Net_Wrecker
Member
I still remember reading the first previews of Def Jam Vendetta back in 2002, and I was so hyped. FINALLY a company got off their asses and gave one of the BEST wrestling developers (AKI, now Syn Sophia) a title to make. They hadn't put out a North American wrestling title since No Mercy back in 2000 on the N64, and it was about time.
But the people were skeptical. "A wrestling game with rappers? What a dumb idea" the idiots yelled from the hills. "Look at the over the top finishers. What happened to the AKI of old?" the wrestling fans proclaimed.
TRAILER
Then this bad boy released on March 31, 2003. What a glorious day. Sure, it was a bit light on modes and match types, but the animation was great, the controls were snappy as hell, the finishers were insane, and the classic AKI engine was intact and as good as ever, albeit very arcady.
Featuring up to 4 players in any combo of one v one, tag team, or handicap matches, and using winning stipulation such as pinning, submissions, or KOs, it was still very much a wrestling game at heart. The personalities were big, the character models were great, and the venues were nice to look at. The soundtrack was solid as well as long as you were a fan of Hip-Hop.
Fun game. Time for a sequel.
TRAILER/INTRO
Released on September 20, 2004, a year 1/2 after the first game, and change was in the air. The game was rated M, the personalities were bigger, the lines were uncut, the animations were even more over the top and fluid, the venues were interactive, weapons were available and handed to you from the crowd, destructible environments, a better story, create-a-character, different fighting styles, the ability to MIX fighting styles, a bunch of different new match types, etc. etc. etc. It. Was. Great.
Still able to have up to 4 players in the match, and still able to win by KO and Submission (among other means) you would think it was still a wrestling title...Only a little bit. Pins were removed and the grappling system was altered a bit, there was a much bigger emphasis on Mixed Martial Arts, weapons were encouraged, tons of hot spots at all the venues, on and on. It become much more of a fighter, but was still extremely unique. Probably the closest we have come to a legit Fight Club style game. Create a character allowed you to make a custom fighting style mixing 2 styles of either Wrestling, Submissions, Street Fighting, Kickboxing, or Martial Arts. Some beautiful stuff was possible.
The Story was better, Snoop Dogg, and Busta Rhymes gave some good performances, the lip syncing was great for its time, and there were a lot of unique fights that came out of the situations your character was put in. Lots of cameos from a TON more rappers was very cool as well.
Time for a sequel, can't WAIT to see what AKI does with the new consoles right? WRONG.
I first read the preview reveal in Game Informer, and honest to God truth, my first reaction to seeing that AKI wasn't used, and the new devs were EA Chicago was:
"WHAT..........THE.........HELL........This game is going to suck!"
Guess what? I was right.
This piece of crap released on March 6th, 2007, and only gets one picture. The MOMENT the first gameplay trailers went out, I KNEW the series was dead. Not only did they hand it off to EA Chicago who's Fight Night games have the slowest and least powerful punches known to man, they come up with this realistic looking graphics style, REMOVED THE BLAZIN FINISHERS, AND FOCUSED ON FIGHTING TO MATCH THE ENVIRONMENT WHICH WAS BUMPING TO THE BEAT OF WHATEVER SONG WAS PLAYING AT THE TIME. Grapples and fluid combos were gone, the animations were stiff as a dead body, and the rapper selection sucked ass.
Kudo Tsunoda, the game's executive producer and face of the dev team, was from that point my enemy.
The fact that it didn't get lower review scores was a travesty. The demo released, everyone hated it and wondered "What the hell did EA do?" EA messed up is what EA did. Crap, crap, crap. The series has been dead since that point, and there looks to be no return in sight. EA had something great on their hands, and with the current generation of consoles, AKI could've made something incredible. Talk about a bad move.
Random thread? Hell yeah, but I needed to get that off my chest. Feel free to post your love for the first 2 games, your hate for the 3rd, and let your voices be heard so that EA knows that they messed up.
They messed up big.
But the people were skeptical. "A wrestling game with rappers? What a dumb idea" the idiots yelled from the hills. "Look at the over the top finishers. What happened to the AKI of old?" the wrestling fans proclaimed.
TRAILER
Then this bad boy released on March 31, 2003. What a glorious day. Sure, it was a bit light on modes and match types, but the animation was great, the controls were snappy as hell, the finishers were insane, and the classic AKI engine was intact and as good as ever, albeit very arcady.
Featuring up to 4 players in any combo of one v one, tag team, or handicap matches, and using winning stipulation such as pinning, submissions, or KOs, it was still very much a wrestling game at heart. The personalities were big, the character models were great, and the venues were nice to look at. The soundtrack was solid as well as long as you were a fan of Hip-Hop.
Fun game. Time for a sequel.
TRAILER/INTRO
Released on September 20, 2004, a year 1/2 after the first game, and change was in the air. The game was rated M, the personalities were bigger, the lines were uncut, the animations were even more over the top and fluid, the venues were interactive, weapons were available and handed to you from the crowd, destructible environments, a better story, create-a-character, different fighting styles, the ability to MIX fighting styles, a bunch of different new match types, etc. etc. etc. It. Was. Great.
Still able to have up to 4 players in the match, and still able to win by KO and Submission (among other means) you would think it was still a wrestling title...Only a little bit. Pins were removed and the grappling system was altered a bit, there was a much bigger emphasis on Mixed Martial Arts, weapons were encouraged, tons of hot spots at all the venues, on and on. It become much more of a fighter, but was still extremely unique. Probably the closest we have come to a legit Fight Club style game. Create a character allowed you to make a custom fighting style mixing 2 styles of either Wrestling, Submissions, Street Fighting, Kickboxing, or Martial Arts. Some beautiful stuff was possible.
The Story was better, Snoop Dogg, and Busta Rhymes gave some good performances, the lip syncing was great for its time, and there were a lot of unique fights that came out of the situations your character was put in. Lots of cameos from a TON more rappers was very cool as well.
Time for a sequel, can't WAIT to see what AKI does with the new consoles right? WRONG.
I first read the preview reveal in Game Informer, and honest to God truth, my first reaction to seeing that AKI wasn't used, and the new devs were EA Chicago was:
"WHAT..........THE.........HELL........This game is going to suck!"
Guess what? I was right.
This piece of crap released on March 6th, 2007, and only gets one picture. The MOMENT the first gameplay trailers went out, I KNEW the series was dead. Not only did they hand it off to EA Chicago who's Fight Night games have the slowest and least powerful punches known to man, they come up with this realistic looking graphics style, REMOVED THE BLAZIN FINISHERS, AND FOCUSED ON FIGHTING TO MATCH THE ENVIRONMENT WHICH WAS BUMPING TO THE BEAT OF WHATEVER SONG WAS PLAYING AT THE TIME. Grapples and fluid combos were gone, the animations were stiff as a dead body, and the rapper selection sucked ass.
Kudo Tsunoda, the game's executive producer and face of the dev team, was from that point my enemy.
The fact that it didn't get lower review scores was a travesty. The demo released, everyone hated it and wondered "What the hell did EA do?" EA messed up is what EA did. Crap, crap, crap. The series has been dead since that point, and there looks to be no return in sight. EA had something great on their hands, and with the current generation of consoles, AKI could've made something incredible. Talk about a bad move.
Random thread? Hell yeah, but I needed to get that off my chest. Feel free to post your love for the first 2 games, your hate for the 3rd, and let your voices be heard so that EA knows that they messed up.
They messed up big.
