cool-looking fighter with brutal bone-crushing gameplay and tons of style, but its cheap AI keeps it from truly shining. Also, the gameplay modes fail to excite, making the game somewhat of an oddity. It'll no doubt become a huge seller, but it's not a killer app, nor is it anything to get particularly excited about.

Our Final ScoreMediocre

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