Def Jam: Fight for NY

The sequel to last year's surprisingly good Def Jam Vendetta is surprisingly even better. Instead of resting on their laurels, AKI and EA have completely changed the game around into something unique. Fight for NY plays like something between No Mercy and Dead or Alive, with a lot of flash thrown on top to make it shine real nice.



The gameplay engine is fairly unique in that regard. You have buttons for punches, kicks, grapples and running. Holding L while using the first three will use a stronger version of each, like in No Mercy. Inversely, R blocks attacks and if you time it right, or time a punch or kick right, you'll counter a grapple. Def Jam moves at a fast pace; almost always an oppenent will get right back up after being knocked down, so there's no ground submissions, and fights can be really short depending on how good you are, often lasting a minute. Also, you have a special meter that rises as you fight, and when full, you can enter "blazin" mode where you can thus perform your fighter's very painful, over the top special. Fight for NY makes use of multiple 5 distinct fighting styles that change the way you fight; streetfighting (killer punches), martial arts (a sort of high flyer), kickboxing (assortment of combos, particularly from a grapple position), wrestling (effect grapple attacks) and submissions (use submissions to go for a tapout victory. The game does have some degree of limb specific damage in that regard). The styles are vastly different and affect how you play and how you handle your oppenent. Once more, many fighters will be proficient in multiple styles, giving them the best of both worlds.



The other element that makes Def Jam unique is the environments. Sure, one stage has a ring, but most of them don't. Often, you'll be fighting in dangerous enviroments with a crowd watching. There's a large variety of different levels with different properties. You can do a lot of damage by throwing someone into a wall and bashing them into that, or by using weapons provided by the crowd. Speaking of which, the crowd can get involved, either pushing a fighter back in the ring (sort of like bouncing of the ropes) or by grabbing them and allowing the use of double team maneuvers. Which brings us to the most unique aspect of Def Jam; no pinfalls at all, and health can regenerate pretty quickly. To win the fight, you have to perform a knockout move while your oppenent's health is in the red. This can include a double team move, using weapons, a blazin' move, a wall or the specialty of one of the fighting styles, be it a streetfighter's haymaker or a high-risk move from a martial artist. Because health can recover to a certain degree, this provides some tense moments and the window for a comeback is always open.

The game actually has a great story mode. The story takes place after the first Def Jam, with you controlling a created character who frees D-Mobb from the police, and help him regain his underground empire from the new kingpin of New York, Crow (played by Snopp Dogg). First you use the basic but solid create-a-wrestler (the interface is pretty neat) to make your person (don't expect to make anything over the top, you'll be making a pretty realistic person), then choose your first fighting style, then make your way through the game's better-than-Fable storyline. You'll visit various clubs unlocking a huge variety of fighters (the game has nearly 70 in total, more than half are actual rappers/minor celebrities who do their own voicework. It's a huge and awesome roster to tell the truth. The game gets bonus points for having Flava Flav.)

Along the way, you'll use points earned in battle to improve your stats, learn new blazin' moves or fighting styles in Henry Rollins' gym, and money to buy a large variety of hairstyles, tattoos, jewelry and licensed clothes. The jewelry itself is pretty important, since it adds to your charisma rating.



Because of how short fights can be, story mode can be beaten in five hours. But that's after about 60 or 70 fights. Which is more than what can be said about most fighting or wrestling games. The game has a strong multiplayer conponent. Up to four players can beat the hell out of each other at once. There are a handful of very unique unlockable gimmick matches that suit the game. How can you say no to a suubway match? The lack of online play does hurt though.

The game certainly looks great. The character models here are fantastic (well, not the crowd, but that's fine) and the game does a great job of making every blow look as painful as possible. The voice acting (all done by the fighters' real life counterparts) are all good. There's quite a bit of swearing, but it's never out of place or excessive. As you'd imagine, the soundtrack is all rap, but very fitting. The game often alternates between the song and just the instrumental during gameplay in an effective manner.



Just like it's predessessor, Fight for NY is a pleasent surprise of a game, proving that it is indeed possible to have both flash and substance. If you're a fan or rap or looking for a fast-paced and fun game, make sure you check this out.