Hip Hop… Brawler?

Check out the footage from this video review of Def Jam: Icon. You don't need to watch the whole review necessarily, just enough to get an idea of what the hell this game is. Or alternatively you can just grab a YouTube clip like this one.

Regardless of how into hip hop you are, you've probably seen 8 Mile, Wild 'n Out, or something like that. So when you think of two rappers battling, you don't think of them, you know, actually engaged in fisticuffs. But that seems to be exactly what Def Jam: Icon is: a game that lets you pit two famous rappers against each other in hand to hand combat.

Okay, so I'm sorry. But hip hop culture has officially shot off the ridiculous meter. As if all the thugs with gold plated teeth showing you their pimped out (rented) mansions wasn't enough. But now there's a game where they're trying to convince you that they're actually badass. They got famous for saying they're tough, not actually being tough. Seeing them in those gameplay videos, all fat and weighed down with their gold chains and baggy clothes, trying to brawl… it's hilarious.

Ignoring the ridiculous concept of the game, it's actually really interesting how they made the environments react to the music. And there are even advantages of timing your moves with the rhythm of the music. Which kinda turns it into a rhythm-fighting game. I'll have to download the demo on the 360 and see if I can keep a straight face long enough to check it out.