Fighting games, even great ones, tend to change very little in sequels. Usually a few new arenas are added, a new fighter or two are added, and popular characters are given some costumes to make them look new or different. Maybe some gameplay gimmicks are added to make the update seem worthwhile, but overall fighting game sequels tend to be very derivative. That’s not the case with Def Jam: Fight for NY, the sequel to last year’s Vendetta. EA added strong characters, arenas, and a great story mode, turning Def Jam from a pure wrestler into a true brawler. A lot has changed, and it makes the sequel better because of it. If you liked the first part, you’ll love Fight for NY.

I must warn you, though, that I wasn’t as excited about Vendetta as J Rob was, who reviewed EA’s previous fighting game offerings. Fight for NY is a big evolution for the series, but it’s not quite on the level of the classic fighting games yet. Perhaps the next iteration will get there, but for now players will have to settle for a very competent and entertaining brawler with a strong focus on presentation and exciting moves.

Present Yo’self

Fight for NY puts a premium on presentation. With over 70 fighters, 30 licensed soundtracks, 20 venues, and 10 game modes, you really can’t ask for anything more when it comes to sheer scope. The list of fighters is very impressive, especially considering that over 40 of these fighters are celebrities. Most are hip-hop stars, including Snoop Dizzle, and some are just media darlings (Carmen, you’re so hot). Even better, all of these great video game characters are voiced by their real-life counterparts. It’s exactly like Flava Flav talking trash after beating you down, and yes, Xzibit himself will pimp your car with his foot and tell you all about it.

As you’d expect, there’s a short cutscene intro for each fighter, and an outro for each victory. The cutscenes use the in-game engine, and the outro shows the scars on the character’s face in real time. He gets screwed by Method Man, but emerges victorious at the end, with a busted lip and a black eye. This is a good way to show the severity of the combat, but the use of the in-game cutscenes really comes into its own in the story mode.

Story mode adds new hairstyles, tattoos, jewelry, and clothing to your custom character. In fact, there are dozens of licensed clothing items from manufacturers like Phat Farm and Fila, and over 50 tattoos that can be inked all over your body, even down to your neck. All of these changes are reflected in the headshot loading screen before each match and in every cutscene in the story mode, which lasts more than six hours. Doing so makes you feel like you’re really progressing through the story. Because the character models are large and detailed, these cutscenes often look better in-game than they do in the fighting game.

There are a few issues with the presentation, though – minor things really. The weight and height you choose doesn’t seem to matter, as the relative build of every character created looks the same, which is disappointing. And, as John requested in his review of Vendetta last year, there’s still no way to play through the story mode as one of the game’s fighters, even after beating the story. Why won’t they let me play as Slick Rick? That would have added a bit of longevity.

Yo, Tell Me a Story

Story mode is Def Jam’s greatest strength. What I’m about to say may be shocking and controversial, but if it weren’t true, damn it, the story in Def Jam: Fight for NY is better than the story in Fable. Yes, the story in a fighting game is actually better than the story in any good Microsoft RPG. In fact, it’s probably the best story in the history of fighting games. This isn’t that hard to say, since most fighting games have very weird and almost incomprehensible stories.

It starts with you rescuing D-Mob from prison. The character you create is accepted into D-Mob’s crew and you’re caught in the middle of a turf war. D-Mob rules the city by pitting his followers against other villains in Fight Club style battles. He competes for territory with his New York nemesis, The Crow, played by Snoop. With each battle you earn points that can be used to improve different attributes of your fighter and unlock new moves and new fighting styles. You also earn money to upgrade your wardrobe, add diamonds and platinum to your body, and add tattoos to your skin.

The visual changes are a nice treat (you can choose from thousands of different combinations), but they also impact gameplay: people watching your fight will be impressed by the shine of your fingers and the thickness of the chain around your neck. The more popular you become, the easier it will be to use special Blazin’ Moves, Fight for New York Super Moves.
Throughout Story Mode, you’ll receive text and voice messages from allies and enemies. Some parts are incredibly repetitive, like Henry Rollins constantly reminding you to go to the gym and work out, but overall it’s a nice touch. By the end of the story mode, which lasts 6-10 hours, you’ll have fought most of the characters in Def Jam, won a girlfriend, and taken over the city.

I really enjoyed the story, but there were some parts where I wished for a bit more freedom. Crow offers to switch sides if you want, but you don’t actually get the option. These offerings are part of the story, but it would have been nice to see some more branching to make the story a bit more dynamic. Other than that, the story mode doesn’t really have much else to offer: a good story, great voice acting, challenging gameplay, and a decent length (for a fighting game).

Shut the F’ Up and Fight

The story and presentation are all good, but the true measure of a fighting game is obviously the combat. Fight for NY takes the Def Jam series in a new direction by allowing matches that combine wrestling and martial arts. With five different fighting styles available, there’s variety in every move. Each style has its own holds, punches, and kicks. A character can have up to three different styles at the same time, and the more styles you have, the more moves you unlock. It’s easy to tell the difference between a brawler and a submission fighter, and that’s one of the keys to making a fighting game feel authentic.

Each of the 20 unique arenas has different characteristics. For example, the Subway is fairly open and has no spectators, but there are train tracks at the back of the arena. If you time it right, you can slam your opponent onto the tracks just as the train passes by. Head to the Foundation and you’ll find yourself fighting in a basement, surrounded by enthusiastic spectators who will be pushing, grabbing and holding out weapons throughout the fight. Or maybe you want to try Club-357 for a classic wrestling match. Some arenas, like
Foundation, have camera issues. In one-on-one fights, the camera, which can’t be manually adjusted, can get too close behind crowds or walls. Sometimes these obstacles are transparent, but not always. Even when they are, it’s a bit hard to see what’s going on. This is problematic, firstly because the moves look so cool you don’t want to be hindered, but also because it makes timing reversals difficult. This can easily be fixed by manually changing the camera, but Fight for NY doesn’t allow that. The
camera can be annoying at times, but most fights are great. It’s an improvement over the same old grab system developer Aki has used since the N64 days, but it’s still arcade-ready. You can pull off simple combos with punches and kicks, perform reversals if you time your blocks correctly, and even grab your opponent.

Holds are the focus of the fight and what will guide your best move. Once grabbed, you can use the punch, kick, or grab buttons in combination with the direction on the left thumbstick to execute a variety of punishing moves. Many of these are situational, and if you’re near a ‘sticky zone’ you can slam your opponent’s head into a wall or use a crowd to try and cut them in half.

There are many different moves involving the spectators and the environment, and just when you think you’ve seen them all, you come across another one. They look good and are easy to perform. However, they are very destructive and effective, so experienced fighters focus on these moves. After a while, it becomes very easy to dominate the fight. Just grab your opponent and throw him against a wall or other structure, then grab him again to perform a powerful move that utilizes the environment. This often stuns your opponent so you can pick them up and repeat the move. Sure, your opponent can push you away, but it’s not easy and often your opponent will only have half health left by some of these environmental attacks. But it still looks great.

The animations for the move are great, although some of the grab and punch animations are a bit awkward. If you reach out and miss, it can look like a robot trying to grab a cookie. Weapons that can be picked up from the ground or from the crowd can sometimes be accidentally grabbed when you actually want to attack your opponent. This causes a moment of confusion (“how did that end up in my hand?”) and often results in a successful attack by your opponent. This doesn’t happen often, but it does happen.
When the computer takes over executing the grab or violent move, the user has no control, so while the game is perfect, moving around the arena feels a bit robotic, which is something that often goes wrong in wrestling games. This isn’t a big deal or an issue, but it certainly takes Def Jam: Fight for NY back from its perfect state.

Overall, Fight for NY is an attractive game with large characters that take up most of the screen. Facial modeling is solid, and each licensed rapper resembles their corresponding rapper. The framerate, an important aspect of a fighting game, is spotty at times. Fighters need to be able to maintain at least 30 frames continuously, but Def Jam can’t do that across multiple arenas. The framerate isn’t high enough to affect gameplay, but it certainly does detract from the experience.

Flame On

The real draw in Fight for NY are the Blazin’ moves. As you defeat opponents, your Blazin’ gauge fills. Once it’s full, you can switch to Flamb’ mode. Grab your opponent again and press the right thumbstick up, down, left or right to trigger one of four preset Blazin’ moves. These creative and beautifully choreographed moves are simply amazing. You won’t believe how many moves Def Jam has to offer – there are loads of cool and painful moves to choose from. There are 82 in total to unlock, and if you buy it in story mode, you can choose your four favorites before each battle.

Blazin’ moves may seem unbalanced, but they’re actually not as devastating as super moves in other fighting games. And you can avoid them, too. Blazin’ mode only lasts for a short time and can be removed if you beat your opponent or manage to escape long enough. Honestly, getting grabbed and fired at by other fighters isn’t so bad, because it’s cool to see these awesome moves in action. Every wrestler in the WWE has their own signature move. Well, these are Blazin’ Moves, but they’re totally ridiculous and full of excessive brutality.

You Want a Piece of Me?

In addition to the story mode, there are also numerous multiplayer modes. There are no online or LAN options, but there are 10 different game modes. Some of these are actually regular fights in specific arenas, such as the Inferno match, where you fight in a ring of fire. Other modes, however, such as the free-for-all and four-player team matches, are real game modes. These feature a more distant camera, but allow four players (or any combination of players and AI fighters) to compete against each other in an arena. The

mode is great, and with so many characters to choose from, Fight for NY is likely to stay exciting and keep you on your console for a long time. There’s no mode that isn’t fun, and no fighter that you can’t beat. Sure, Snoop is the best fighter in the game, but most of the other fighters are very well-rounded, which makes for some pretty intense fights. Online, everything may have been overblown, but if you have three friends with you, you’ll have no problem getting into a Fight for NY fight.

Verdict

Def Jam: Fight for NY is arguably a better game than the original. The combination of fighting and wrestling is a good effort from EA and the presentation is really at the top of fighting games. If you enjoy playing fighting games solo, Def Jam offers a robust and impressive story mode that’s better than any multiplayer mode. Even if you’re not a big fan of the grappling system, the Blazin’ moves are sure to impress anyone.

There was a ton of fun, a real joy, in making Fight for NY, and that carries over into the game.
While there’s a lot that’s good about Fight for NY, there are still some issues that annoy me. A fighting game should never have less than 30 solid frames. Online, the framerate may be negligible, but an offline fighting game needs to be smooth from start to finish. The camera is also annoying, but not enough to take away from the title. Ultimately, Fight for NY is a very good game and has the potential to become a true classic if EA fixes the current issues in the next version.