Def Jam Icon Review

The previous two Def Jam games have been solid fighting experiences, but will Icon be a “Gangsta’s Paradise” or will we meet it at the “Crossroads”?

I enjoyed the first two Def Jam games and, while not being the greatest brawlers around, they captured the urban feel while maintaining tight gameplay. In Fight for NY and Vendetta, there was a great character editor that was used to create your Def Jam persona whom would take to the streets and bring the mutha fuckin’ ruckus. As the lengthy Story Mode progressed, new moves, clothes, tattoos, and jewelry could be purchased and equipped which came together in a way that made players feel they had developed a one-of-a-kind persona. There was good level design (throwing your enemy on the subway tracks to get killed by a speeding train stands out), a nice variety of weapons, and some brutal throws and finishers. Developed under the EA Big label, it wasn’t anything mind-blowing, just done well and especially for a game in the fighting genre. The other cool thing was that while there were some 1-on-1 matches, most matches were up to four characters dukin’ it out at once. This allowed for some though and intense fights which led to a real hatred towards certain characters, but more importantly made the games more strategic and fun.

Okay, enough about the past, lets get to the present. Def Jam Icon is the third installment in the series and it takes a drastic change in formula. Gone are most of the features that made Def Jam fun in the first place, notably the weapons and custom moves that were set up in the same fashion as the SSX series. The team behind Icon decided to make the focus of the entire game on the music. The Story Mode no longer emphasizes character development but instead switches the goal to creating a record label empire. The actual fighting aspect of the game feels like an afterthought as you take down other artists or hired help that may be preventing your label from getting off the ground.


And guess what, it shows. The fighting sucks ass. It is totally boring, slow, and bland. Going with the music theme, the environments move to the beat. As damage occurs from the fight at hand, hazards will become apparent and players can use the music bouncing booby traps to deal massive damage to their opponents. It sounds like a good idea in theory but it just doesn’t translate into fun gameplay.

If players miss an environmental attack due to timing issues of the music track, they can remix the song on the fly with their magical record scratching technique or even flip the song to a different track. This is important because you either have to back your enemy into a trap by repeatedly pummeling them or by grabbing and tossing them into the direction of danger. At least if players miss their chance they don’t have to wait for the song to hit the specific beat again. But this is all the fights boil down to. Gone are the weapons, grapples, and combos of old and instead we are given basic high/low single-button attacks and the lame ability to toss thugs across the screen.


I have to give credit to where credit is due, and that is in the graphic and sound departments. The highly interactive levels are amazingly detailed and constantly changing. As the environments get abused by the brawl, new hazards are revealed and certain objects react to certain beats in the song. This makes the world of Def Jam Icon feel extremely rich and alive. The character models are perfect and range from artists such as Ghostface Killah, E-40, and Sean John. The game runs at 30 fps and can feel a bit sluggish while there are some interesting color saturation choices much like in NBA Street Homecourt. The track list is deep and fully licensed uncensored hip-hop. The voice work is done by the artists themselves and not half bad. Sound effects are great and there are always a million of them going off at once in each crunked-out level.

Props to those who worked on this game for trying something new. Icon has great music and graphics, but a below average story and frustratingly weak controls. If this is the new direction for the Def Jam series, hopefully they can find a way to incorporate the old, but good, aspects back for the next round. Fighting fans and hip-hop heads will both be crackin 40oz.’s in tribute to what could have been.