Let me get straight to the gameplay, since I haven't thought of much else since I received the game. I'm a big wrestling game fan, and I go out of my way to play a number of puroresu titles from Japan, most recently King of Colosseum Red and Green. Including KOC, there are still a number of Japanese wrestling games that are head and shoulders above what we get stuck with here in North America (Def Jam included). I understand most gamers don't have access to import games, so in order to cleanse my palette, so to speak, I played a bunch of Smackdown (PS2) and Raw (XBox) along with Def Jam. Within hours, I again realized why AKI is held in such high regard in the West even though it's been years since their last release.

Most things you would expect from an AKI wrestling engine can be found right here in Def Jam Vendetta. Although the engine is outdated and has been somewhat stripped down for this release, there are still a number of reasons to rejoice. The grappling system is still as solid as ever. You can enter grapples with either a light/quick or strong/long button press resulting in two entirely different move sets. Appropriately, you need to start a match with strikes and quick grapples in order to wear down the opponent before you move on to stronger and more damaging moves, or you risk the pain being reversed. Lots of other situations you would expect from a wrestling game are also present such as Irish Whips, corner grapples, planchas, fighting outside of the ring, top rope moves, ground moves, and submissions. Although the pacing is much faster than AKI's N64 wrestlers and way too fast to be a true wrestling game (that sounds funny), I did manage to get used to it, and I will concede that it does mesh well with the game's image.

That brings me to my next point. I can't help but evaluate Def Jam as a wrestling game even though EA may have had more of a hybrid fighting game in mind. In my opinion, they should have just let AKI do what they do best and make a full scale wrestling game with the Def Jam license as a bonus marketing tool. What's happened by making this a hybrid wrestling game is introduced a number of issues you shouldn't have to deal with in a wrestling game and things you would never think about in a fighting game. Take the speed issue that I brought up for instance. Def Jam plays fast, and I mean as fast or faster than Smackdown! This has taken away an element of strategy that was a leading reason for the AKI engine becoming so loved and one of the reason we quietly bash Yukes (Smackdown developer). The result is a more arcadey, twitch-based affair that makes timing and countering artificially more difficult. Not only has the gameplay been sped up but also the recovery time. It will be many minutes into the match before you opponent will spend more than a fraction of a second on the ground, and even in late stages of the match, you'll have little time to contemplate or set up your next move.

Again, as a wrestling game, they've taken a step back. (I don't want to hear complaints about this not being a wrestling game because EA didn't hire AKI to make Tekken!) There aren't near enough moves to keep the game fresh. There are only two top rope attacks, very limited ground grappling and striking, limited corner grapples, limited Irish Whip moves, limited back grapples and everyone shares the same running grapples. Basically all that remained unchanged and uncut are the front grapples.

The small move set is somewhat made up for by a new combo system that I think is a wonderful new addition. Basically everyone shares some common combos, like whipping to the corner followed by a running grapple. Each individual wrestler also has three unique combos that you'll need to discover for yourself. They involve chaining moves together like strong grapple, up+Strike, and finish with leg submission. The combos have names that display on the screen to delivery you the satisfaction, and they also help increase your momentum gauge. Yes, the momentum gauge is also back, and for the most part it's well executed. Once you fill the gauge using attacks, combos, reversals, kick outs, and rope breaks, you can taunt to enter Burning mode. This basically has your character totally psyched up and ready to use their finishing move, which is performed from a grapple with a flick of the analog stick.

I hate to continue on the negative vibe, but there are some other problems I would feel guilty for not mentioning. Rope breaks become a huge problem because you can't drag or flip your opponent around while they're on the ground. Many of the moves, especially the Burning moves, leave your opponent too near the ropes making it impossible to go for the pin. Therefore, if you hit your burning move and it doesn't KO, you'll end up with an empty momentum gauge and a really good chance of losing. This also makes it difficult to slap on the submissions in the ring because you're almost always on or near the ropes. Health bars have been added for that fighting game feeling, but they work in kind of a Marvel Vs. Capcom way. You will lose energy that can be regained to a point. As you wear down, that max health that can be recovered will slip down as well, and any time you reach the danger zone, you are primed for a knockout or a pin. I can live with the health bars in a wrestling game, sure. The problem here is that it only takes a few big moves to knock the entire bar to the bottom. For instance, you've worked for the better part of the match avoiding damage and bringing your opponents meter down to danger. Now, BOOM, all of the sudden he reverses one of your moves and proceeds to hit three huge moves while you can't recover or reverse, finally finishing you off with a burning move, and KO!! Game over, rematch?

That's a nice segue into the tired AI that's awoken after all these years. Yeah, it was pretty bad back on the N64, but there's no excuse for the cheap AI to still exist in this current generation product. It's manageable on Easy, but anything higher than that be prepared to get reversed and countered at the drop of a hat and naturally when it hurts the most (controller throwing type frustration here). At the same time it's also very predictable, and once you get into the groove of the game it will become very easy to identify when to counter and when to attack. Patterns like this are fine for a shooter or a Mega Man game, but they have no place in this genre.

The reversal system as a whole needs to go by the wayside. It hasn't changed, and although no US game has ever gotten it right (see King of Colosseum or Giant Gram 2000 if you can), I'd like to see some initiative instead of the same old same old. As it works now, you either counter the move before the grapple or strike hits or you pray that the random odds are in your favor. Usually they are not. They're over eating ice cream in your computer opponent's corner for sure.

I can assure you that the gameplay makes up the bulk of the grade for this title, but I will attempt to sum up some other factors from the game albeit a little less long-winded. Def Jam Vendetta offers up a survival mode, a few multiplayer modes including a four player battle royal, and a story mode. The story mode is exceptionally well done in both substance and presentation. While it's surprising that you can only play as four of the 40+ characters in the game, there's more than enough replay value here to tide one over until the sequel. The story mode presents the player with an RPG-like character development system where you can upgrade your stats through cash earned in each match. There are also a number of cutscenes and galleries of hot chicks to also be uncovered along the way.

Fighting your way through story mode also unlocks the bulk of the wrestlers and stages in multiplayer mode. What's questionable is that the unlocked content is only applicable to the player profile that did the unlocking. So, if you have a few friends over they'll have to play as the one of the handful of default selectable characters while you can play as one of 40+. I would also question the complete lack of options. On top of not being able to mess with the control scheme, you can't change anything to do with match at all. There no option to turn off the rope breaks, the KOs, or the dynamic camera angles. Any of which could have been made this a more playable game.

EA may have gone out on a limb with a Def Jam licensed wrestling game, but it works really well. The characters, even the generic (non-rapper) ones, are both creatively designed and well built. Along with the rest of the presentation from the game, the characters are modeled with a larger than life appearance. The same goes for most of the wrestling moves and especially the Burning finishers. The animation is superior to pretty much everything else on the American market, but I think it's a tad too fast. Some of the bigger moves look great but animate so quickly that the intense awe and power of them is lost. The camera angles can also be both a blessing and a curse. Sometimes the dynamic angle puts you right in the action, and sometimes it puts you behind the action without a chance to see what's going on.

I'll admit that rap isn't my preference for music, but I must say that I love the music in this game. It fits the title, obviously, but it also fits the mood with many upbeat, head bouncing songs. I wish there were more, and I wish that the background music for the matches had the full songs instead of just looping bass beats. There's also a fair amount of speech in the game, from taunts to storyline segments. Just like SSX Tricky, the voices come off very professional.

Well, that pretty much sums it up. Not bad for a first effort this generation from AKI and EA, but I think they need to sort out if they want this series to be a full blown wrestling game or not. As it stands, it just feels dumbed down and sped up, almost a shell of what it could be. I don't understand why they would choose to take things out the old AKI engine that have been done many times before. Less wrestling moves or wrestling options (including no create a wrestler) do not make this any more of a gritty fighting game, just less of a wrestling game. Regardless, there's still a very addictive quality about the game, goodness knows I've played multiple times through the story mode. It's with a sigh of unfufilled expectations and through clenched teeth that I say Def Jam Vendetta is the best US wrestler this generation.