Def Jam: Icon Review

By Luke Albiges Published 19 March, 2007

Momma said knock you out.

Version tested: Xbox 360

If, like us, you were looking forward to this latest Def Jam title on the strength of its predecessors, you might be a little put out to discover that ICON bears but a passing resemblance to Vendetta and the excellent Fight For New York. Yes, they all feature rappers fighting but that's pretty much where similarities end. With Aki no longer at the reins, the Fight Night crew have been called in to further the franchise with this third title and while that sounds like it should be a workable substitution, something has definitely gone awry here.

For starters, the larger-than-life approach to the series has been laid to rest, and if you're hoping to see high speed grappling, huge Blazin' moves and mass environmental carnage then you've come to the wrong place. ICON cuts the action back to one-on-one bouts and slows it right down to a crawl, meaning that as close as a fight may get, things are never particularly interesting - not that you'll know how close the fight is, with a lack of status bars leaving you to rely on visual indicators like the odd bruise.

It's also jarring to discover the meagre arsenal of striking attacks per characters. A couple more are assigned to the right stick (a la Fight Night), but the real star move is the grab. This can lead to one of several chronically underwhelming grapple attacks you won't have seen since your playground days or, far more usefully, a directional toss that can put your opponent more or less anywhere in the arena. And why exactly is that so handy? Read on, oh impatient one.

'Def Jam: Icon' Screenshot 1

The helicopter tail is the thing to look out for here - the pilot seems to be drunk or something.

ICON's somewhat misguided new feature is the ability to use music as a weapon and while rhythm action fans may like the sound of this, the implementation is pretty sorry. You have two musical attacks at your disposal. The first changes the music to your own choice of tune for a slight power boost, while the other sees you performing virtual scratching to trigger various environmental effects. The latter is by far the easier to abuse once you know what happens in each stage. Simply toss an opponent into the right area and scratch away to trigger an explosion or similar hazard that does silly amounts of damage and sends the recipient flying. This is pretty much all you'll be doing to win fights, throwing out the odd punch or kick until the opponent blocks then grabbing and throwing them into a dangerous area. Interesting it is not, especially when you're on the receiving end of the same technique from some of the game's later fighters.

Just like the premise itself though, these backdrops are, on the whole, pretty impressive - at least from a design standpoint. The way everything moves with the pulse of the music is, on some stages, quite spectacular. And even though the actual crux of the game might be somewhat weak, you have to wonder what a more experienced music game developer could have done with this concept. ICON is very much a could-have-been, having moved too far away from the rest of the series without getting close enough to the experience such a music/fighting hybrid has potential to be.

'Def Jam: Icon' Screenshot 3

In glorious HD, ICON looks stunning but its all for naught thanks to the ropey fighting engine.

But of course, it's not all fighting. The story sees a big shot producer spotting some potential in your created character (after he wins a bar fight) and giving you a job on his label looking after the interests of the artists. This generally involves personal errands (all of which involve fighting) or splashing out cash for their lavish lifestyles, and as the game goes on, you're entrusted with budgeting for some of the label's releases. This is the only part of the game that doesn't even put up a bit of a fight - it's a cheap and simple way of making the player feel involved in a deeper side of the game when all you're really doing is spending money to make more money, as always happens here. The more you invest, the more you make which you can then spend on bling, a new get-up or even a suitably expensive haircut.

ICON may look the business, but if falls down in that most crucial of areas - it makes fighting a chore rather than an enjoyable experience. Granted, you still get to set Sean Paul on fire (which is enough reason to at least have a quick play on a demo pod in your local game shop), but the chances are that a five-minute session will be all the Def Jam you need to convince a sizeable bundle of currency to stay in the warmth of your wallet. The 360 may still be without a truly worthwhile beat-'em-up (roll on VF5) but this is a fault that EA's grotty reinvention of the Def Jam franchise can do very little to rectify.

5 / 10

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Comments (45) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Blerk #1 5 years ago

    Posted at 2:30am? And no comments yet?

    Looks like this'll be a big, big seller, then. ^_^

  • krudster #2 5 years ago

    That was doofus here putting 2.30 as the time stamp, when it was supposed to be 14.30

  • JayeM #3 5 years ago

    Loved the first two games, hate the demo for this. I'm not getting it.

  • space_ace #4 5 years ago

    i'll be interviewing method man this sunday! woo :)

  • dirigiblebill #5 5 years ago

    I liked Fight for NY for being trashy, blinged-up and uber-visceral. I want to like this, but it looks like the wrestling engine is even more broke than Aki's was.

  • Overlush #6 5 years ago

    Wow: my least favourite music genre featured in my least favourate game genre...

    /gives a very, very....very wide berth

  • Anthony_UK #7 5 years ago

    EA what have you done?? the last Def Jam game was one of the greatest 4 player games ever! It kept our weekly lads night entertained longer than Halo 2 for god's sake!

    This is even more dissapointing than being out this weekend, and being refered to as 'that man over there' by my girlfriends mate

    i'm 25..........Surely i'm not the 'old guy at the club' just yet

    :-(

  • Dizzy #8 5 years ago

    Games with "rappers" == TEH SUCK

    It will probably be No 1 next week.
    Edited by 1 at 19/03/07 @ 15:30

  • jonsaan #9 5 years ago

    Total bummer. I really enjoyed Fight for New York. The demo of this new one was terrible. Sigh.

  • Psychopompus #10 5 years ago

    5 out of 10 is very generous for this very poor game.

  • jonsaan #11 5 years ago

    @Space ace

    who the hell is Method Man. Is he like a superhero or something?
    Edited by 1 at 19/03/07 @ 15:35

  • rauper Verified Managing Director, Eurogamer Network #12 5 years ago

    If 5 is generous, what does that make the 79% that Play gave it?!

  • mazzl #13 5 years ago

    yes method man has super powers!

  • JayeM #14 5 years ago

    I would give it a 2/10.

  • JayeM #15 5 years ago

    I've just checked Eurogamer's reviews for the last two Def Jam games and they were very harsh on those two, in comparison to this they're both tens in my book.

    I'd give the first Def Jam game a 8.5/10 and the second 8/10 and this is not even close to the quality of those two.

  • Machetazo #16 5 years ago

    JayeM: Loved the first two games, hate the demo for this. I'm not getting it.

    I know that situation. The demo would either sell the concept for me, or not. I went in enthusiastic, but it's just too clunky, it's not brawling, or any real fight and I don't know even more than a small segment of the artists featured. That demo was just horrid. No sale.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #17 5 years ago

    What, there are predecessors? This game looks so terribly stupid it hurts. I'm really not into this (Hip Hop or whatever you call it).

  • JayeM #18 5 years ago

    Def Jam Fight for NY
    Def Jam Vendetta

    Majority is always right Eurogamer, you're the lowest on the list for Vendetta and second lowest for Fight for NY. ;)
    Edited by 3 at 19/03/07 @ 16:19

  • tomwhitaker #19 5 years ago

    This is a genuine 360 tragedy for me. A beefed-up, 4-player-on-Live update of FFNY was near the top of my 'next-gen' wishlist a year ago.

    When I played the demo I was so very sad, because now we've got a worse version of Fight Night to go with the good one we already have.

  • JayeM #20 5 years ago

    Looks like you'll also be the lowest score for this game too but that's because a lot of other sites are lying through their teeth. ;)

  • Darren #21 5 years ago

    Dear me, thanks, EG. There was me looking forward to this game and now look what you've done!!! You've shattered my illusions, you've now made me consider cancelling it... boohoo... :(

  • dr_shambles #22 5 years ago

    Demo sucked. Relentlessly.

  • Darren #23 5 years ago

    After seeing the scores EG gave the other two games (Vendetta 3/10 - what were they on?!?) I've decided to stick with my pre-order as I loved the first game on the GameCube and thought the second game was also good but not *as* good. Anyway I actually enjoyed the 360 demo...

    I'm really sounding like I'm desperate to convince myself it's a good game, don't I? :?

  • BBIAJ #24 5 years ago

    Well, I too enjoyed the demo, having never played a previous Def Jam game, so had nothing really similar to compare it to.

    I too shall also be sticking with my pre-order! ;o)

  • Razzajazz #25 5 years ago

    The demo was like fighting in bloody treacle, and I was just hoping that this was down to it being a demo version. :( It does look very nice, admittedly, but it's just too slow and boring to be engaging. Which is a shame, as I'm another one who thought FFNY was actually surprisingly good!

  • BBIAJ #26 5 years ago

    yellowtruck

    EA does it again, and just for the X360 too.

    Erm, you do know that this is on the PS3 also, right?

  • SeesThroughAll #27 5 years ago

    yellowtruck, you'll be happy to know that EA is also publishing this junk on the PS3, it probably looks exactly the same, and plays equally as bad.
    Edited by 1 at 19/03/07 @ 17:09

  • nickthegun #28 5 years ago

    I'll say one thing for it though, if you dont give a shit about the game, its certainly got the 'wow' factor.

    i had a few mates round before we went out and i was rattling through a few demos. The one that really seemed to stick was this as, on an HD-TV, through a decent AV system, it looks and sounds awesome.

    Shame the game suck balls though. Still, it kept them oohing, ahhing and mashing buttons until the taxi came.

  • bioreit #29 5 years ago

    Yeah, but YellowTruck delights in trying to make the 360 look bad (kinda like a nice counterpoint to rotj. Except not that 'nice').

    I mean, I may disagree with you on your main console preference, SeesThroughAll (I mean, I work in IT - I get all the snazzy gadgets I wants for free so not interested in the all-in deal with the PS3. Plus I'm an FPS whore), but I respect your opinions as they are well-thought out, grounded in logic and personal opinion, rather than blinded by bias and devotion.

    Kinda disappointed in this too - was hoping it would be a decent replacement for Power Stone as a 4-player friday night game

    Alas, not meant to be...

    Although if they were to put PS on Live Arcade...

    /Wanders even more off-topic. "Ooh, look, goldfish!"

  • spidermanalf #30 5 years ago

    Rappers don't kill games. EA do!

  • JayeM #31 5 years ago

    I hope this is a sales flop, but it's not likely. :(

  • captainrentboy #32 5 years ago

    ''yellowtruck, you'll be happy to know that EA is also publishing this junk on the PS3, it probably looks exactly the same, and plays equally as bad.''
    Acording to IGN it plays just that little bit more sluggishly on the PS3 actually....

  • Zane #33 5 years ago

    Oh I really hope EA don't get the WWE license from THQ now.

  • smelly #34 5 years ago

    "Acording to IGN it plays just that little bit more sluggishly on the PS3 actually.... "

    And no doubt looks slightly worse.

    :-)

  • asphaltcowboy #35 5 years ago

    FFNY with those graphics would have been a god-send. Shame :(

  • Darren #36 5 years ago

    Odd that GameSpot, who I find reliable for reviews, gave Def Jam Icon 81%. I know it's personal opinion at the end of the day but I pre-ordered the game based on the demo and their review so it's kind of offputting not to mention confusing when another reliable source gives the same game a mediocre score.

  • JaysonG #37 5 years ago

    EG got the the first two reviews horribly wrong and this one is about right if not generous. Awful game. I hope EA are big enough to realise their mistake and put the old AKI fight engine back in, even if they keep the fighting to the beat system they've added.
    Edited by 1 at 19/03/07 @ 21:43

  • bloodflowers #38 5 years ago

    "The 360 may still be without a truly worthwhile beat-'em-up (roll on VF5)"

    DOA4. It's actually really good, despite the cheap end boss, and despite the drooling "jubblies lol" trolls who having never played the game, are more than happy to give their opinion on it.. I tried the demo of this, review is spot on if the demo was representative - couldn't really achieve much in it, but it looked great.
    Edited by 1 at 20/03/07 @ 08:38

  • OllyJ #39 5 years ago

    @tomwhitaker

    that's my thoughts exactly, I was really looking forward to this and the first screenshots really looked cool...then I found out who was making it....then I found out about the new game mechanics....then I played the demo....then I cancelled my pre-order and wondered where I was going to get my FFNY style fight fix from.

  • Kuma #40 5 years ago

    Lets hope this bombs, the demo did enough to put me off i just pray it works the same for others. Then we can get back to the form of FFNY, actually maybe EA will let AKI make another fighter without all the gangsta rap bollocks which would be even better!

  • JayeM #41 5 years ago

    Let's all hope for Def Jam: Back to Basics, developed by Aki.

  • ice_freezer #42 5 years ago

    /looks at score. Collapses on the floor in a heavy shock.

  • SomaticSense #43 5 years ago

    Played the demo, thought it was utter shit.

    The animation was impressive, but I couldn't get my head around the fighting engine at all, and the whole concept of 'Rappers in a fighting game' turns me off instantly.

    Will sell unbelievably well in the UK amongst the Chav crowd though. Will sit nicely on their (probably stolen) shelves along with their copies of (probably stolen) Need for Speed Carbon and FIFA.

    EDIT - "The demo was like fighting in bloody treacle". I couldn't quite put into words how I thought the fighting engine was so crap, but that is exactly how it felt. So slow and unresponsive.
    Edited by 1 at 20/03/07 @ 13:30

  • SomaticSense #44 5 years ago

    ""The 360 may still be without a truly worthwhile beat-'em-up (roll on VF5)"

    DOA4.    "

    Maybe it's just that now I'm in my twenties I've just had the "one-on-one beat 'em up lover" switch turned off, because I got DOA4 and absolutely hated it. It's the first game I've ever bought that went straight back to the shop for a part-exchange less than a week after I'd bought it.

    Great graphics (although was barely better looking than DOA3), but ridiculously hard unless you have mates that are willing to play it as well (I didn't). Cheap end boss? Every AI opponent in the game was cheap IMO. But yeah, the end boss was particularly bad.
    Make it really hard to hit her let alone beat her without lady luck on your side? Check. Give her a ridiculous unavoidable move that almost wipes your health bar out in one? Check. Give her a teleport move that you can guarantee the AI'll spam whenver you so much as press an attack button leading to her being behind you when you pull off the move? Check. Any notion of fair play on even the easiest difficulty setting without the whole encounter boiling down to sheer luck? Um, not there I'm afraid.

    Button mashing rubbish.

    In short, DOA4 is hardly comparable to VF5.
    Edited by 3 at 20/03/07 @ 13:45

  • miiiguel #45 5 years ago

    DoA4 is too hardcore..., I feel small everytime I face a more than likely spiked-hair japanese geek, and I get my ass kicked oh so bad... .

    I bought this one, it arrived yesterday, didn't have the time to play it, but I'm not expecting much. I just hope I can keep my Elite rank of > 75% Achievement completion for each game.