Def Jam Fight for NY: The Takeover review

A record label's worth of hip-hop artists turn out for a no-holds-barred beatdown

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GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Console action perfectly preserved

  • +

    Sweet visuals and real rapper voices

  • +

    Arenas

  • +

    opponents can be smashed up

Cons

  • -

    Long-ass load times

  • -

    Asinine story and dialogue

  • -

    Static cutscenes? Boo to that

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First, the bad news: if you're looking for the same immersive plot that helped make rapper-filled smackfest Def Jam: Fight for NY compelling, you won't find it in Def Jam Fight for NY: The Takeover. Not only is The Takeover a side story (or maybe a prequel - it's unclear) to Fight for NY, but the narrative unfolds exclusively through text messages and old-style static cutscenes. And it doesn't really go anywhere interesting until near the end.

So forget the story. The story is stupid, inconsequential and filled with laughable, sub-Street Fighter dialogue like "Looks like the only thing that'll shut yo mouth are my fists!" You'll still want to create your own fighter and wade into the single-player mode, of course, but it's the slick, surprisingly deep fighting that'll keep you riveted - not the endless, repetitive arguments about who owns what street.

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If you've played Fight for NY,you'll be impressed by how little has changed. The Takeover still delivers what Def Jam fans have come to expect: real-life rappers and fictional scrappers facing off in a cross between a wrestling game and a Tekken -style martial-arts fighter. What's surprising is that it does it almost as lavishly as its console cousins. As before, you'll be able to create your own wet-behind-the-ears brawler, eventually tricking him out with new clothes, fresh bling, tattoos and even hairstyles. You'll also be able to learn new moves and martial-arts styles, which in turn let you combine up to three styles to make new ones (Martial Arts plus Submissions and Wrestling, for example, makes Drunken Kung-Fu).

Mikel Reparaz
Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.