Def Jam Icon, A Change in the Series Though Not For the Better.
It introduces a new system of fighting. The system consists of high/low moves with the option of quick or heavy. Seems simple at first. Throughout the beggining of the game, it is likely you will be mastering this system before you go in depth with all the other forms. Then come the throws and the other attacks. These manuevers are made with the R stick, which at first seems cool but then becomes a chore to use. The fighting styles lack the mastery that is required in most fighting games and from time to time might find that your trying to execute a roundhouse kick but instead watch your player try to grab. The real mastery in this game comes from reading your opponents and utilizing high or low maneuvers at the right time or else you will get blocked. Then add that to the harmony of the back round and the use of the record spin move, and it becomes pretty difficult to completely master. What it does good is its graphics, and its story, and at times the fights can be fun. The story puts you into a costumized character who gets good with a rapper/producer, who in two years will be gunned down in broad daylight (Opening cutscene). Then comes a Crow type character, but replacing Snoop Dogg with Anthony Anderson. He wants to be the big boy who rules the rap industry and will do practicly anything. The story from there is the rising of your label amid the behind the scenes war that takes place between the competition and you. The slight problem with the plot, is there is small doses of it over along period of time. Like the other Def Jam games, you know what the story is by checking your email. The email will be vocal half the time which is a strong point. And then you select your destination which will be one of the eight availabe venues at the given time. The place will have a description of what the plot is, you pick your style and theme, and then you go to the fight. One weakness is you dont see any initial escelation of anything that would lead to a fight, you just start in one, and end in one. Rarely will there be a post fight cutscene unless the plot calls for it. How do you build a label exactly? Well you get email that has the rappers or your boss tell you whats what, and first you do favors or help out the rapper your label is looking to sign, allways involving a fight of course. Then when all the fights are done, you have a choice between one of the two rappers, of course no matter who you chose, you have to fight an opposition before they sign. Repeat this process and that is the basic feel for the whole game. However that is not ALL of it.
Then you will get Email from your fellow rappers/girlfreinds asking for money half the time. Depending on how many times you say "yes" is how much they will like you, that and doing those fight involving "favors." For the other half of the managing/producing of the rappers you get to basicly budget spending on their next album they are producing. Little to no managment skill is actually required but it adds a slight sense of feel that you are an actual part of the process. The games main weaknesses come from the fighting. Though inovative, it can feel old at times as well as difficult. Fighting a difficult opponent becomes more of a chore. You fight, you wait till one of you is about to faint, one of you faints, restart the fight because you lost, repeat. Then instead of a quick matchup, the length between getting to the ending part of the fight compared to the beggining becomes long and somewhat boring. And there is practicly nothing getting you from fight to fight or variety other then opponents. The game has its moments and can be fun to play. However it lacks many of the machinics that make a good game, a realy good game or a great game. Its potential was there but was either misused or misplaced. It is definetly worth playing however to I would have to refrain from calling it a must buy.