Def Jam Vendetta - I just bought my copy!
 

I have it in my hands! But i'm at work and I'll be here till 5. Man, this is going to be the longest afternoon of my life :D Am I the only one here that is hyped for this game? If you have some questions about it just ask me. I have the GC version BTW.

Please p[ost your impressions. If it plays and feels a lot like the old WWF AKI games, this might be the title that finally puts a Gamecube on my livingroom rug :D

I think I'm gonna go ahead and get the Cube version... maybe today, maybe tomorrow. I'm not only hyped about the gameplay, I'm also a fan of the music and the stars in the game. Chances are this will be one of my all time favorites.

Have you tried the demo? Because from what I played (demo) it's pretty much exactly the same feeling from the N64 wrestlers. There is supposed to be some interesting new features to the classic engine. Like to get your meter up, you need alternate the moves you do, if you do the same move twice in a row it won't go up. And combos like trowing you opponent in the ropes, dodging him on his 1st run and doing the move on his second run should get you meter to rise quicker. I also heard about pressing both L and R to reverse moves... So I'll check that out and let you know.

I think the game looks like alot of fun, do you get to hear songs from the artists in the game?

yes, here's a list:

"Nothin'" - N.O.R.E.
"Smash Sumthin'" - Redman
"Fight the Power" - Public Enemy
"Buck 50" - Cappadonna, Method Man, and Redman
"X Gonna Give It To Ya" - DMX
"Bring the Pain" - Method Man
"Uh Huh!" - Method Man
"Focus" - Joe Budden
"In Cold Blood" - Scarface
"Do Sumthin" - Comp
"Throw Ya Gunz" - Onyx
"The Streets" - WC, featuring Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg
"Oh My Goodness" - Keith Murray
"Yeah Yeah You Know It" - Keith Murray
"Intro" - DMX
"Party Up" - DMX
"Stick 'em" - Comp
"Stomp" - C-N-N

this is the GCN version, I dunno about the Ps2 version because it's review is locked.

Impressions! Impressions!

This could actually be the first good wrestling game for the GC...

I've always wanted to get Method Man and Redman in a fight. :D

Sweet, I've played the demo for hours and my brother rented the game today so I didn't buy it today, I'll buy it in a day or two or pretty soon though, this will definitely be my favourite next gen game.

Ok, after a night of intense playing, here's what I think.

The game is great, no doubt about it, but there is a few things that disappointed me. The speed is a little too fast for me, but it might be because I'm used to ne mercy. Also, there is a lack of "simulation" control of the match, like you can't drag your opponent around when he's on the ground, so if he's near the rope and you want to pin him, you can't, you'll get rope break. And you can't do much in the corners as well, like turning him around or putting him in the tree of woe position. And 1 last bad point, it's the god damn shoulder buttons on the GC. I hate them, but I'll probably get use to it.

But there is also some amelioration from No Mercy, like the submissions are awesome, with the limb meter, it's very cool. Also the reversals are more complex now, you can now do like 4-5 reversals in a row, and you can reverse your opponents reversals, pretty cool stuff there to. The story mode is pretty good to, yesterday, my chick dumped me for another chick :D

So for now I rate this game: 8/10

Would you say so far that this would be a good rental? From reading so far, I would rent it since I haven't played a good wrestling game for a long time. If you recommend a rental, I'll probably rent it.

This could be the first good wrestling game on any console this generation. THQ has been serving lots of crap IMO.

Oh I suggest you rent it for sure. Especially if you played AKI's games before and liked them.

I just bought it for PS2... GREAT GAME.

lol... if you could go back and chose again, would you get the Ps2 version or the GCN version?

What are you finding bad about the shoulder buttons?

I'm not sure, I'll give it another chance when I play tonight but I was thinking about going to the strore and exchange my GC copy for a PS2 one. Think they will let me do that?

And Joeiss, I hate those 2 buttons because they are pressure sensitive, you have like an inch of loose (can you say that??) in the L and the R. So I don't know, I just can't get the feel of those button, like I had with the perfect N64 controller.

I got the game today, all the Cube ones were sold out so I got the Ps2 version.

I'm having a VERY hard time adjusting from Smackdown to this game.

That's good TheGame, and I solved my controller problem. I just bought the adapter that let you use the PS controller onto the cube :)

Then why didn't you just get the PS2 version ???

Well, I've had the game and played it for a couple of hours. I'm both happy and dissappointed by this title. I'm going to play it some more and then write up a column. It will be the first Stangling the Gaming World with a emphasis on the growing popularity and declining quality of wrestling games. I'll have it up this weekend.

Because the gamecube version is better, the graphics are a little bit better and the loading time is much better. And I prefer give nintendo a sale than sony :)

Are you sure about the loading times? Because if you are, then how fast do they load on GCN? They take about 3-4 seconds on the PS2.

No I'm not... But GC is known to be the fastest loading machine by far.

How long does it take to load matches on GCN for Def Jam Vendetta?

I'll check it out tonight. I can right now, I'm working, well I'm suppose to :D

if even that ;)

It's VERY fast.


Strangler:
I'm only dissapointed that Aki is wasting that great engine on a Non-WWE game. Other than that everything is just fine imo.

I can't see how you guys can play it on Cube though... not that my mind set is away from Smackdown, it feels like the Ps2 controller would be better for this game. When I was first transfering my train of thought I just tried to remember N64's face buttons... like imagining that Square=B and X=A... then worked my way from there.

I really wish this game were on Xbox, that would have made the learning curve (w/the big controller) much easier because it's built like N64's.

You are right TheGame, I found the gamecube's controller very akward for this game, especially the L and R, they suck. So I play my GC version with a PS controller.

But with the lack of controls (dragging the opponent on the mat, fliping him etc..) You don't need as much buttons anymore which sucks :/

yeah, that is true...

Game, I'll go into my issue with the AKI engine in Vendetta in my column. In fact, I find its an issue that is common with nearly all wrestling games now, and one that is keeping them all from reaching the heights that Wrestlemania 2000, No Mercy and Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 reached.

I'm looking foward to that column Strangler

To be honest, after playing the actual game for a while now, Def Jam is VERY dissapointing for me.

I know it's not supposed to really be the sequel to No Mercy, but why they would take things out of an already awesome engine is beyond me. I'll just name some of the things that make this game sorely dissapointing in my view...

-No CAW. It's a MUST for wrestling games nowadays, especially if it doesn't even feature real wrestlers.

-Storymode can be beaten in a very short amount of time, it's the same everytime so beating it with other characters isn't very fun, it's completely linear.

-You can't drag your opponent around. This really sucks considering that all the finishers make you do eighty flips and land by the ropes where you can't pin your opponent.

-You can't pull your opponent only half-way up by tapping R, it just automatically pulls them to their feet (I THINK, unless I'm forgetting something)

-Way too arcadey. It's meant to be that way, but I just don't like it. It's pretty fast which I don't mind at all, but I can't stand the super moves and whatever, not my favourite.

-No weapons. A game like this is PERFECT for having weapons... No Mercy had them, hell, WCW vs nWo: World Tour had them. I don't understand why they took out so much from an engine that was already made...

-The specials, there are too few. Hate to say it again, but No Mercy had a special for almost every position.

-No tree of woe.

-No gimmick matches. I never care for too many gimmick matches, but playing regular matches the entire time will get boring.

I could go on and on if I had to, but even with all those shortcomings IMO, this game is still better than all the other next gen wrestling games (in North America). But sadly, but the No Mercy sequel I was hoping for.

I agree with chris... Key features needed for part II

1. Remove this game from gamecubes lineup, and make it for Ps2/Xbox... Just so the game's control scheme won't be limited to 7 buttons like it is now. Now Aki could put the full No Mercy scheme on 8 buttons... and even add two more buttons with L3 and R3.

2. Add a CAW, and no just that... a GOOD CAW. It should have at least all the moves and options from No Mercy, plus a few more.

3. New story mode. Keep the same amount of matches there are in the current story, but make muliple branching story or multiple endings.

4. More match types. Take clues from smackdown... I dunno about HIAC and Ladder, or anything with a ref, but add every other type of match (and weapons are included here).

Yeah, I beat the story mode 1 and a half times so far... I should have just rented this game for a week... OH WELL!

Anybody still playing this game? Even with it's flaws, I'm still playing it and loving it.

Here's a few moves that were added the the magnificient AKI engine:

Rope moves: execute the move while your back is against the rope with the control pad towards the ropes.

Weak grapple: your character will put the leg of your opponent on the bottom rope and will jump on his knee.

Strong grapple: top rope guillotine.

Irish whip: back drop from inside the ring all the way to the concrete floor outside.


how to flip your opponent while on the floor? do a grapple move (when the opponent is lying down) and press up on the control pad at the same time. You will flip you opponent around and do the alternate submission move.

The game's fun but with all the missing things I went over in my post that I made a while ago, I have more fun playing No Mercy now.