Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3318 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2007-03-23
• Platform: Xbox 360

Manufacturer's Description
In collaboration with urban lifestyle powerhouse Def Jam Interactive, EA Chicago - the team behind the critically acclaimed EA SPORTS Fight Night series - is integrating hip hop culture and gaming like never before. With the hottest music seamlessly infused into the world around you, the game's environments pulsate, crumble, and explode to life with every bone-jarring beat. Time your attacks to the driving bass and use falling debris and exposed environmental hazards to pound your rivals.

Featuring an all-new single-player story, the game takes you deep into the life of a high-rolling hip hop mogul to build a record label, discover new superstars, and become a hip hop icon.

Infusing hip-hop music, culture and lifestyle into the gameplay, EA Chicago and Def Jam Interactive continue to push the boundaries of game development bringing unique and innovative content to the next generation of gaming, changing the way fighting games are played.

Customer Reviews

Utter drivel it really is
ok like other reviews i wont repeat in depth THIS!!! is not fight for NY nor is it vendetta what they have done here is made this game so simple my dad can play it and thus no sick blazin no fast paced button bashing frenzy and no fun really the fighting is clumsy and slow and really boring with a capital B also as u progress through the game it gets rather repetative and im an avid gamer i play through games in a matter of hours and make it my goal to finish to end but thisithe 1ST game i actually did not want to finish andso it stays in its box and i willgive it to oxfam shortly but seriously dont be temted to buy this game at all if ure a fan of the series becuse this is a massive let down and as for graphics they are nice but they still dont beat Gears of war HD im afraid to say anyway hope this helps and if u do buy this game i give u my best wishes on playing and hope u dont also feeel the utter dissapointment and betrayal byt the def jam interactive team. peace out

A great series ruined
Def Jam: Fight For New York was one of the best fighting games on the PS2, mixing wrestling with street fighting and starring so many of the best rappers of the time. Def Jam Icon on the Xbox 360 however has completely changed this winning formula and comes off as a dull, below average beat 'em up.

The first thing you'll notice when you start playing Icon (regardless of whether you have played Vendetta or FFNY or not) is how unbearably slow and unresponsive the fighting is. The characters crawl along at a snail's pace and also seems to have only about 3 moves each, as opposed to the previous Def Jam games that had dozens of moves per fighter and was also pretty fast. You also have a move where you can scratch the beat of the background music to use the environment to attack your opponent. A bit of a daft and novel idea, which makes this otherwise realisitic game seem a little ridiculous.

Next is the appalling roster. In the first 2 Def Jam games there were over 40 top-name hip hop artists like Snoop Dogg, DMX, Xzibit, Flava Flav, Erick Sermon, Warren G, NORE, Busta Rhymes and Keith Murray as playable fighters. The only decent ones that have made it into Icon's pathetic 20+ roster are Ludacris, Method Man, Ghostface Killah and Redman, who are amongst some newer and not so good stars like T.I., The Game, Lil John and E-40.

Then there's the story mode, one of the best features of Vendetta and FFNY. In Icon the D-Mob storyline has been replaced with a "Build a Label" mode where you create a fighter, like in the previous games, and then have to take over your boss's record label, which involves signing artists, funding their songs and promotions and fighting with rival labels' artists, crazed fans and police. A good idea but takes much of the fun away from the story as there isn't a lot of choice in fights as you only get a selection of about 2 at a time. Then once you have beaten your opponent you come back to have to read through about 20 emails and voice messages from your friends in the game, which is terribly boring and you must read them all or else fights will be missed.

The graphics are one of the only decent things about this whole game, offering some of the best textures and character models ever seen on the Xbox 360. Some of the fighters look so realistic, it's scary.

The soundtrack is ok, but not brilliant. Featuring a few new(ish) tracks (not exclusives) from Redman, E-40, Outkast, The Game and Ludacris. Then there's some classics like "Ante Up" by M.O.P and "Hate Me Now" by Nas & Puff Daddy.

Overall, Def Jam Icon is a huge disappointment and a massive let down after the first two brilliant games in the Def Jam series. The game is slow, boring and not very much fun. If you're after a decent fighting game, I'd perhaps dig out the old PS2 and play one of the first two or stick to something like Mortal Kombat Armageddon, which is by far the best fighting game out at the minute. As for a decent fighter on the 360, I'm still waiting.

If it ain't broke....PLEASE DON'T FIX IT!!!!
Why o why did EA kill such a fantastic beat em up?! This is nothing compared to the first two games. Sure its got pretty good graphics but if you want to play a good beat em up with good graphics on the 360 get Dead or Alive 4 or even Fight Night Round 3 (even though techincally not a beat em up). This is just terrible!! Rubbish controls no blazin moves no four player battles and stupid music based fighting that really does not work well! Please someone from EA read this and make Def Jam 4 like the first two games!!!