[Mini-Review] Def Jam Fight for NY: The Takeover
A surprisingly solid update to the PS2 brawler.
Published: September 21, 2006
[The Good]
The PSP is quickly proving itself as a solid place to carry over the basic concepts -- if not the execution -- of some of the PlayStation 2's bigger hits. That doesn't mean that everyone loves the whole idea of ports, and Sony's mandate that 30% of the game has to be new if it is a port hasn't really done much to shut up most of the naysayers poo-pooing the PSP library. The Takeover isn't going to help things; despite a more streamlined story, this is effectively the same game you played on the PS2. With slightly wonkier controls.
The good news is that the same visceral, bloody appeal of the console game arrives here intact. AKI, the developer of the original, has melded basic wrestling and street fighting ideas into a game that is rich with moves, counter-moves and absolute cringe-worthy finishers. I would seriously encourage you to check out our review of the original, since so little here has changed.
Well, to be fair, that's not really true, things are tweaked here. Refined is probably a better word, sculpting the gameplay into an even more wrestling-like give-and-take that rounds out what was already impressive and just makes it more compelling. The matches can still range from a couple of seconds to a couple minutes, and you honestly have no idea going into any fight what the outcome might be, which makes every brawl tense.
Most of the controls remain the same; Square and Triangle kick and punch, X initiates a grapple, which then opens things up into submission moves (if you've chosen one of the fighting styles that support it from the five available) or a series of hard hits and O starts a running attack (which if you've chosen a Martial Arts fighting style, lets you jump off walls, a nice new move). Holding L will toggle harder hits for stuns and tapping R lets you block. The biggest new move introduced is tapping both shoulders to reverse nearly any attack at almost any stage. It takes tons of practice and proper timing (and towards the end is absolutely necessary, because Crow is still a bitch--sorry, beeyawch), but the risk vs. reward system is brilliantly executed.
Money won in fights still gets you bling (yeah, I punched myself in the face for using that word too; I'm way too white to even type it), or new threads, and beating story-specific characters will give you points to take to Henry Rollins' gym to learn a secondary style, add new moves, or upgrade your stats. Again, it's pretty much the console game, just deeper... in most respects.
The visuals for the main fighters are rock-solid, with great texture work for nearly everything and a fantastic framerate. The surrounding crowd look like the cardboard cutouts you see in sports game stadiums, and breakable parts of the arenas aren't, well, breakable anymore, but they are still interactive, allowing you bash a bottle over someone's head or break a broom across their face. (And who hasn't wanted to do that to a egomaniacal rapper at least once?) The interface for both the apartment and the map is mostly the same (though you can jump between hoods with the shoulder buttons now), but that's where the presentation similarities end.
[The Bad]
Remember all that great voice acting and wonderfully animated cutscene work that was in the console version? Y'know, the one with all the celeb voice actors and a storyline that actually went somewhere? Yeah, that's all gone. In its place are an endless sea of text messages and brief intros to fights. Anything not in those is shunted to an absolutely miserable series of "raarrrgh, me punch, you no respect" lines that are completely needless. My created character (which is done in a police artist sketchbook style, a very nice touch) was about as white as I am, and his voice screamed "'roid ragin' trust fun kid," yet he spoke like a bigger wigger than most of the kids at the local mall. I know he lives the in hood and all, but the dialogue in the game was just painful. At least the lines spoken before and after the matches is the same as the console version. Oh, wait, that's not a good thing either.
With the storyline gone, the motivation to see what happens is lost. Text messages just don't have the same kind of hook that seeing actual people discussing things might, and it's a shame. There was also a fair bit of recycling in the soundtrack, though that's not necessarily a slight against the game -- especially considering the licensing fees and rapper appeasement that likely went into building it the first time around.
[The Verdict]
If you bought into Fight for NY for the storyline and copious hip-hop references, then you're going to be missing out here. I was... shall we say eager to see Kimora Lee-Simmons and Carmen Electra on the PSP screen, and sadly all I got for the most part was a static image. If you bought into the series not for the boobage, but for the hot man-on-man ass kicking, then you're probably going to find plenty to love here. The game is essentially the same, though in a few ways it's actually improved over the console experience.
Unfortunately, for better or worse, Fight for NY was as good as it was because it mixed heavy usage of cinematics and throat punching. That doesn't mean the most important part, the gameplay, suffers here, but when all the stuff that was wrapped around it to give it style isn't there -- or is busted down to text message level, it hurts the complete package.
The Takeover is fun -- lots of fun, and a worthy port of the PS2 game. Just don't go expecting a perfect translation.
The PSP is quickly proving itself as a solid place to carry over the basic concepts -- if not the execution -- of some of the PlayStation 2's bigger hits. That doesn't mean that everyone loves the whole idea of ports, and Sony's mandate that 30% of the game has to be new if it is a port hasn't really done much to shut up most of the naysayers poo-pooing the PSP library. The Takeover isn't going to help things; despite a more streamlined story, this is effectively the same game you played on the PS2. With slightly wonkier controls.
The good news is that the same visceral, bloody appeal of the console game arrives here intact. AKI, the developer of the original, has melded basic wrestling and street fighting ideas into a game that is rich with moves, counter-moves and absolute cringe-worthy finishers. I would seriously encourage you to check out our review of the original, since so little here has changed.
Well, to be fair, that's not really true, things are tweaked here. Refined is probably a better word, sculpting the gameplay into an even more wrestling-like give-and-take that rounds out what was already impressive and just makes it more compelling. The matches can still range from a couple of seconds to a couple minutes, and you honestly have no idea going into any fight what the outcome might be, which makes every brawl tense.
Most of the controls remain the same; Square and Triangle kick and punch, X initiates a grapple, which then opens things up into submission moves (if you've chosen one of the fighting styles that support it from the five available) or a series of hard hits and O starts a running attack (which if you've chosen a Martial Arts fighting style, lets you jump off walls, a nice new move). Holding L will toggle harder hits for stuns and tapping R lets you block. The biggest new move introduced is tapping both shoulders to reverse nearly any attack at almost any stage. It takes tons of practice and proper timing (and towards the end is absolutely necessary, because Crow is still a bitch--sorry, beeyawch), but the risk vs. reward system is brilliantly executed.
Money won in fights still gets you bling (yeah, I punched myself in the face for using that word too; I'm way too white to even type it), or new threads, and beating story-specific characters will give you points to take to Henry Rollins' gym to learn a secondary style, add new moves, or upgrade your stats. Again, it's pretty much the console game, just deeper... in most respects.
The visuals for the main fighters are rock-solid, with great texture work for nearly everything and a fantastic framerate. The surrounding crowd look like the cardboard cutouts you see in sports game stadiums, and breakable parts of the arenas aren't, well, breakable anymore, but they are still interactive, allowing you bash a bottle over someone's head or break a broom across their face. (And who hasn't wanted to do that to a egomaniacal rapper at least once?) The interface for both the apartment and the map is mostly the same (though you can jump between hoods with the shoulder buttons now), but that's where the presentation similarities end.
[The Bad]
Remember all that great voice acting and wonderfully animated cutscene work that was in the console version? Y'know, the one with all the celeb voice actors and a storyline that actually went somewhere? Yeah, that's all gone. In its place are an endless sea of text messages and brief intros to fights. Anything not in those is shunted to an absolutely miserable series of "raarrrgh, me punch, you no respect" lines that are completely needless. My created character (which is done in a police artist sketchbook style, a very nice touch) was about as white as I am, and his voice screamed "'roid ragin' trust fun kid," yet he spoke like a bigger wigger than most of the kids at the local mall. I know he lives the in hood and all, but the dialogue in the game was just painful. At least the lines spoken before and after the matches is the same as the console version. Oh, wait, that's not a good thing either.
With the storyline gone, the motivation to see what happens is lost. Text messages just don't have the same kind of hook that seeing actual people discussing things might, and it's a shame. There was also a fair bit of recycling in the soundtrack, though that's not necessarily a slight against the game -- especially considering the licensing fees and rapper appeasement that likely went into building it the first time around.
[The Verdict]
If you bought into Fight for NY for the storyline and copious hip-hop references, then you're going to be missing out here. I was... shall we say eager to see Kimora Lee-Simmons and Carmen Electra on the PSP screen, and sadly all I got for the most part was a static image. If you bought into the series not for the boobage, but for the hot man-on-man ass kicking, then you're probably going to find plenty to love here. The game is essentially the same, though in a few ways it's actually improved over the console experience.
Unfortunately, for better or worse, Fight for NY was as good as it was because it mixed heavy usage of cinematics and throat punching. That doesn't mean the most important part, the gameplay, suffers here, but when all the stuff that was wrapped around it to give it style isn't there -- or is busted down to text message level, it hurts the complete package.
The Takeover is fun -- lots of fun, and a worthy port of the PS2 game. Just don't go expecting a perfect translation.
