If there is one thing that fighting fans have come to
know over the years, it’s that combat and rappers rarely go together. This was
first made abundantly clear by the release of the multi-platform 16-bit Shaq Fu,
and then further reiterated by the laughably lame Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style for the
original PlayStation. But it seems Electronic Arts didn’t get the memo. Def
Jam Vendetta is not only a game starring brutally boastful Def Jam rappers who
square off in various underground fighting matches, but also a “rapper wrestler”
that doesn’t suck. Which is actually pretty unprecedented. AKI took the helm
on this project, utilizing their incredibly deep and addictive fighting engine,
in enhanced form, that was used for a slew of different fighters on the N64.
The result of EA’s collaboration with AKI and Def Jam is a vicious
high-adrenaline wrestling/street fighting game that defies conventional brawler
concepts while managing to one up its nearest WWE competition in terms of style
and gameplay.
Def Jam Vendetta features an impressive roster of
fighters (44 in total) and every character is very unique and stylized in their
own right. But the most interesting fighters are undoubtedly the Def Jam
Records artists like Method Man, Redman, DMX, Scarface, Ghostface Killah, and
others. Word on the street is that the rappers actually had a lot of influence
over how their digital representations would fight and move, and after
witnessing some of the more brutal special moves that these characters are
capable of; I’d tend to believe it. Like Scarface’s Hammer Throw where he picks
up his opponent by the legs, slams him down on the ground like a rag doll then
picks him back up and spins him around a few times before hurling him face first
into the ground. You can’t make something like that up. To add even more
personality to the experience, each Def Jam fighter has his own venue that is
built around the particular character and comes complete with 3D spectators,
which is a nice change from the 2D cardboard cutouts that pass as spectators in
most fighting games even to this day.
If wrestling fans will have one complaint about Def
Jam Vendetta it will be the lack of play modes and in-game weapons. When
compared against WWE Smackdown! on the PS2, Vendetta can’t hold a candle to its
sheer diversity in gameplay. But that isn’t to say that the single-player story
mode and obligatory multiplayer matches are the only source of lasting appeal
that the game offers. Quite the contrary, actually. There is a Battle mode
wherein up to four players split up into two teams and brawl simultaneously, a
one-on-one Singles Match, a Free For All mode, Tag Team, and Survival.
But while these additional modes of play do extend
the game’s duration of appeal, the story mode is where it’s at in terms of the
single player experience. In the story mode, you’ll choose among a handful of
fictitious fighters and fight your way to the top. At first, you are only
fighting because your friend Manny has a broken arm and can’t fight, but then
you decide to stick around for the long haul as new dynamics like jealousy,
revenge, and females are introduced. Each bout that you win will net you a
certain amount of cash depending on the points that you accumulate, the more
devastating the moves you pull off in a match the more points you’ll be awarded
with. You can use this cash to build up the stats of your character, making him
better at grappling, enhancing power and defense and being able to quickly
recover charisma.
Also, you’ll “acquire” different girls throughout the
game depending on the outcome of the player-controlled catfights that ensue as a
result of your various conquests. The winner of the catfight will determine
which girl you end up with, and while this is a cool concept there is little in
the way of actual plot progression payoff or other dynamic variables involved
outside of a photo gallery that unlocks for the girl you end up with. The story
stays the same regardless of which character you choose, though, which is kinda
repetitive, but the comically brutal artistic approach that the developers took
with the cut-scenes and before/after character quips is top notch and definitely
worth watching more than once.
The fighting system AKI used in Vendetta rates among
the best the genre has to offer. Its seaming simplicity makes for a very
gratifying first-time experience and its focus on reversals and counterattacks
ensure that gamers will be trying out new strategies almost constantly. There
are two types of grapples; one is performed by tapping the A button (soft
grapple) and the other can be executed by firmly pressing down on the A button
(hard grapple). After grappling your opponent the move you perform will depend
on the direction you press on the analog stick combined with what button you
push. There is never really a time when the moves don’t naturally flow because
nearly every direction/button combination results in a different move, the
important thing is to just keep the moves coming and change them up often. Each
type of grapple comes with its own set of moves, the soft grapple maneuvers will
lead to basic moves like head butting, body slams, and suplexes while hard
grapples will allow your fighter to perform more punishing maneuvers like pile
drivers, choke slams, and other specialized moves tailored specifically for the
fighter you are using. All the trappings of the more popular wrestling games
are present here, turnbuckle turn-arounds, off the rope elbow drops, a variety
of submission holds, it’s all accounted for and everything can be pulled off
with the greatest of ease.
Aside from the standard assortment of moves and
maneuvers, each fighter will have at his (or her) disposal two finishing moves.
More often than not an opponent won’t survive more than one of these ultra
powerful moves, though it can and does happen. The only way to perform one of
these finishing moves is to fill up your momentum meter via crowd reaction. As
you consistently pummel the opponent, the crowd will begin to cheer louder and
louder, once it is full you can push the c-stick in any direction to initiate
Blazin’ mode, at this point you’ll have about 30 seconds to grapple your
opponent. Once you grapple the opposing fighter you must hit any direction on
the c-stick again to initiate the trademark attack. If your rival is in Blazin’
mode your best course of action is to run since finding yourself on the
receiving end of a “Balls to the Wall” will almost certainly result in complete
disaster.
Visually, Def Jam Vendetta is one sweet-looking
game. The myriad fighters are all done up in a very stylistic yet realistic way
and they all animate just as well. The attention to detail in terms of
wardrobe, environment, and personality definitely gives the game a real sense of
instant appeal that won’t soon wear off. Of the 12 included Def Jam rappers
none of them seem to be off-base in any aesthetic way, the developers really
nailed the unique style and flair of every one of’em. There are loads of
additional animations for each character that help to set the tone but never get
in the way of gameplay ease of use. The soundtrack is laden with tracks from
the featured artists and lots of other rappers on the Def Jam label. There are
18 tracks in total, some of which are surprisingly old-school like Public
Enemy’s “Fight the Power”. Unfortunately, these songs have been edited for use
on console, which means the bad language has been filtered out, most likely to
ensure a consumer-friendly “T” for teen ESRB rating. Those who have Dolby
Surround Pro-logic II sound systems will be glad to know that Def Jam Vendetta
is in full compliance in that department.
EA Big has been cranking out quality games for quite
a while now and the product of their masterful programming experience has
resulted in many addictive titles. But the game that Def Jam Vendetta is most
familiar to from their lengthy roster of digital masterpieces is NBA Street,
surprisingly. The tide can turn at any moment and instead of “game breakers”
there are Blazin’ finishing moves, it seems to me that EA has somehow filtered
Vendetta through their patented create-a-hit videogame machine and used NBA
Street DNA to fill in the gaps. Anyhow, perhaps it would be best if we don’t
question the fantasy forest magic that EA utilizes, lest we jinx it. Suffice it
to say that this is hands down the best wrestling game ever made.
Gameplay: 8.7
Pick up and play simple. Even non-wrestling fans will feel right at home with
AKI’s incredibly versatile grappling system.
Graphics: 9.2
Every polygon in the game is oozing with style and personality. An excellent
artistic rendition of the rapper/underground street fighter culture (despite the
likeliness of such a culture’s actual existence).
Sound: 8.6
Thanks to EA’s partnership with Def Jam, AKI was able to take advantage of a
large variety of music. There are 18 tracks in total, though they do tend to
repeat quite a bit.
Difficulty: Medium
The single-player story mode gets progressively harder as you move forward but
gamers won’t have too difficult a time making their way to the end. There are a
few matches where the odds are really stacked against you, though.
Concept: 8
When I first heard about this game I would have said that combining rappers with
wrestling was a horrible concept. But Vendetta has cleared away any sour taste
left in my mouth from rancid rapper-fighters released in the past.
Multiplayer: 8.7
The computer A.I.
demonstrates some pretty mean algorithms here and there but there is no contest
when it comes to playing against a human opponent. Expect friendships to be
strained from the gratuitous amount of trash talking that will inevitably
develop during the course of a multiplayer match.
Overall: 8.7
Best wrestling
game ever, period.
