Source:
IGN
Def Jam: Fight for NY
Finally a game that allows you to live out your
ultimate fantasy -- throwing Sean Paul in front of a subway train.
By Hilary Goldstein
Fighting games -- even great fighting games
-- have a habit of doing very little with their sequels. Usually a
couple of new arenas are added, one or two new fighters thrown in for
good measure, and a few costumes slipped onto beloved characters to make
them seem new or different. Maybe there's one gameplay wrinkle added to
make the update appear worthwhile, but overall, fighting game sequels
tend to be highly derivative. Not so with
Def Jam: Fight for NY, sequel to last year's
Vendetta. EA has added a robust cast of characters, arenas, and an awesome Story Mode along with turning
Def Jam
from a strict wrestler into a true brawler. A lot has been done and the
sequel is much better for it. If you liked the first, you'll love
Fight for NY.
That said, I do have to warn that I wasn't nearly as enamored with
Vendetta as J Rob, who reviewed EA's previous fighting effort.
Fight for NY
is a great progression for the series, but isn't quite to the level of a
classic fighter. It may get there with the next iteration, but for now
gamers will have to be content with a very competent and enjoyable
brawler heavy on presentation and exhilarating moves.
Present Yo'self Fight for NY
is heavy on presentation. Packed with more than 70 fighters, 30
licensed sound tracks, 20 venues, and 10 game modes, there's really
little else you could ask for in terms of bulk. The fighter list is
pretty impressive, especially considering more than 40 of those fighters
are celebrities. Most are hip-hop stars, including the Snoop Dizzle,
and a few are just media darlings (Carmen, you are so hot). Better yet,
all of these fine video game characters are voiced by their real-life
counterparts. That really is Flava Flav talking smack after beating you
down and yes, Xzibit himself will pimp your ride with his foot and tell
you all about it.
As you'd expect, there are short cut-scene
intros for each fighter and also outros for each victory. The cut-scenes
use the in-game engine and the outros show off the real-time damage on a
character's face. Get punked by Method Man but win in the end and
you'll appear with cut lip or blackened eye. It's a nice way to show off
the pains of battle, but the use of in-game cut-scenes really shows its
stuff in the Story Mode.
In Story Mode, your custom character
will get new hair styles, tattoos, jewelry, and clothes. In fact, there
are dozens upon dozens of licensed clothes from the likes of Phat Farm
and Fila and more than 50 tattoos to apply to every inch of your body --
even your throat. All of these changes are displayed in the mug shot
load screen before each match as well as every single cut-scene in the
6+ hour story mode. That helps to make it feel like you are truly
progressing through the story. Since the character models are large and
detailed, those in-game cut-scenes often look better than the fighting
game.
There are a few problems, though, with the presentation -- really just
minor things. It doesn't seem to matter what weight and height you pick
as every created character seems to have the same relative build, which
is unfortunate. And as Jon asked for in his
Vendetta review
last year, there's still no way to play through Story Mode as one of the
fighters from the game, not even after beating the story. Why not let
me play through as Slick Rick? That would have boosted the longevity
just a bit.
Yo, Tell Me a Story The Story Mode is
Def Jam's greatest strength. What I'm about to say may be shocking, it may be controversial, but damn if it isn't true --
Def Jam: Fight for NY's story is better than
Fable's.
Yes, the story of a fighting game is actually better than that of
Microsoft's excellent RPG. In fact, this is probably the best story ever
seen in a fighting game. That's not too hard, since most fighting games
feature very bizarre and almost incomprehensible storylines.
Things begin with your rescue of D-Mob from incarceration. Your created
character is accepted into D-Mob's crew and your character winds up in
the middle of a turf war. D-Mob rules the streets by pitting his
followers in Fight Club-style matches against other chumps. He's
battling for territory with
Fight for NY's nemesis Crow, played
by Snoop. Each fight earns you points to improve your fighter's various
attributes and allow you to unlock new moves and even new fighting
styles. You'll also earn cash to upgrade your wardrobe, place some
diamond and platinum on your body, and get some ink in your skin.
While the visual change is a nice reward (you have thousands of
different possible combinations), there is an affect on gameplay as
well. The crowds watching your fights are impressed by the shine on your
fingers and the thickness of the chains on your neck. The more popular
you become, the easier it is to use your special Blazin' moves, which
are the super moves of
Fight for NY.
Part 2
Throughout the Story Mode you'll get text and voice messages from
allies and enemies. Some of these are incredibly repetitive, like Henry
Rollins constantly reminding you to come to his gym and train, but
overall it's a nice touch. By the end of the Story Mode, which will take
anywhere from six to ten hours to complete, you'll have fought the
majority of
Def Jam's characters, earned yourself a girlfriend, and taken control of the streets.
Though I really enjoyed the story, I found that there was a few times
where I wished I had a bit more free will. Crow extends the offer to
switch sides if you want, but you never actually have the option. While
these offers are part of the story, it would have been nice if a few
branching paths were added to make the story a bit more dynamic. Other
than that, there really isn't much else the Story Mode could have
offered. A good story, great voice acting, challenging gameplay, and a
hefty length (for a fighting game).
Shut the F' Up and Fight Story and presentation are fine and dandy, but the true measure of a fighting game is, quite obviously, the fighting.
Fight for NY takes the
Def Jam
series in a new direction by opening up fights to include a mixture of
wrestling and fighting. With five different available fighting styles,
there's a lot of variety in all of the moves. Each style has its own
grabs, punches, and kicks. Character's can have up to three different
styles at the same time and the more styles you have the more moves you
unlock. You can easily tell the difference fighting a martial artist
from a submission fighter and really that's one of the keys to making a
fighting game seem authentic.
The 20 unique arenas each have a
different personality. The subway, for example, is pretty open with no
spectators, but has train tracks at the back of the arena. Get your
timing right and you can knock your opponent onto the tracks just as a
train passes. Go to the Foundation and you'll find yourself fighting in a
basement, surrounded by enthusiastic spectators who push, grab, and
offer weapons throughout the fight. Or perhaps you want to check out
Club-357 for a classic ring match.
A few of the arenas, like Foundation, have some camera problems. In
one-on-one matches, the camera -- which cannot be manually adjusted --
can sometimes get in too close behind the crowd or wall. Sometimes these
obstructions go transparent, but not always. Even transparent, it's a
bit difficult to see the action. That's troublesome first because the
moves look so cool I don't want them getting obstructed, but also
because it makes it more difficult to time your reversals. A manual
camera switch would have solved this easily, but that's not an option in
Fight for NY.
While the camera can sometimes be a
pain, most of the fighting is fantastic. This is a modification of the
same ol' grapple system developer Aki has been using since the N64 days,
but it's still arcade-solid. You can do simple combos with punches and
kicks, pull reversals if you can time your blocks properly, and grab
your opponent.
It's the grabs that remain the center of the
battle and lead to the best-looking moves. Once grabbed you can use the
punch, kick, or grapple button in combination with Left Thumbstick
directions to pull off a variety of punishing moves. A lot of these are
context sensitive and if you are near a "sticky zone", you can slam your
opponent's head into a wall or try to split them in half with the help
of the crowd.
There's a large variety of moves involving the
crowd and environment and just when I think I've seen them all, I
stumble across another one. They look great and are easy to pull off.
However, since they are so devastating and effective, experienced
fighters will begin to focus on these moves. It's too easy to dominate
fights after a while. Just grab your opponent, throw then against a wall
or other structure, then grab them again to do a powerful move using
the environment. This often leaves them stunned, allowing you to pick
them up and repeat the move. Yes, your opponent can push you off him,
but it's not easy and often a couple of these environmental attacks will
leave an opponent with half his health left. Still looks great, though.
The animations for the moves are great, but some of the
grapple and punch animations are a bit clunky. When you grapple and miss
it can look like a robot trying to snatch a cookie. Weapons, which can
be picked up off the ground or taken from the crowd, are sometimes
snatched accidentally when you are instead intending to go after your
enemy. This leads to a moment of confusion ("How'd this get in my
hands?") and often a successful attack from your opponent. It doesn't
happen often, but it does happen.
Part 3
When the computer takes over to execute grabs and Blazin' moves,
the game if perfect, because you're not in control, but moving around
the arena does feel a bit robotic -- which is often a problem for
wrestling games. It's not a major point or a big issue, but it certainly
keeps
Def Jam: Fight for NY from perfection.
Overall,
Fight for NY
is an attractive game with big characters that fill up a lot of the
screen. The face-modeling is solid with every licensed rapper looking
equal to his counterpart. The framerate, an important aspect of fighting
games, is spotty at times. A fighter needs to be able to hold at least
30 frames consistently and
Def Jam can't manage that in several
arenas. Though the framerate isn't enough to hurt the gameplay, it
certainly detracts from the experience.
Flame On The true gem of
Fight for NY
are the Blazin' moves. As you beat on your opponent, you fill your
Blazin' meter. Once full you can go into your flamb¿ mode. Grab your
opponent again and hit up, down, left, or right on the Right Thumbstick
to unleash one of your four preset Blazin' moves. These creative and
brilliantly choreographed moves are simply amazing. There are just so
many cool and painful moves, it's hard to believe so many are offered in
Def Jam. There are a total of 82 to unlock and once purchased in Story Mode, you can set your favorite four before any fight.
Though the Blazin' moves may seem unbalanced, they actually aren't as
devastating as some super moves in other fighting games. And you can
avoid them. The Blazin' mode lasts for only a short while and can be
taken away if you can wallop on your opponent or simply run from them
long enough. To be honest, it's really not so bad to be snatched and
Blazed by another fighter, because it's cool to watch these awesome
moves in action. Every wrestler in the WWE has his or her own signature
move. Well, that's what the Blazin' moves are, only completely
ridiculous and filled with over-the-top brutality.
You Want a Piece of Me?
Along with Story Mode, there are numerous multiplayer modes as well.
Though there's no online or LAN options, there are ten different
gameplay modes. Some of these are really just normal fights in a
specific arena, like Inferno Match, which has you battling inside a ring
of fire. Other modes, though, are true game modes, including the
four-player Free-For-All and Team matches. These have a more distanced
camera but allow four players (or any mix of players and AI fighters) to
duke it out in one arena.
The modes are good and with so many characters to choose from,
Fight for NY
will stay fresh and likely remain in your console for a good long time.
There's no mode that isn't enjoyable and really no fighter that you
can't win with. Sure, Snoop is the best fighter in the game, but most of
the other's are well-balanced to make for some pretty intense matches.
Online would have sent this over the top, but for those with three
friends, you'll have no problems getting into
Fight for NY's battles.
The Verdict
Def Jam: Fight for NY
is a better game than the original, without a doubt. The mixture of
fighting and wrestling is a good move by EA and the presentation really
is in the top tier of fighters. If you like playing fighting games
alone, Def Jam offers a robust and impressive Story Mode that ends up
being much better than any of the multiplayer modes. Even if you don't
end up the biggest fan of the grappling system, the Blazin' Moves are
certain to leave anyone impressed. There's a great sense of fun, of true
enjoyment in the development of Fight for NY and that translates to the
game.
While Fight for NY has a lot of good going for it, there
are still some nagging issues. No fighting game should be less then 30
solid frames. Maybe if it were online, the framerate could be forgiven,
but an offline brawler has to be fluid from start to finish. The camera
is also irksome, but not enough to likely turn people off from the
title. In the end, Fight for NY is a very good game that could well lead
to a true classic if EA addresses the current issues in its next
iteration.
