Def Jam: Fight for NY

Fight for control of hip-hop’s underworld.

NA release: 20th September 2004
EU release: 1st October 2004
JP release: N/A
Developer: AKI, EA Canada
Publisher: EA Games
NGC Magazine Score: 80%
Mods Used: Widescreen Hack

With Def Jam Vendetta, I found it odd that the “fight club meets organised crime” resulted in just standard, full rules wrestling. The developers seemed to think the same as Fight for NY goes all in on just putting two people in a room to tear each other apart. Because of this, wrestling alone simply won’t do.

A big part of Fight for NY are the different fighting styles. Of course, wrestling is still one of them (would be silly to throw it out), but you also have kickboxing, martial arts, submission and street fighting. On top of this, you can even combine multiple fighting styles to create your own one. Not only does it fit the tone of the game much more, but it adds a lot more variety to the game.

As a result, the fighting feels very different. It’s extremely fast paced and dirty, which makes for a great combination. You can use the arena (and the crowd) to your advantage to pull off moves and you have a rage meter to unleash special attacks. You can whittle down their health really very fast, but you do need to perform a specific move (tied to fighting style) to finish them off. It all feels quite wonderful.

The main mode is a story about two rival gangs. You join one led be Teal’c which is all about respect and looking after each other as they compete with Snoop Dogg’s gang of ruling with fear. There’s a lot of voice acting and plenty of fun characters to encounter and fight. Danny Trejo is even one of Snoop’s main henchmen. The female characters are still treated as trophies, but are at least more involved in the story (even if it is just a kidnapping).

But it really does come down to the core of the fighting. It’s extremely well done and is swift and exciting, making for a great experience.

Great

Whatever you choose and however good you are at it, Def Jam is rarely less than excellent entertainment. We keep returning to it, despite switching off the console in disgust at some of our defeats, and after a long struggle with the slightly sluggish controls we reckon our fighter is tough enough to get the better of those evil, spoiling grapplers.
Martin Kitts, NGC Magazine #99

Remake or remaster?

A re-release would be good.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s no official way to get Def Jam: Fight for NY