by:	October 14, 2004

Last year, Electronic Arts and Aki Corp. surprised the gaming world when they combined professional wrestling with hip-hop subculture and actually made a great game out of it. One might think that you’d need to be a fan of rap music to enjoy the game, but Aki is known for their excellent wrestling games. Def Jam Vendetta provided a great grappling system and some brutal fighting that fit the style and characters perfectly. With Def Jam: Fight for NY, Electronic Arts has expanded on the last game’s success by adding several new fighting styles to create a game that’s more about street fighting and less about pro-wrestling. Everything people loved about Vendetta returns in Fight for NY, so if you were a fan of the first game you know you’re going to love this one. Not only is everything bigger and better in terms of content, but the gameplay mechanics have been significantly improved to provide a much deeper fighting experience. If you never played Def Jam Vendetta and are for some reason skeptical of the license behind the game, keep reading to find out just how the sequel to one of the generations’ most original wrestling games turned out.

The first thing many people will notice about Def Jam: Fight for NY is that, while Vendetta was rated T, the sequel wears its M-rating with pride and makes as much use of it as possible. Indeed, this is one of the most brutal and bloody fighting games we’ve ever seen, and the strong language only serves to strengthen the atmosphere that it provides. This is definitely not a game for the kids, but you can rest assured that its graphic nature is in no way gratuitous. Fight for NY carries the Def Jam label perfectly and draws the player into the experience using an ambience that is outmatched only by its excellent fighting engine. Though it technically uses the same engine as its predecessor, everything has been fine tuned to encompass several different fighting styles rather than just the wrestling-oriented strikes and grapples of Vendetta. Each fighter has a unique move set that’s made up of a combination of up to three of the game’s five fighting styles, which include kickboxing, martial arts, street fighting, wrestling, and submission techniques. Every fighting style is made up of its own strikes and grapple moves, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Success in a fight depends on knowing how to use your own fighting styles effectively while avoiding the more dangerous techniques that your opponents possess. You’ll have access to punch and kick combos, the length and power of which depend on the fighting styles you’ve chosen to master, as well as powerful moves that are executed while grappling your enemies. In addition, each style gives you different opportunities for defeating your adversaries. For instance, a kickboxer can knock out a staggered opponent with a flurry of powerful kicks, while a master of submissions can wear down a body part and force his victim to tap out. The new system offers a surprising amount of variety, ensuring that no two fighters are the same, and while it may sound complex, it’s actually very fast-paced and easy to jump into.

Interactive environments not only make a huge impression on the street fighting atmosphere, but they significantly impact the gameplay itself, as well. Each of the game’s locations features at least a few key objects that can be used to bust up your opponent even more so than usual. You’ll quickly discover that putting someone’s head through a jukebox or sandwiching them between your foot and a pool table is an excellent way to put out the lights, and these brutal attacks look and feel as crippling as you’d imagine them to be. Some locations even hold the potential for instant death, such as knocking your adversary onto the tracks in a subway brawl or putting him through a cracked penthouse window and sending him head first to the street below. Many of the game’s fights take place while surrounded by a ring of spectators, as well, which adds even more to its brutal sense of realism. Getting too close to the bloodthirsty fans will often result in being ganged up on in some form or another. Sometimes they’ll toss you back into the fray, leaving you open to a fast attack. Other, particularly bold onlookers may hold you back, allowing your opponent to take a few shots or even execute a powerful grapple move with the fan’s help. Some guys in the crowd may have weapons to crack over the skull of anyone who gets too close, as well, or you can grab them and use them yourself. It’s a little odd just how much fun it is to snap a pool cue across someone’s face or break a wine bottle over their skull.

Those who played Vendetta will remember D-Mobb, who returns in Fight for NY as a crime boss vying for control of New York City’s underground fighting scene. The story mode begins with a scene that shows the gang leader being taken into custody by the NYPD, but he’s busted out when a mysterious stranger rams into the police car during transit and flips it. As it turns out, you are the mysterious stranger, and you’ve decided to join D-Mobb’s crew. In an interesting twist, the game allows you to design your own character by temporarily placing you in the role of one of D-Mobb’s arresting officers and asking you to describe him to a sketch artist. Once you’ve decided on your character’s appearance and selected his voice from one of six available voiceovers, you’ll begin your task of fighting against members of a rival gang for control of NYC’s numerous clubs and fight locations. Def Jam Vendetta’s story mode left a lot to be desired, and the team at Day 1 Studios has taken all the feedback into account to create a much deeper experience. After busting D-Mobb out of police custody, his gang sets you up with a small apartment that will act as the central hub of the story mode. Here you’ll be able to choose where to go next, change up your appearance, view the trophies you’ve collected and check out your voice mail and text messages to find out what’s going down in the city. You’ll often have the option of deciding the order of the matches you fight in, so the game has a slightly open-ended feel to it, despite following a set storyline every time. You’ll also run into an occasional choice that allows for a few branching paths along the way, such as which girl you want to date or who you want to be partners with in a team match. While these little details don’t exactly change the outcome of the game, they add enough variety to make a second play through worthwhile, especially since the story only clocks in at around five hours in length.