Def Jam Vendetta

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Release Date: 2003
Developers: AKI Corporation, EA Canada
Publishers: EA Sports BIG
Platforms: PS2, Gamecube
Genre: Sports (professional wrestling)
Players: Single-Player, Multiplater
Rating: PEGI 16+


Synopsis:
Def Jam Vendetta is a 2003 professional wrestling video game that combined hip hop with pro wrestling. It was released for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube. It was Electronic Arts' first attempt at a wrestling game since the widely-panned WCW Backstage Assault. The game's engine was originally designed for use in a sequel to EA's WCW Mayhem, but EA lost the WCW license when the wrestling company was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation in 2001. Several hip hop artists were featured in the game, including DMX, Method Man, Redman, Ludacris, N.O.R.E., Capone, Scarface, Joe Budden, Ghostface Killah, Keith Murray, WC and Funkmaster Flex; all of which at the time were artists of Def Jam Records. Singer Christina Milian was also featured in the game as the character known as Angel. So far two sequels have been released: 2004's Def Jam: Fight for NY and 2007's Def Jam: Icon.

Gameplay:

In Def Jam Vendetta, you step into the ring with the roughest and toughest in the rap industry to build a reputation and picking up girls until you get your ex Angel back from the undefeated underground wrestler, D-Mob.
It features many songs from Def Jam Recordings artists such as DMX, Ludacris, NORE, Keith Murray, Nate Dogg, Method Man, Joe Budden and many more!
You start as one of 4 pre-made characters:
Tank - A large, slow, uncharasmatic Japanese fighter who is very strong.
Proof - An ex-superbike racer who is both fast and charasmatic but not one of the stronger characters.
Spider - The slow and uncharasmatic, but resilient Disc Jockey.
Briggs - A dishonorably discharged soldier whose skills are genuinely balanced.
Which ever character you pick, you do the same story line and will earn points which you can learn to increase your character's abilities. During the storyline, you will face real rappers such as Scarface, NORE, Ludacris, Ghostface Killah, Capone, Method Man and Redman. You will also face created characters such as Dan G, Chucklez, Peewee, Sketch, and in one of the harder fights in the game, you have to fight handicapped 1 vs. 3 against 3 created characters called Snowman, Pockets and House. Against his own will, your pal who you have accompanied all through the storyline from the beginning, Manny, turns on you to combine forces with D-Mob.
As you fight new people, you will unlock new rings to fight in. After going through girlfriends such as Carla, T'ai Monique, Penny and Deja, you will eventually get your chance to reunite with Angel when you fight D-Mob. I don't want to spoil the ending for you if you are planning on playing the storyline, but there is a spoiler underneath if you would like to know. ;)



Very predictable ending to a great storyline.

Gameplay Rating: 9/10

Graphics:

Although not the highest quality of graphics, the graphics are still a good enough quality, and the punches and moves look realisticly done. The characters look realistic. The background scenery on the indoor rings on the game are very WWE-esque. They don't tend to make the fans/observers look 3D like the characters, they tend to just be there to help you feel it more realistically. Altogether, the graphics aren't stand-out, but they are acceptable.

Graphics Rating: 7.5/10

Examples:

Controls:

The controls are simple, the 'X' button to grapple lightly, square button to do a light punch on the other character, hold 'O' to run towards the character and release to attack them. Hold 'X' for a strong grapple and hold square for a strong punch. Once you have built up enough momentum, click the right analog stick to enter 'Blazin' mode, in which if you grapple another character and press 'L1' you perform a devastating finishing move which often wins you fights on KO when the opponent is low on health. Menus are easy to skim through as you'd expect, but the controls are genuinely pretty simple.

Controls Rating: 9.5/10

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Overall Rating: 8/10