DEF JAM: FIGHT FOR NEW YORK
Genre: Fighting, Sports
Platform: PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox

Box Cover Description:
Fight for control of Hip Hop's Underworld!

• Hit hard with fighting styles.
• Anything goes -- bats, bottles, pipes and more!
• Watch your back -- crowd gets into the action!
• Own the streets with your create-a-fighter
• Featuring more than 40 hip hop superstars: BONE CRUSHER, BUBBA SPARXXX, BUSTA RHYMES, CAPONE, CARMEN ELECTRA, COMP, CRAZY LEGS, DANNY TREJO, DAVID BANNER, DJ ENUFF, DJ FELLI FEL, ELEPHANT MAN, ERICK SERMON, FAM-LAY, FAT JOE, FLAVA FLAV, FREEWAY, GHOSTFACE KILLAH, HAVOC, HENRY ROLLINS, ICE-T, JOE BUDDEN, KIMORA LEE, LIL' FLIP, LIL' KIM, LUDACRIS, MACK 10, MEMPHIS BLEEK, METHOD MAN, N.O.R.E., OMAR EPPS, PRODIGY, REDMAN, SCARFACE, SEAN PAUL, SHAWNNA, SLICK RICK, SNOOP DOGG, STICKY FINGAZ, WARREN G, WC XZIBIT
  

Hip-hop fans rejoice! >>> by Trigon (08.06.2005)

Def Jam: Fight for NY is definitely aimed at the hip-hop market, especially the young males interested in that scene. However, despite being ambivalent to the hip-hop urban underground myself, I found Def Jam: Fight for NY to be an enjoyable, entertaining fighting game. Only a few technical problems prevent this from being a truly great game.

In many ways, Def Jam: Fight for NY does everything right that Rumble Roses did wrong (see my Rumble Roses review). There are around 70 characters to choose from, you can fight in over 20 distinct venues, and you can choose one of nine different match types. There are five different fighting styles: Streetfighting, Kickboxing, Martial Arts, Wrestling, and Submissions. Each character fights with a different combination of these styles, so that each character has a unique set of maneuvers. The nine different match types includes modes that you would expect in a fighter, such as single match, team match, and free-for-all, but this game also includes original bouts like the Fire match (where you fight in a ring made of fire) and the Subway match (where you fight in a subway station and can win by throwing your foe in front of a moving train). Def Jam: Fight for NY boasts an impressive amount of variety.

However, this game is not just about quantity, as the gameplay is of very high quality as well. The fights in this game are no-holds-barred street brawls, and the game action is fast, furious, and violent to reflect that. The game rewards raw aggression, as you are encouraged to smash your foe against walls or pillars, or bash them with pipes or bottles, or beat them while the crowd holds them down. Each character has a special move that they can perform when the momentum swings their way, called the Blazin’ move. The Blazin’ moves range from cool to really cool, and they are all impressively, bone-crushingly violent. The controls are easy to pick up, but take a little while to master. Regrettably, the controls sometimes feel slightly unresponsive as compared to a more precise fighting game like Soul Caliber. Def Jam: Fight for NY can be difficult, especially for beginners, but most players can adjust to the fast-paced action. The most annoying thing about the game are the unacceptably long loading times (especially on the PS2), but the game is so fun that most people can reluctantly live with this problem.

Def Jam: Fight for NY has one of the best and most extensive story modes of any fighting game. It picks up directly where its predecessor (Def Jam: Vendetta) left off, with mob boss D-Mob being hauled away in a police car. The police car is blind sided by a car, and the mysterious driver helps D-Mob to escape. It turns out your story character is this stranger, whom you create by describing him to a sketch artist. There is an extraordinary level of customization options available for your story fighter -- you can choose weight, height, build, hair color and style, eye shape and color, eyebrow thickness, facial hair, skin color, face shape, etc. to make your character look however you want. In any event, once your character is created, D-Mob accepts you into his gang, and you must now prove yourself in a series of underground fights with rival gangs. As you gain reputation and cash from fighting, you can further customize your fighter by training him in the gym, getting tattoos, changing hairstyle, buying new clothes, and purchasing expensive jewelry. There is some product-placement here, as most of the clothes are real brands like Reebok and Fila, but these also serve to make the game feel more authentic. This customization as you progress through the story almost gives the character an RPG-like level of growth. Moreover, buying new gear also has an effect on gameplay, as the more bling you have, the more the crowd likes you, and thus, the faster you can perform your Blazin' move. But the real draw of the story mode is meeting (and fighting) the colorful cast of characters -- around 40 of them are drawn from hip-hop, movies, and television, including Snoop Dog, Method Man, Redman, Busta Rhymes, Slick Rick, Ludacris, Carmen Electra, Henry Rollins, Fat Joe, and many, many others.

The graphics in this game are excellent, especially the character models and the venues. The crowd graphics are not as impressive, but certainly not terrible. The character animations are great, with fighting moves that look not only remarkable, but painful too. Infrequently, the camera angle can be problematic, since you can lose track of the action in some stages where the crowd or an object obstructs your view. The frame-rate is also not perfect, intermittently dropping out and very inconvenient times. There are minor but noticeable clipping issues, but no more so than most wrestling games. As you might expect, the sound in this game is fantastic. The soundtrack features a fine mix of old and new rap, most of it performed by the artists in the game. Moreover, you can customize which songs play during the game, so you can focus of the artist or style of hip-hop that you like. The sound effects are done superbly, from the violent impact of fist against flesh to the shattering of background objects. The voice acting in the game is very well done, although it does help that most of the actors are essentially playing themselves. Nevertheless, they do a good job bringing the well-written dialog to life. The dialog is copiously laced with profanity, but it all fits well into the tone of the story.

Def Jam: Fight for NY has a decent amount of replay value. Many characters, venues, match modes, songs, and Blazin’ moves are unlocked through playing the game. Versus matches can be fun, and you can play some of the game modes with up to four players. The story mode is quite linear, so there is not much incentive to play it again, except to try out different fighting styles for your created hero or to earn trophies for completing different challenges in the game.

Def Jam: Fight for NY is an outstanding game for anybody who enjoys wrestling games, fighting games, or hip-hop. The game definitely earns its Mature rating with its blood, violence, and profanity, but it is an enjoyable game experience nonetheless. The story mode and immense customization options alone put it well above most other fighters.