Sweet Jesus, we can't believe that this video game actually exists. Granted, this entry from Electronic Arts and Def Jam is only the latest in the successful franchise, games in which famous hip hop artists duke it out in boxing and wrestling rings. It used to be a sort of wacky twist on the usual bout genre. But in Icon, these sorts of pretenses have been removed, and we are left with a straight-up rapper gang fight on the streets. This results in good news for the rappers themselves (great promotion and lots of fun to play as themselves) as well as good news to adult gamers with a sense of humor and a taste for hip hop and fighting games. This is bad news for concerned parents across the nation and for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who is weeping right now in heaven.
Fortunately for our Houston rap scene, however, our boys Paul Wall and Mike Jones are playable characters in Icon, with each having several of their songs used within the game. In a lineup heavy on famous Atlanta and New York based performers, our fair metropolis can indeed hold its own. Sorry, Chamillionaire, maybe next time!
Here's a little example of the actual gameplay: two rappers meet up outside a dilapidated gas station and start punching each other in the face. With buildings, objects, and fists bouncing to the beat of a rap song, we are thrown into the side of a black burning Escalade , causing us to catch on fire. From behind broken glass doors, an Asian gas station manager sprays both of the fighters with a fire extinguisher to keep trouble at bay. After a couple of roundhouse kicks, we push the "taunt" button on our controller, which commands our character to point at the sky and challenge the other's prowess.
A separate button is dedicated to mixing and scratching, activating the analog sticks to function as two tiny turntables to control the music. For this, our character on screen puts down his fists briefly to mime a DJ's actions, granting the player the ability to knock the other player down from afar, like a Jedi using The Force on bad guys. After a couple of ill scratches, we go back to beating up the other rapper, knocking him to the ground and curb-stomping his head. Our persuasive method of conflict resolution doesn't seem to work well for long, though, for we are soon doused with gasoline and set aflame again.
Playing the game on our crappy television makes us wish we had a subwoofer and a nice big pair of speakers, not just to enjoy the artists' music that plays throughout the game, but because the gameplay is sensitive to the songs, increasing the awesomeness of each hit if it's timed well with the beats of the song. Taking advantage of the capabilities of next-generation consoles, you can play using your own mp3's, and the game will try to detect the beats for any given song. We haven't yet tried to play the game using the theme song to Growing Pains, but we're eager to find out if it'll work.
If any of the above description sounds appealing to you, then you should definitely check out this new treat. The graphics of the characters and environments, the intuitive controls, and the awesome music make it feel like you're playing a movie or an especially angry music video.
If instead the above sounds like an awful and offensive entry that will skew our children's perceptions of role models...well, we'll probably have to agree with you on that, so please don't buy it for your kids.
Def Jam: Icon
Available for Xbox 360 and PS3
$59.99 at Best Buy
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