Working Title 8.13.08: Working Change - Def Jam Vendetta

Posted by Jordan Williams on 08.14.2008

It might not have been the greatest game in the world, but for EA to make such a great change for the better after just one game is pretty rare in itself.

Welcome back to the #1 column to think that movie theatres are secretly pumping some sort of marijuana smoke through the vents while Pineapple Express plays, WORKING TITLE.

Seriously, I do not partake in the grass that makes you float but I swear to shit after I left Pineapple Express I felt high as a motherfucking kite.

Action-Comedies aside, this week we are back to discuss yet another game that has changed for the better. Now this game might be a bit out of left field, because the game really hasn't had an impressive run with only three and a half games, but I still think it was a game that indeed changed for the better.

Who would've thought that a game that pitted you against Hip-hop stars in a wrestling ring would've ended up being a good idea? Apparently EA did which is why they created Def Jam Vendetta, a hybrid of the old skool N64 wrestling games, the style and music of the hip-hop industry, and the over the top nature of it's other Arcade Sports franchise, SSX.

People didn't know what to expect when they heard of this idea, I know for damn sure that they didn't expect to have a good game on their hands but guess what happened?

The game was actually pretty good.

Sure, the game wasn't like "Game of the Year" quality or anything, but for what was such a silly premise it turned out to be a pretty decent wrestling game on top of a petty nice 'arcade' styled game. It was almost a given that this game was going to get a sequel, but who would've known that the sequel was going to be leaps and bounds above the original?


Working Change: Def Jam Vendetta: Fight for NY


Like I said, this one is a bit out there seeing as it only has three and a half games to its name rather than Resident Evil and Dynasty Warriors which have been around forever and have had a lot of games under their belt, but a good change is simply a good change.

The first Def Jam Vendetta was a shot in the dark and a big chance for EA seeing as the Hip-Hop Industry and video games have never really seen eye to eye in terms of video game sales.

Case in point...



The less said about this monstrosity, the better.

Either way, it was a big risk to try again to get this game to work out well, and hot damn it did. With solid scores from all of the review sites and a pretty good fan response it seemed the mixture of wrestling and hip-hop was a surefire hit. But that doesn't mean the game was without its fair share of hiccups and bumps.

DJ Russo

Oh yeah, I'm going to IWC hell for that one.

Anyway, DJV1 was made mostly as a wrestling game with hip hop stars tacked onto it, but for some reason it was severely lacking in the actual thing that many people do like about wrestling GAMES. The gimmick matches. The closest thing to a gimmick match you had in DJV1 a 3 on 1 Handicap match which was really only used as part of a storyline match. The actual wrestling mechanics were good but there were just some things in there that needed to be added in order to get the idea across that this is indeed a wrestling game.

There was an obscene lack of weapons, such as the lovely tables, ladders, and chairs that we are all used to. We didn't even get some of the more practical things like the tried and true cage match.



For those of you who frequent the wrestling zone of this site, you know the name Russo goes hand in hand with insane gimmick matches on top of some pretty odd booking decisions. I think DJV1 could've used some of the Russo touch here because although the whole package is there, it was a bit stale and bland after you finished your first helping.

The REAL Heart of any wrestling game

I might catch some flack for this, but we all know the real heart of any wrestling game is NOT the wrestlers, the move sets, the presentation, or the gameplay.

It's the Create-A-Wrestler function.

This function is the sole reason most people buy these games, sure, there is a vocal group that will say they buy the games for other reasons, but we all know the truth is that no matter how old we are and how much we know about the industry a lot of us still want to insert ourselves into somehow. Making your dream wrestler is it yourself or an original creation has always been a big part of these games and sadly it just wasn't there when it came to DJV1.

Through the story mode you had to use stock characters named Briggs, Spider, Tank, and Proof. Also known as "The White Guy, The Latino Guy, The Asian Guy, and The Black Guy". While the characters did have different styles and moves, you did have SOME level of customization as far as what their stats were. Other than that how the character looked was all predetermined by the game. This was a disappointment to fans of both of the hip-hop and wrestling genre because not only did you get cheated out of creating your own wrestler, for those so inclined you also got cheated out of making your own rap superstar to finally use to beat the hell out of DMX.

On top of being stuck with a stock character you were also stuck with the character's stock move set. The big gimmick about DJV outside of the hip-hop influence were the spotlight on the over the top and sometimes damned brutal finishing moves but sadly most if not all of those moves went to wrestlers that you had to beat up or otherwise play as to use. One of my favorites was from a character named "Snoman" who had a finisher called the "Snowjob". It consisted of a triple full nelson suplex in which he actually let you go on the third one and sent you spiraling through the air until you landed on your fucking NECK.

It's truly a sight to behold.


Note: This is from Def Jam Vendetta: Fight for New York's create-a-character mode. More on that later.

Sadly, the only moves you get were painfully subdued and/or lame compared to some of the other high risk stuff the likes of Method Man, DMX, Ludacris, and Red Man had. Hell, even some of the females finishing moves were more deadly than the ones you and your silent protagonist had at their disposal.

Story Mode: The Double Edged Sword

Ah, the story mode. If there's one thing that is sorely lacking in wrestling games it's a decent story mode. Now while DJV1 wasn't a full blown wrestling game (it was damn close) it did have the luxury of actually having a pretty decent and well crafted story mode. The story saw your character coming out of retirement to help out your best friend Manny get out of debt with a mobster named D-Mob. Along the way you find out that D-Mob is currently sticking the dick to your ex-girlfriend on top of the fact he's primed and ready take over the crime underworld with...

...wrestling?

See how that sort of comes out of nowhere? The story in itself makes sense until it actually meets the wrestling part of the equation and then it gets sort of lost. For an industry that likes to glorify the knock-down drag out rough streets, it seems just a bit odd that they'd commit to the confines of a wrestling ring in order to throw hands and get down. Some giant crime underlord even going as far as to holding an underground wrestling tournament seems out of place, if fact...it seems like the work of


DJ Russo!

So while the story mode is actually pretty good, it just seems out of place in a wrestling game and this is where that double edged sword thing comes into play. It's very rare nowadays to see a wrestling game with a decent story, hell it's hard enough to even create decent stories with sims like EWR and TEW. Having the story rely so heavily on a backdrop of wrestling didn't do it any favors during cut scenes that tried to stress the seriousness of the event either. At one point in the story you are literally jumped in a dark room and have to face three tough motherfuckers in order to pretty much survive. However to survive you must win a 3 on 1 handicapped match against them.

Why wouldn't they just...you know...shoot you?

Actually. They tried that at a later time and it was settled like all real gun battles are...IN THE SQUARED CIRCLE! It just seems downright ludicrous and I don't need the rapper.

In the end however, things like this didn't hinder the progress of the game or hurt it in sales. Despite me bitching about them here almost all of these things were fixable, and lucky for us, they fixed them in the sequel: Def Jam Vendetta: Fight for New York.

The Changes

Now, this header might seem a bit out of place because the last time I typed up this column (for Resident Evil) I wasn't this organized, the Resident Evil column was more of a rant that I just typed and typed while this one is a bit more broken up. Either way it's time to look at what was actually changed for the better with Def Jam Vendetta: FFNY.

Story Mode and Create-A-Fighter

This Story in FFNY made a bit more sense overall than it did in DJV1. This time you were actually on the side of evil after helping D-Mob escape from prison at the climax of the last game. This allowed you to go ahead and ditch Briggs/Spider/Proof/Tank and do something we've wanted to do for a long time, create your own player.

You got to pick almost every aspect of what your fighter looked like (notice I used the term FIGHTER and not WRESTLER, more on that later) and if you were lucky enough to have the game PS2 or XBOX you were even able to customize the character's voice. Instead of being stuck with the same set of stock moves that all four of the original characters had, you actually had a choice of what style you wanted to fight in. For the purists you still had your Wrestling, but for those who felt inclined they beefed up the mechanics by giving you your choice of Kickboxing, Martial Arts, Submission, and Street fighting

Now, I did get a little bit ahead of myself so I'll get back on track to the story. The story this time seemed to fit the source material a lot better. You were helping D-Mob return to his glory after being pretty much owned in the first game but now there was a new crimelord in town by the name of Crow (played by Snoop Dogg) and now a war was erupting in New York's criminal underground that could only be settled in...the streets.

Yep, the streets. No more wrestling rings and wins by pin fall. The game still had a wrestling ring per say, but they used creative means to cover it up. For instance instead of having a LITTERAL wrestling ring the arenas were now lined by spectators who would act as the roped if you ran into them. The spectators even kept up with the atmosphere by handing you weapons from time to time and even beating on you themselves. The areas that didn't have spectators were still 'real' areas such as night clubs and junkyards and basically things that were NOT wrestling rings.

This helped differentiate itself from the wrestling game it used to be and into the fighting game it had become. I say fighting game because while there was still an emphasis on wrestling and grappling, it wasn't the sole focus. You no longer had to earn a pin to win. In this game you could be KO'd in a myriad of ways that including being smacked in the head with a weapon or taking a finishing move on low health or my personal favorite, smashing their head against a part of the environment. If anything this game played more like, believe it or not, an MMA game than a pure wrestling game.

Gimmicks Galore

EA listened and actually gave us the one thing that a lot of people wanted despite to having the game is a pure wrestling game anymore: Gimmick Matches.

In a wrestling game you'd have matches similar to the cage match, the Hell in a Cell, and the tried and true TLC. But they took it a step further with the gimmickness in FFNY and gave us matches like the Inferno Match which pits you against wrestlers in a burning building. There's also my personal favorites the Subway Match and the Demolition matches which have you attempting to throw a person in front of an oncoming train or out of a fourth story window respectively. These additions actually killed two birds with one stone in the sense; it gave us the satisfaction of having our wonderful gimmick matches and then took us out of the wrestling wrong and gave us things that have never been done in video games before.

Sure, it might not be the biggest game in the world. But the fact that EA of all companies actually listened to fans and picked up on the stuff that needed to be changed in just one game and managed to get it almost completely right on the second time out is an amazing feat.


That was, until they managed to completely ruin all of their hard work with Def Jam: Icon...but that's a story we've gone over before.

Working Feedback

Dynasty Warriors: Kart Battle ~Rod Oracheski

Yes.

Game that needs to make a change for the better? 3 words. SMACKDOWN VS. RAW!!
That's about all I got to say about that. ~Toddo

Please say more, Toddo. I'm one of the few people who actually like most of the SvR games (with the exception of 08) and really never got why everyone hated it so much.

Maybe you should actually research an article before writing it. History is about to own you.

1) Ever hear about the ROTK series? Goes back to the SNES days, KOEI is currently working on the 12th incarnation of the series for PS3/360. It IS the RTS/RPG you were talking about.

2) IF you wanted a more action oriented approach to the RTS genre, they made DW tactics 1&2

3) KOEI already tried their hand at a fighting game. It IS the original Dyansty Warriors game and sold like crap. Unless your AM2, Namco, Team Ninja or Capcom, Japanese devs have learned to stay away from the fighting genre. ~ Looks like someone was a guest again. I shall name you Captain Can't Read of the S.S SkimtheColumn

I had a big reply already set up, but someone else beat me to it.

Maybe you should actually read the article, he actually mentioned that DW1 was a fighting game and he mentioned the RTS/Action style of DW Tactics. And he's talking about DYNASTY WARRIORS you fuckin' maroon. It doesn't matter if Koei is making a different game that is a hybrid of what he meant it still doesn't mean that DW should be allowed to be the same game after 5 straight incarnations. Read the article next time before you try to own someone. ~Hanar

Well said, sir. Well said.

Uhh, actually, I liked Command Mission. ~Formerly TWF's SDC

Okay, that makes five people overall. Long live Steel Massimo.

Working Question

Another short Working Question. This time I'll keep it nice and simple.



...

Why? I don't just mean the concept art, but now we've been told that instead of emulating the old 8 bit goodness and leaving everything else fine, they are now purposely putting in shitty things like slow and and graphic flicker?

Why?

Until next time, I'm Jordan Williams...and I shave my armpits because it makes me aerodynamic when I fight.