EA: Hands On: Def Jam ICON

 

Def Jam ICON was on the show floor this week and I spent some hands on time with EA's latest brawler packed with Def Jam artists. There are some significant changes for the forthcoming console release, including a change in developers from wrestling specialists Aki to EA Chicago, the studio that brought you Fight Night Round 3.

Only two characters were available for play in the demo, Big Boi of Outkast and T.I. of... I have no idea. Since I'm in Las Vegas, I'll just assume that stands for Treasure Island. The two face off at a gas station (with car wash) which doesn't take long to go up in flames.

At first blush, series vets will notice some striking differences. The game has a bright, almost bleached out, dusty look to it. Characters look very lifelike, with realistic cloth movement. The interactive backgrounds are lovingly modeled.

The four face buttons will perform standard punches and kicks (quick, strong, high and low), with the analog sticks performing multiple functions. They'll initiate "force" moves, like spinning kicks and heavy punches, as well as set up grapples for throwing. Hold the left trigger to switch to "activate turntables" to switch the music track and perform a DJ scratch. Scratching?

Yeah. Scratching.

Apparently you need to "fight to the beat" using the background music to your advantage. My initial impression of the system meant that you'd need to time your attacks to the beat of the music, which is visualized onscreen by the jumping and cracking of the environment, the turning of signs, the rhythm of the car wash, but from what I gather that's not the case. The combat is slowly paced, so this is not Beatmania meets Tekken.

While the game's graphics are beautiful and straightforward, with some of the best fire effects to date, the animation appears a little stiff. Combine that with moments of BIg Boi spinning a record in mid-air in the middle of a fight along with some waving of hands in the air like your fighter just don't care and you get some unintentional hilarity. Still, the models, textures, and HUD-free display make for a nice looking game.

Amidst the din of the CES show floor, fully grasping how the game's music system benefits each player is a little tough, so hopefully we'll get some more hands-on time in a proper environment soon. Since I don't really care about the Def Jam stable or artists, I'm more interested to see how the fighting engine changes flesh out. Michael McWhertor

 

Source: EA: Hands On: Def Jam ICON
Originally published on Thu, 11 Jan 2007 23:20:28 GMT