In a wrestling game market mainly dominated by the WWE (or F, if you're old school), Electronic Arts released Def Jam Vendetta under its EA Sports Big label earlier this month. This game brings together some of the biggest names in rap to basically kick the living crap out of you.
Synopsis
The game starts off with you helping out an old friend, Manny, who can't fight because of a convenient arm injury. Apparently he is in deep with the Suge Knight-looking dude by the name of D-Mob. Like Knight, this is one cat you don't want to owe money, time, or your life to.
First Impression
Visions of Shaq-Fu and Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style came dancing into my head. In case you have forgotten, those games were based around rappers who just had to be in video games. Yes, Shaq actually thought at one time he was a rapper. These games were absolutely horrible.
Fortunately, from the first five minutes of playing Vendetta, I could tell this game was different. Some of the developers actually put some thought into this game to make it good. Russell Simmons' fingers are felt all over this game. Most of the rappers are from the Def Jam record label including old-schoolers like Public Enemy and Onyx. Also, it's pretty convenient that most of these "hard-core fighters" are decked out Simmons' Phat Farm clothing line.
The Good
The graphics on this game are top notch. All of the rappers in this game are basically spitting images. You actually twitch a little bit when you see somebody like Scarface pull off a well-executed pile driver.
The game-play is also extraordinary. I didn't get the feeling that I was limited on where I could take my character. The controls are easy to follow, but because it's a wrestling game, you have every right to mash the hell out of the buttons.
Like most EA Sports Big titles, you have the ability to build up your stamina to the point that you're 'roid raging. When this happens in Vendetta, you have the ability to treat your opponent like a rag doll.
The Bad
So this is supposed to be a game based in the streets with only the "hardest of the hard-core" invited to fight, right? What's with all the rules and the ring? You should be able to take this fight into the streets and kick some ass 52 Blocks style.
The Ugly
Seriously, Scarface is a relatively big guy. The first guy you have to fight, PeeWee, is also a big guy. Why the hell are they darting around the ring like they were Carl Lewis or something? When you pick a character that has way more speed then any of those two tubby bastards, you should easily be able to get away from them.
The Final Call
This game should be in every wrestling fan's library. It is probably the best to come out in quite a while. It really has nothing to lose because unlike the WWE titles, they don't have to hold true to a specific style or set of instructions. This game is just flat out fun.
Ryan Eilders is the Webmaster and video game reporter for the Web Devil. Reach him at ryan.eilders@asu.edu.
 |
|
|
||||||||||||
