Def Jam Vendetta

Def Jam Vendetta
Developer(s)	AKI Corporation EA Canada
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts
Director(s)	Hideyuki Iwashita
Producer(s)	Josh Holmes
Writer(s)	Mark Sawers
Series	Def Jam
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, GameCube
Release date(s)	PlayStation 2 ‹See Tfd› NA: March 31, 2003 PAL: May 23, 2003 ‹See Tfd› JP: August 21, 2003 GameCube ‹See Tfd› NA: March 31, 2003 PAL: May 23, 2003
Genre(s)	Sports, Fighting
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

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. Several hip hop artists were featured in the game, including DMX, Method Man, Redman, Ludacris, N.O.R.E., Scarface, Ghostface Killah, Keith Murray, WC & DJ 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. A sequel, Def Jam: Fight for NY, was released on September 20, 2004 to largely positive reviews.

Gameplay

The game features a largely unmodified AKI engine, used in the company's Virtual Pro Wrestling games and its spinoffs with some minor "button mashing" elements added and more of an arcade than a simulation. The game plays very similarly to WWF No Mercy, and features a lengthy story mode that allows you to level up and enhance one of four player characters in your quest to become the most well known star in the urban fighting league and fight the undefeated underground boss, D-Mob (voiced by actor Christopher Judge).

Players can win in one of three ways; pin, submission or KO. Pins are done by pinning the opponent for 3 seconds before he can kick out. The player can trap opponents in holds that gradually weaken one of their body parts (head, body, legs and arms). This hold can be broken by touching the ropes. If one of those gauges reaches empty, the bones get broken and that player submits & automatically loses. Players can attack their opponent to build up a power gauge, letting them activate 'Blazin' mode. If the player successfully grabs an opponent in this state, he can perform a special move. If the opponent's health is low enough, they will be KO'd.

Plot

The player has a choice between 4 street fighters: Briggs, a dishonorably discharged soldier; Proof, an ex-superbike racer; Tank, a massive Japanese fighter and the Disc Jockey Spider, although the story is the same for each of them.

When the player chose their character they are called to help out your friend Manny by taking his place as a street fighter. Once they've won some fights, they'll go against Scarface. Once they beat him they'll get their first girlfriend, Deja. Other girls will come up to their character every few fights and they have to choose which one you prefer as your girlfriend and they'll fight each other.

Eventually, N.O.R.E. will challenge them to a fight at Grimeyville. Before the fight, they arrive with a new set of clothes and almost get in a fight with D-Mob (Chris Judge). Not long after the fight, Manny signs them and him up for a tag team tournament. After a while, the player will be challenged by Ludacris to a fight in Club Luda. When you get to Club Luda, the character's girlfriend leaves with a girl named Carla to find somewhere better. After the fight, D-Mob claims that the character and Manny are nothing. He says that if anyone in the club wants the power and respect, they have to beat him at the Def Jam tournament. Manny tells the character to stop fighting, but he ignores him.

DMX challenges you but first the character has to overcome what the Dragon House has to offer. Once they have done that, they take on Method Man and Redman in the finale of the tag team tournament. After that, they fight DMX with the protective gear sent to them by Angel (Christina Milian, your girlfriend who was taken by D-Mob). Once they have defeated DMX, they receive an e-mail from Angel saying that they need to talk. When they arrive at The Face Club, it is revealed that D-Mob has sent House, Pockets and Snowman to stop them from coming to the Def Jam tournament. The character defeats them, but just as they are sighing in relief, Manny knocks the character out with a baseball bat and joins D-Mob's side against his will. Soon the character wake up and enter the tournament and defeat their best fighters. D-Mob then attempts to kill the character by shooting at the player but Manny takes the bullet and survives. Your character triumphs over D-Mob and gets back Angel, leading up to the events of Def Jam: Fight for NY.

Soundtrack

Reception

Reception

Review scores Publication Score GC PS2 AllGame N/A [1] EGM N/A 7.67/10[2] Eurogamer N/A 3/10[3] Game Informer 8.75/10[4] 8.5/10[5] GamePro [6] [7] Game Revolution B−[8] B−[8] GameSpot 8.4/10[9] 8.4/10[9] GameSpy [10] [11] GameZone 8.7/10[12] 9.2/10[13] IGN 8.9/10[14] 8.9/10[14] Nintendo Power 3.7/5[15] N/A OPM (US) N/A [16] The Cincinnati Enquirer [17] [17] Entertainment Weekly C+[18] C+[18] Aggregate score Metacritic 81/100[19] 80/100[20]

The response to the game was mainly positive, with fans citing the basic game play and presentation as superb, but many lamented the loss of key AKI features such as "gimmick matches" like the ladder match and the cage match, plus the lack of any true create-a-wrestler mode.

The Cincinnati Enquirer gave it a score of all four stars and stated: "Electronic Arts deserves kudos for breathing new life into the aging fighting genre with this title's fresh approach."^[17] However, The Village Voice gave it a score of six out of ten and said, "If only DMX could sic his pit bulls on you, Funkmaster Flex burst your eardrums ID'ing himself, or Redman burn you with a blunt."^[21] Entertainment Weekly gave it a C+ and called it "an uninspired wrestling title that lacks Def Jam's trademark sheen."^[18]

References

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Def Jam Vendetta at MobyGames