- Title: Def Jam ICON
- Platform:Xbox 360
- Publisher: EA
- Developer: EA
- ESRB Rating: “M” for Mature
- Genre: Fighting
- Pros: Amazing graphics; uncensored music
- Cons: The fighting is horrible
Features and Modes
The features list is certainly not a weak point in Def Jam ICON. You have your pick of a few dozen of the hottest rappers of today including Redman, Method Man, Paul Wall, The Game, Ludacris, Lil John, Ghostface Killah, and many many more. You can also use the incredibly detailed F.A.C.E. custom character editor to make your own rappers.
The modes you’ll fight it out in include standard one-on-one fights, a practice mode, versus mode, My Soundtrack where you can use your own music during fights, online mode, and the Build a Label mode. Build a Label is the career mode in ICON and offers up an interesting and often funny storyline that sees you going from a bodyguard all the way to the top of the industry as you sign new artists and build your record label. How do you convince artists to sign with you? By beating up their enemies, of course. Any problem you come across in the game is solved with a fight. Build a Label is actually pretty well put together and very cool. It is just too bad the actual fighting is so very poor.
Gameplay
So a normal fight goes something like this: A few punches or kicks to set your opponent up for a grapple. You then grapple them and throw them at a hazard. Then you use the virtual DJ stuff to set off the hazard and do crazy amounts of damage. And that pattern just repeats itself for every other fight you ever get into. Once you figure out the hazards in each level, the game becomes bland and boring and repetitive. Hampering all of this even further is the fact that the game moves insanely slowly, which makes it all even more mind numbing.
All of this combines to make a game that just isn’t all that fun to play, particularly if you are used to real fighters like DOA, Tekken, or Virtua Fighter. There just isn’t enough variety and you don’t have enough attacks in ICON, which makes for a pretty miserable time.
Graphics and Sound
It is a shame that the game plays so poorly, because the graphics are absolutely beautiful. ICON features some of the nicest looking character models I have ever seen, and the environments are sharp and realistic looking. The illusion of realism is broken by all of the things blowing up and the visual filters that are applied depending on the song and what is going on, but it all looks really really nice anyway. As fights progress, you can tell how damaged the characters are as they show cuts and bruises. This is important because there isn’t a normal health bar, and the onscreen indicators aren’t really all that helpful.The sound is also very well done in Def Jam ICON. Good sounds for the fighting. Good voice work. And good music from all of the artists involved in the game. Even better, and a bit surprising, the music is completely unedited.
You really can’t complain too much about the presentation in ICON.
Bottom Line
