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Def Jam: Fight For NY PreviewDef Jam Fight For NY looks like a top notch production that will easily surpass its predecessor.Available: 2004-09-20
PREVIEW by Reubin Montgomery UPDATE: 9/28/2004 Last year EA hit paydirt with their rapper and wrestling infused game entitled Def Jam Vendetta. Developed by highly respected wrestling game developer AKI, it was a no-brainer that DJV would be a major hit. Now in 2004, EA and AKI have produced a sequel, but this time wrestling is but one of the styles players can use to put a beatdown on their opponents. Def Jam: Fight For New York (DJF4NY) will be released in a couple weeks and we at PCS can't wait to get our hands on the final version. From what we've played so far though, it will be all that and a bag of chips (hopefully the kind you can't eat just one of). Graphically, DJF4NY looks great. The likenesses of the rappers are dead-on. Everyone looks exactly like their real life counterparts. Even the clothing looks good and detailed. As a matter of fact, the jewelry that the characters wear even has that shiny "bling" to it. DJF4NY is definitely no slouch in the visual department. DJF4NY is a direct sequel to Def Jam Vendetta that takes place after D-Mob, the gangsta boss players fought at the end of Vendetta, gets released from jail. However, things are quite different this time around as players will find themselves working for D-Mob. You see, since D-Mob was imprisoned the streets were taken over by Crow who is played by Snoop Dogg. The mission of the player this time around is to fight through Crow's legions of thugs and rappers and finally dethrone him so that D-Mob can regain his past glory. This time around certain rapper's voices and likenesses are used for characters who will help drive the storyline. So you might notice that Redman is referred to as Doc or that Method Man is called Blaze during the cinematics, embodying the personas they so often use as alter egoes on their albums. Throughout story mode, the player will go through pure hell and make decisions that affect the branching storyline. How's that for an improvement over the original game? Also worth noting is that the roster of rappers is not limited to Def Jam artists. Players will notice non-Def Jam rappers such as Bubba Sparkx, Lil Kim, David Banner, Ice-T and many more making up the 40+ person roster this time around. Also added in DJF4NY is the create-a-fighter mode. This was sorely missing in DJV. Now players will be able to create their own variation of a rapper and win money during matches to buy all manner of officially licensed hip hop clothing, upgrade their skills, and even buy shiny platinum jewelry from Jacob the Jeweler. All this may seem cosmetic but the fighter's gear affects their respect with the crowd surrounding the ring in some venues. Dress to kill and they'll be more than happy to help players kick their opponent's ass. The create-a-fighter mode also allows the player to make their own movelist comprised of moves from three of the five different fighting styles: street fighting, kickboxing, martial arts, wrestling, and submission fighting. Not only that but the fighter can also gain girlfriends just like in the original game. This time around though, the ladies chosen to be by with your fighter will determine the flow of story mode in addition to being able to fight. With Carmen Electra, Lil Kim, Kimora Lee, and a few other hotties created specifically for the game to choose from EA and AKI are making sure all tastes are satisfied. Fighting in DJF4NY is best described as fast and furious. Make no mistake that non-chalant players will get their butts kicked if they don't pay attention to what's going on in the arena. Fight harder and more skillfully and more money is earned post-match. The controls are simple enough though, but the execution of brutality will take some practice and players ARE scored on their skill. The button layout is Strong Attack (modifier button), Punch, Kick, Grab (also used to Throw or Pick up), Run, and Block. Environments are a big part of combat as well. Players can smash their opponents into walls, pillars, speakers, fire, cars, SUVs, and even into the path of an oncoming subway train. Weapons like bottles and baseball bats can be picked up from the ground or taken from people in the surrounding crowd. And as previously stated, people in the crowd can even help you fight by initiating double team moves and throws. It's all quite brutal and there's even a spot of blood here and there after a really big hit connects. And taking a note from EA's Fight Night 2004, DJF4NY's models feature real-time facial damage. In addition, DJF4NY includes the ability to wear down each part of your opponent's body. Focus on that arm or leg with grapple moves and watch the health bar on that body part decrease. Once the player has beaten down their opponent enough the blazing meter fills. Just like other AKI games, WWE No Mercy for example, all that is required is to wiggle the analog stick and the blazing meter ignites. At this point a grab and another wiggle of the analog stick will initiate the fighter's finishing move. Finishing moves are painfully beautiful to see and even feature a stop motion, sephia toned effect to get the point across.
Def Jam: Fight For New York looks like a top notch production that will easily surpass its predecessor. With so many rappers actively involved this time around in addition to AKI's tweaked fighting engine there's just little that could foreseeably go wrong with the game before its release. Four player battle mode, story mode, tons of extras, hot girls, over forty hip hop icons, twenty interactive environments, and a large list of moves make this seriously appealing for any fighting game or hip hop fan. The addition of online play will also be a major plus as it will be the first 3D fighting game online for any console. Def Jam: Fight For New York drops in about 2 more weeks. | |
