DEF JAM: ICON Review - PS3

4.5

Gameplay: 4
Graphics: 7
Audio: 5
Multiplayer: 4
Innovation: 7

The Def Jam series has always been about fighting to the beat. Def Jam Icon, the new addition to the series developed by the same crew as Fight Night Round 3, allows gamers to play what appears to be a regular fighting game at first, but with a serious twist. Control the DJ as you change to your favourite song and pummel your opponent with a pumped up fighting style like no other. Def Jam Icon is here, are you ready to get served?

Gameplay

Def Jam Icon has several different modes of gameplay, most of which are basically versus modes with slight variants, but the main area of the game is within the Build A Label mode. This mode allows you to become an icon, hence the name of the game, and as you fight your way to the top you can sign artists, release songs, and make a whole lot of money. The money is used for various items, girlfriends, pimping out your crib, the usual stuff that you would expect a famous rapper to do. You can choose what style you wish to portray yourself as, and every choice you make will have a reaction from the press and other people that you probably want to get on your side.

The fighting basically consists of throwing punches and kicks, and also grappling your opponent to pull off more complex moves like suplexes and general throws. Def Jam Icon is all about timing, but this is where the game suffers. Even if you know the song off by heart, and know when the environment is going to react to the beat, it’s still incredibly hard to get your opponent into position to be affected by the environment deliberately. You can order the environment to react by doing a big beat yourself, but relying purely on the music isn’t the best way to win a fight. There are six different fighting styles, all with their strengths and weaknesses. You don’t really need to master all of them to beat the game, but it’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with the weaknesses so that you can take advantage of them.

In a fight, you have your chosen song, and the opponents chosen song. The fight starts with either yours or his (it’s random), and it’s then up to you to keep your song playing if you wish to have a pretty strong advantage. You can scratch the song like a DJ scratches his record, and you can taunt your opponent with various threats, but the idea of the game is to make sure your song is always playing. In order to change the song however, you have to complete a couple of swivels of the two analog sticks, and this can prove to be more irritating than enjoyable. (continued next page)