Def Jam Vendetta - PlayStation 2

Opinion Posted on April 7, 2003

Written by Tiptonium

Finally, Aki has come back to the video game wrestling arena. Tired of the lame THQ releases of late? Aki, for those that may have forgotten are the masterminds behind the highly playable N64 WCW wrestling games, most notably WCW vs. now: World Tour, perhaps the best wrestling game to date. Until now, that is.

Aki, by way of Electronic Art’s “Big” franchise, have taken their newest wrestling engine and applied it to a license not generally associated with wrestling at all! The bad boyz of Hip Hop, those lovable lads from Def Jam, are the featured grapplers in this one. Def Jam Vendetta is the name of this cool title.

Personally, I do not own any Def Jam music. Sure, I’ve heard tunes on MTV and the radio, including that short lived Ludacris Pepsi ad, but I’ve never really followed the artists at Def Jam. When I first heard the news regarding this game I really had no interest in it at all. I was going to pass on this title. That changed after I played an early demo of the game. It definitely peaked my interest as I found the game to be highly accessible and extremely playable. When the game finally shipped, I bought it! And it me tell ya brother and sister it is indeed worth the asking price, big time!

The folks at Aki are definitely the best developers out there when it comes to creating video game based grapplers. They have once again proven their worth in this regard. The game’s control is extremely responsive. The grappling system is spot on. The ability to pull off multiple moves while grappling is quite impressive; some are quite devastating in appearance! Grappling varies by the amount of time you hold the grapple button down. Tap to do a light grapple, hold longer for a strong grapple. Of course the all important Irish whip is there too. Punches and kicks round out the basic fighting control. You’ll no doubt recognize the various fighting styles in the game as some look a lot like the stuff you’ll see in the WWE. Defensive maneuvers play an important role in the game. Learning when and how to perform reversals are key.

Fighting occurs both in and out of the ring. High flying rope maneuvers are possible but can be risky. There are no weapons or objects to use during a fight. Reversals are possible as are various defensive maneuvers. The combo system is straight forward. Signature moves are aplenty as well. Once powered up, the Blaze meter is enable any you can pull off a finisher by moving the right analog stick to activate the blaze and then by moving the proper control stick movement resulting in a crushing blow to your opponent. You can win by K.O., pin or submission. Personally, I find it quite satisfying when I get my opponent to tap out.

There are a total of 44 playable characters in the game. Most must be unlocked. There are 12 Def Jam artists and 5 ladies of "Def Jam." The rest are fictitious characters found in the "Def Jam" underworld of arena based fighting. Speaking of arenas, there are 12 in all.

The graphics are perhaps the best that I've seen in a wresting based title. Nice stuff here folks. Really. Believe it or not, Aki claims that the Gamecube version is even nicer. Me, I have issues with the 'Cube's control pad when most of the buttons are used so I stuck with the gamer friendly PS2 version ad its great controller.

Musically speaking, if you are a Def Jam fan then there are 18 more reasons to like this game since that is the number of tracks found in the title.

The sound effects are typical fare. I do like the crunch sound one hears when working over an opponent's arm or leg. "Crrrruuunchhh!"
The voice acting is pretty cool overall. Plenty of "urban speak." Maybe too much for the kid's sensitive ears.

I found a lot to like about the story mode. Aki added some RPG elements to the game. You build up your character's abilities by spending the cash that you earn in each fight. There are a few neat plot twists and a few diversions like the lady fights, the tag team matches and a couple of other surprises. ;-)

The other game modes include a singles match, tag team, handicap, survival and four player mode. They are all a lot of fun and add to the long term play value of the game. Those accustomed to other PS2 brawlers may complain a bit as there are no cage matches, ladder matches, royal rumbles or any semblance of a hardcore match to be found anywhere. Too bad. Still, there is much to like in DJV.

One big thing missing in DJV is the total lack of a create a wrester option. You'd think that this would be a given for such a title but the feature did not make it into the game. Oh, there are no announcers either for those that care about such things.

Def Jam Vendetta is a must have for any wresting fan. This is current personal favorite now. The game is 100% fun and that's the bottom line 'cause Tiptonium said so.