In mournful praise the mythic hero, W.H. Auden wrote, “Iron hearted man-slaying Achilles / Who would not live long.
So goes the fate of the warrior. And like the fallen icons ofGreece, our modern rap icons do battle in “Def Jam: Fight forNew York.”
In the sequel to Electronic Arts’s wildly successful”Def Jam Vendetta,” “Def Jam: Fight For NewYork,” allows the player to assume the persona of one of morethan 40 rap superstars and related personalities in a brawler sobold, so visceral that its personality sends ripples of charismathrough the screen.
Best described as a fighting/wrestling hybrid, “DefJam” has fully licensed rappers fighting across all fiveboroughs of the Big Apple. Train stations, strip clubs,construction sites and burning factories are all suitable venuesfor the street-fighting, trash-talking thugs of Def Jam. Eachcharacter uses one of five fighting styles: martial arts,wrestling, submission, kickboxing and street fighting. Eachrapper’s character mirrors their persona so while the wiryLudacris favors kickboxing, the always excitable Sticky Fingazprefers the undisciplined ways of street fighting. With each artistproviding their own voice and likeness to the game, the realismwill be enough to please any hip-hop fan.
While the variety of fighting venues and gimmicks (light youropponent on fire, toss them in front of a subway car) isdelightful, the true core of the game is the borderline epic storymode. Even with lack of branching story paths, all the drama,double crossing and romance of a gangster film comes across just asbrutal and unforgettable as “Mean Streets.”
Of course since it wouldn’t be enough to play as yourrapper of choice, Def Jam offers one of the most suitable and deepcreate-a-character modes seen in a fighting game. From obvioustraits like height, weight and fighting style, to more uniquestylized elements like what kind of iced-out chain and watch yourdigital avatar desires, “Fight for New York” makes theplayer the hero.
All the energy that the game provides does wane as one replaysthe story mode and see the limited extent of the grappling system.It’s impossible to replicate the excitement of the first fewdays with the game but the excellent graphics, superb use of thelicense and the bold, iconic feel of the characters and theirmannerisms make “Def Jam” echo in the gamers mind likeso many other glorious battles.
- Evan McGarvey, Daily Arts Writer (Michigan Dail