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A popular developer amongst wrestling fans, Aki has returned another wrestling game. It sounds gimmicky featuring Def Jam rappers, but Aki has managed to pull it off - and quite well, at that.
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The basic premise is this: popular Def Jam artists wail on each other in a hip-hop inspired wrestling setting. Fans of Aki’s previous wrestling games (No Mercy, Wrestlemania 2000, WCW/NWO Revenge, etcetera) will find themselves right at home. Despite being advertised as a Fighting game, Def Jam Vendetta is unarguably a wrestling game at its core.
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The gameplay is basically the same as in previous Aki wrestling games, albeit slightly stripped down. There are dozens of moves that can be performed, utilizing the traditional Soft and Hard grapple system. Quickly pressing the grapple button will earn a Soft grapple, and holding down the grapple button merit a Hard grapple. From there, pressing certain combinations of buttons will cause your character to perform a variety of moves.
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As you perform moves, your momentum meter goes up and your opponent's goes down, and visa versa. High momentum will give your character the advantage in reversing and performing grapples, but with low momentum your character will become more susceptible to attacks, pins and reversals. Once your momentum meter is full, you can perform a Special Move. Every character has two - a Front and a Back Special. If the opponent is weak enough, a Special Move will KO them and earn you the win. Other ways to earn a win include submissions and pins, but Special Moves are the primary way to win.
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For whatever reason, Aki cut down on the number of Back and Corner grapples, which only serves to cut down the variety of moves that can be performed. Also absent is the ability to drag your opponent, making rope-breaks an all-to-common occurrence that renders many submissions useless. These are only minor complaints, as the game still plays like a charm.
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What the game lacks most is gameplay modes. In the Story Mode, you take one of four created fighters and work your way up in the ranks of underground fighting. Also featured is a Battle Mode, which offers 1 on 1, Tag Team, Free-For-All and Handicap matches. Finally, there is Survival Mode, where players battle until they’re defeated. Ladder matches, cage matches and other special matches are unfortunately no where to be found in DJV. Most notably missing is the Create-A-Wrestler feature standard to most modern wrestling games.
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DJV features a few things to unlock which helps replay value. As gamers progress through story mode, defeated characters will become unlocked in Battle Mode. Once you’ve won a match at a new venue, it will also be unlocked. Also of note is the unlockable real-life galleries of the “girlfriends” you meet in story mode.
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The graphics are very well done. Each Def Jam artist resembles his real-life counterpart. The many created characters are realistic and inventive. The crowd, while not amazing, is the best available in a wrestling game at this point. The locations are fairly inspired and include several real-life places, like Scarface’s Face Club.
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The sound effects are nothing special, just the usual sounds of thuds, punches and slam. The voice acting is well done, but only comes into play during Story Mode and in the one-liners both before and after matches. As you may expect, the soundtrack is rock-solid, as it features eighteen Def Jam tracks by artists like DMX and Redman. While full lyrical versions play while surfing the menus, the in-game tracks are sadly just looping instrumentals without the vocals.
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As far as differences in the two versions go, the games are the same, with minor exceptions. The FMVs in the Gamecube version are grainier than those in the Playstation 2 version, but the in-game graphics are sharper. It’s arguable that the standard Gamecube controller is better suited for DJV, but both work well.
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Regardless of which version you choose, Def Jam Vendetta is a solid game. Pro-wrestling and Def Jam fans won’t be disappointed. However, DJV is missing a few of the bells and whistles that would elevate it to greatness. It’s a solid buy, but a few steps short of excellent.
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Pros
- Features twelve Def Jam artists amongst dozens of characters
- Soundtrack consists of eighteen Def Jam tracks
- Entertaining story mode with a lot to unlock
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Cons
- No Create-A-Wrestler feature
- No special matches or weapons
- Gameplay is slightly simplified compared to previous Aki wrestling games
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