There are many people who remember the iconic Def Jam video game series from the 00’s decade. Def Jam Vendetta and Def Jam: Fight for NY were probably the biggest hip-hop related titles to have been released within within the past twenty years with both games having a cult following since the early 00’s. Def Jam: Fight for NY from ’04 was considered to be a masterpiece as it related to the fighting genre of gaming. However, there are many critics who feel very different about its ’07 successor Def Jam: Icon which appeared on the PS3 and the Xbox 360. Def Jam: Icon was a game that had roughly around 29 characters consisting of familiar OG’s such as: Method Man, Ludacris, Fat Joe, Redman, Ghostface Killah and Sean Paul. One of the few strong positives about Def Jam: Icon was the inclusion of new faces which featured rappers such as: Paul Wall, Mike Jones, T.I., Young Jeezy, Jim Jones, E-40 and many others. The modernized soundtrack was something that was also well received along with the intense atmosphere the game provided during the fights whether they be in nightclubs, gas stations or rooftops. While Def Jam: Icon looked decent in terms of visual presentation the game still fell way below many people’s desired expectations.
In Def Jam: Icon rappers did not have much of a move-set in comparison to preceding titles mainly because there was more emphasis on brawling opposed to wrestling. Electronic Arts clearly tried to make Def Jam: Icon appear more realistic than its predecessors which was okay but the story mode “Build a Label” felt like a step down in comparison to what we got in Fight for NY. The storyline for Def Jam: Icon was not quite as exciting as DJ: Fight for NY despite Troy Dollar and crooked cop Lt. Frank Wheatly being more detestable villains than D-Mob and Crow from previous installments. Also, the story mode for Def Jam: Icon felt shorter than its predecessor and the villain characters in Icon did not have nearly as much charisma as the likes of D-Mob or Crow. The absence of gameplay modes like Tag Team and Battle Royale arguably hurt the quality of Def Jam: Icon mainly because all players got to see were one on one fights. Def Jam: Icon was game that would of been better off as a stand alone title with a different name outside of the Def Jam video game series; opposed to the sequel of Def Jam: Fight for NY.
Gaming Hearts Collection 