Def Jam: Icon
Ring the alarm–EA’s third effort surprises with fresh style and gameplay.
Tags: Def Jam: Icon Categories: PS3 Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Tracy Erickson on Mar 26th, 2007
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Def Jam: Icon (title page) | 1 - 2 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Fighting | Yes | ||
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Welcome to the next-generation: remakes and sequels. Electronic Arts has led the third-party charge on PlayStation 3 with a bevy of franchise extensions. Def Jam: Icon could easily be categorized as such, just another installment in a popular licensed title. Shockingly, the game breaks from previous effort by reinventing not only its presentation and style, but the fundamentals of gameplay. While Def Jam: Icon definitely retains its status as a sequel, it succeeds in crafting a solid next-generation experience.
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Def Jam: Icon features a handful of modes including quick matches in Throwdown, online multiplayer via PlayStation Network, and Practice mode. Online matches are a big draw, even if they aren’t as fully featured as on Xbox Live; but really the main focus rests on the single player “Build a Label” campaign. As in the last two games, you’ll take on the role of a no-name hip hop gangsta that happens to be taken under the wing of a music mogul. Rising to the top demands crazy street smarts and fighting skills as much as musical talent. Significant alterations have been made to the single player game from previous installments with a brand new story, awesome character creation and customization options, and better balancing overall.
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You’ll start off by creating an original hip hop artist via Electronic Arts’ robust character creation system. Identical to those offered in other recent Electronic Arts titles, the options are nearly limitless with full freedom given to tweak everything about from hair color and style to the position of his or her jaw and shape of the eyes. The customization doesn’t end there—as you earn money during your rise to fame, you can purchase clothing and jewelry for wear. From fancy grillz to fashionably worn jeans to ridiculously expensive shades, there is a veritable bonanza of items with which to dress your character. In fact, much of the fun to be had in Def Jam: Icon is in gearing up your guy before heading into a brawl.
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Amassing wealth occurs in two ways: completing assignments and getting your tunes to the top of the charts. Various members of the Def Jam label will call on you to help them out of sticky situations or to coerce unsigned artists into joining the group. Naturally, this demands throwing your elbows around to get things done. As you bring on new recording artists, you can release albums and market them to garner income. Doing so not only ensures a bit of cash, but also raises the reputation of your character from raw talent all the way up to icon.
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The label management aspects of Def Jam: Icon are well-thought out, but simply aren’t as exciting as the fighting. Ditching the wrestling mechanics of the previous titles in favor of a more loose street style, you won’t grapple with your opponents so much as actually fight them. Six fighting styles determine how characters behave during a match ranging from the crazed fisticuffs of ghetto blaster to the more disciplined street kwon do. Distinctions between the six styles make fighting varied and interesting, with unique moves for each. Even more, the free form urban fighting style better suits the game in place of wrestling mechanics.
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It’ll take a bit of time to learn the controls though, as button-mashing won’t get you very far. The time required to learn the fighting system is offset by its flexibility and variety, as it offers a lot of freedom to take on opponents with a range of moves. The face buttons are used for basic moves with the X and circle buttons triggering fast strikes, and the square and triangle buttons executing slower strong attacks. More advanced moves can be pulled off with movements of the right analog stick; of course, these attacks are harder to pull off since they’re much more potent than basic hits.
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What truly sets Def Jam: Icon apart from other fighting games is DJ controls that let you boost the damage of your attacks and manipulate the surrounding environment. Holding down L2 switches the analog sticks into DJ mode, enabling you to activate destructible elements in the level. Each level pulsates to the beat of whatever tune is playing, so scratching will trigger environment hazards such as giant speakers that’ll blow back your opponent or gas pumps that burst into flames. Perhaps these hazards would be more impressive were they not randomly occurring independent of your control. Sure, DJ controls let you set off these hazards but their appeal is limited based on the fact they will go off on their own through the course of a match.
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More than just a graphical overhaul for the next-generation, Def Jam: Icon really reinvents the young series with a totally new artistic style. Gone are the colorful backgrounds and polygonal character models replaced by washed out urban backdrops and near-photorealistic characters. Loading times are a bit lengthy before fights, as well as when waiting for items to queue up in the shops, but its nothing you haven’t dealt with before. The difference is startling, yet pleasing. There isn’t another game out that possesses anything close to the visual style Def Jam: Icon offers and that alone makes it interesting.
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Of course, the music and voice acting plays a huge role in shaping the experience. Naturally, Def Jam: Icon boasts a notable soundtrack from hip hop artists such as Ludacris, Paul Wall, T.I., Lil’ Jon, and others. Casual hip hop listeners will only recognize a couple of tracks; however, if you have your finger on the pulse of the hip hop community, you should find a lot to enjoy here. All of the voice acting has been recorded with the actual artists’ voices, making the experience fully authentic. Few complaints can be lodged against Def Jam: Icon with regards to its presentation, save for the absence of some notable figures and wanted songs.
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Ultimately, Def Jam: Icon succeeds in extending the young brawling series into the next-generation. More than that, it does so in a way that invigorates with a great sense of style and retooled fighting mechanics. It would have been easy to simply rehash the previous game, but thankfully the effort was made to make Def Jam: Icon a fresh experience.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ Stylish presentation + Well-crafted fighting mechanics + Lots of customization options |
8.5 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Slightly steep learning curve - Loading times |
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| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Def Jam: Icon hits PlayStation 3 touting surprisingly solid gameplay that takes a different direction from previous installments. While it still very much feels like a sequel, everything is bigger, better, and more stylish. In the end, Def Jam: Icon manages to feel like a fresh experience instead of more of the same. | |
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Tags: Def Jam: Icon
Posted by Tracy Erickson on Mar 26th, 2007 and is filed under PS3 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
