Of course, I am hyperbolizing a bit, but the control scheme is just flat-out awful. I cannot, for the life of me, understand what the designers were thinking. They’d have had more success if they had packaged an old Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots fighting set and included little slip on masks of well-known hip-hop artists for the robots to wear. That, at least, would have been a game I’d have understood and enjoyed.
Then again, perhaps the idea wasn’t for Icon to be considered as primarily a fighting game. With the “Build A Label” option, you have the opportunity to make yourself into a veritable hip-hop mogul-to-be. Of course, a rather large part of becoming a mogul seems to be kicking people’s asses, which brings us back to Def Jam Icon being a fighting game with no guts for fighting.
Hooray for schizophrenic games!
There is at least one other redeeming quality to this game, and that is the music. I’m not talking about the music that comes pre-loaded into the disc, though. While there is a nice representation of songs by each of the various hip-hop artists featured in Icon, the thing I found most rewarding is the ability to load your own mp3s onto your Xbox 360 and have them be just as ingrained a part of the game as the original hip-hop songs were. You think you will get a thrill by kicking Method Man’s but while using Ludacris, as his own "Get Back" is pounding in your speakers? Well, try it with Devo commanding you to "Whip it!"
What’s also nice is that the music comes into play during the game, literally. When you’re character’s signature song comes on in the background, his attacks will be (relatively) quicker and he’ll be able to knock his opponent down easier. Which means, if you choose "Whip It" as your song, it’ll help you “whip” someone.
If you can figure out how to, that is.
In the end, Icon frustrates me so much because I can plainly see a game that had the potential of becoming as strong as Vendetta or Fight for NY. As it stands, it’s a hoot. For about two solid days I found myself flipping about and doing my damnedest to whip every rapper with every other rapper. After that I found myself working my way up to becoming a hip-hop mogul named “Alton Brownie,” as I repeatedly yelled “Bake yourself FOOL!” while I beat up on people.
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