Def Jam Fight for NY: The Takeover

Def Jam Fight for NY: The Takeover
Developer(s)	AKI Corporation/EA Canada
Publisher(s)	EA Games
Platform(s)	PlayStation Portable
Release date(s)	NA August 29, 2006 EU September 30, 2006
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	BBFC: 18 ESRB: Mature PEGI: 18+
Media/distribution	UMD

Def Jam Fight for NY: The Takeover is a fighting game for the PlayStation Portable. The game is a port of Def Jam: Fight for NY. In addition to nearly all of the features seen in the original game, The Takeover includes new dirty moves, four new venues, and 68 playable characters.

Story

The game's story is a prequel to the events of Def Jam Vendetta. However, the game uses many of the same situations and characters from Fight for NY, which is the second game in the series, chronologically.

You still play a nameless up-and-coming gangsta brought into the world of underground street fighting after rescuing one of the game's personalities from trouble with the police. However, instead of D-Mob being freed from police custody, like in Fight for NY, it is tattoo artist Manny who is saved from corrupt police officers. Manny takes you to O.G., your "mentor", who instructs you in how to fight to gain control of (take over) the Five Bouroughs of New York City. Eventually, O.G. is murdered by the hands of Crow, leaving D-Mob to step in and use you as his number one fighter. Ultimately, it is revealed that D-Mob was using you to take over the Five Bouroughs, controlling New York City's underground, and that he was going to leave you to take the fall, leading police to your exact whereabouts. After defeating D-Mob in the story's final battle, a one-on-one fight at the 125th Street Subway Station, you decide to leave the underground fight scene for good. It is safe to say that, since this is a prequel story, D-Mob recovers from the fight and, with nobody in New York to stop him, builds his empire that is seen in Vendetta.

Character creation is still the same as Fight for NY. You still create your character using the same type of police sketch-artist system. A new addition is choosing your character's home town from one of the Five Bouroughs of New York. From there, the game flows similarly to Fight for NY, featuring many of the same fighting arenas and shops with which to upgrade your character's clothing, jewelry, hair, and fighting moves.

The story is no longer told through fully voiced cutscenes. For The Takeover, the story progresses through text and messages received on your character's Sidekick.

Also, since the game uses many of the graphical assets seen in 2004's Fight for NY, it does not reflect physical changes seen in some of the celebrities featured in the game. Busta Rhymes, in the role of Magic, still has his dreadlock hairstyle, which he cut in late 2005. Also, Ludacris still has his cornrow hairstyle, which he would cut in the summer of 2006.

Gameplay

Gameplay remains largely similar to Fight for NY. You still base your character's fighting style from among a pool of five different fighting styles:

• Kickboxing
• Street Fighting
• Martial Arts
• Wrestling
• Submission

Changed features from the original Fight for NY

Some new features have been added to the fighting engine. Before fights, characters may be able to hit or otherwise effect their opponent before the fight actually begins, giving them a slight health, weapon, or position advantage from the start. Also, a new mount maneuver has been added, allowing the player to mount fallen opponents and punch them while they lie on the ground. The player also has the ability to execute a submission from this position if the submission style was learned. To counteract abuse of this maneuver, the grounded player may throw dirt in his opponents eyes, temporarily stunning them. A reversal, causing a switch in position, is also possible. Plus, using a finishing move (ex. a Blazin' Move) can KO an opponent, if it reaches Danger before the final blow.