Def Jam Icon Review:

This was the review of Def Jam Icon that I posted on my brother's blog. For those of you who don't check his blog, here's my review of the game my big brother helped on:

Ok, the moment you've all been waiting for: Joshua's Honest, No-holds-barred review. (This is what I would say if my big brother didn't put fire in the game.)

I really, really, really, really, really freakin' enjoyed playing this game. I sat down in one of my resident's rooms and loaded the game with five other guys. It took an immense amount of time to load each character before the match started. So, if you want to see who you're going to be, you have to either know what EB-40 or Ghostkillah look like, or you have to wait a long time for the character to load. That bugged me.

Oh- I should say, I was playing the PS3.

Once the game was loaded, the contrast or something on the screen was ultra high. The guys TV screen had the contrast set all the way up, so I turned it down a good bit, but the PS3's inability to render anti-aliasing was disappointing.

Onto the game play: I love that I don't absoluetly HAVE to use the buttons to hit people. I can just toggle around on those thumb sticks and kick Lukes big white butt.

I loved the way the fight is set to the music. The first time we figured out how to use the DJ controls, Sergio and I just sat there going "Check that out! NO WAY!" Then there was a whole lot of: "I'll stand here, now you grab me and throw me into that thing. Quick! Do the DJ thing! Quick! AWWWWWWWW YEAH!"

Once we actually figured out how to use the buttons, the directional attacks, and then use the DJ controls to hit hard, it was even more fun. I love the fact that there's no damage bar. It looked like there might be something like that in the Lil'John video, but I never saw it while I played.

I think the graphics, (okay, the fire) looks un-friggin-real. I seriously loved just looking at the game. Sitting back and watching a few of the guys as they pummel each other was a good time because the game just looks so nice.

By far, my favorite part about the game is that it feels like a real fight. If I get hit, I stagger a bit. Likewise, when I'm beating Luke's white bones, he staggers back into the helicopter and BAM!

I really enjoyed the fact that when your opponent is on the ground, you can use that time to taunt him some, make fun of his sorry butt, or you can change the song that's playing, or you can just go step on his face or kick him in the junk a few times.

On to the bad stuff: There were a handful of times when the camera was obstructed. If there's a broken vase on the ground, and the camera gets in front of it, you can't see anything at all. Likewise, if your opponent gets in the way, you can't see yourself at all. I liked that the screen changed when the OTHER guy started to die. (I hated it when I knew I was losing.) But on the PS3 and on the LCD TV I was using, the contrast was so high, that at times, the color was completely gone. Sometimes, at the end of the match the normally beautiful screen was pretty awful to look at. That was a disappointment. I don't know if it was the PS3, the Game, or the TV. (But it was a pretty nice TV, so I'm thinking it was the PS3... one more reason I'll never buy one.)

All in all, I really enjoyed the game. I think it's something that is going to have it's ass played off in a college dorm, because it's perfect for that. It's perfect for a bunch of guys sitting around with some... soda... whoopin' on each other. I can't tell you the number of times we said "Holy Bleepedy Bleep! Yeah! Blam! Sit DOWN! steve steve steve down..."

It was a good trash talkin' time. I do think that people who buy the game to play alone in their mother's basements probably won't have all that much fun. It's a blast with a room full of people. Probably because it lends itself so well to trash talkin'.

Anyway, that's my $.04. (Because I said a lot. It's more than $.02.)