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| | Title:
Beatdown: Fists of Vengeance
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System:
Playstation 2
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Genre:
Fighting/Role-playing
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Publisher:
Capcom
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Developer:
Capcom
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Release:
8/23/2005
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Online:
No
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ESRB:
Mature
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What happens when you throw a fighting game and a role-playing game in a blender and hit puree? You could get something insanely fun, but when the result is Beatdown: Fists of Vengeance, you may just end up with a bad taste in your mouth.
Gameplay:
Beatdown brings an interesting concept to the world of video games. Blending a fighting game with a role-playing game is something that is rarely done. Capcom had the potential to make a blockbuster with this title, but the game feels like it was rushed and released half-finished. The world is very small, and most of its environments are cramped. Camera control is frustrating at best, and downright irritating most of the time. The controls for fighting are relatively straightforward, but seem somewhat inconsistent. Pulling off combo moves is hit or miss, and blocking is so difficult that I found myself giving up on it completely. When exploring the world, the analog stick is unresponsive and at times your character refuses to run no matter how far you push the stick. While the world isn’t very big, walking through it at a snail’s pace certainly isn’t enjoyable. Passing out the hurt to everyone you come across is profitable, but soon becomes repetitive and boring. There are countless other tasks in the game that could have been very interesting (picking pockets, stealing cars, etc.) had they been implemented better. All in all, the game really feels like it could have used a lot more testing and touching up.
Graphics:
Well, it’s yet another game set in a city where it’s always night. The lighting is terrible, the textures are bland and the game suffers from clipping issues and terrible camera angles. In some places, they've even utilized sprites! This is outdated technology for a reason, devs! The character models look pretty nice from the waist up, but most of them have laughably skinny chicken legs. The game uses a system which requires you to change clothing almost constantly to avoid detection by the police and the mafia. Most of the clothing, besides being insanely expensive, looks incredibly cheesy. There are five selectable characters and they all have the same clothing to choose from. So if it’s what you’re into, you can dress your male character up in a leopard print bra, or a skimpy camisole top, but I could have done without it, and it looks a lot like apathy on the developer's part.
Sound:
Crappy, repetitive music and horrible voice acting plague this game, and I found myself muting the TV in favor of the stereo. (‘Bodies’ by Drowning Pool makes a good soundtrack, by the way.) Your character will repeat one of two taunts after each battle a la DOA, but they’re not as well written and get pretty irritating. There’s a lot of foul language, and while it fits the theme of the game, it seems like the script was written and they went back in and threw in all the cursing after the fact.
Replay:
One trip through this game is enough. There’s a straight-up fighting style versus mode, but with Beatdown’s clunky fighting engine, it’s not enough to make you want to play it after you beat the campaign.
Fun factor:
Amazingly enough, despite all the game’s shortcomings, there is fun to be had. After all the complaining I can do about this game, I can’t seem to put my finger on what makes it so much fun to play, but it certainly says a lot for the potential of the concept. To reiterate a previous statement, if more time had been spent polishing this games graphics and sounds and making it easier to play, it could have been phenomenal.
Overall:
Beatdown: Fists of Vengeance is worth a rental for role-playing or fighting game fans, but certainly doesn’t merit the retail price tag. With so many other amazing games out for the Playstation 2 right now, gamers can’t afford to waste money on second-rate titles. Check this one out if you’re looking for something innovative, but don’t plan on staying entertained for longer than it takes to complete the story.
| The Core Score |
Overall
5 |
| Fun |
|
6 |
| Gameplay |
|
4 |
| Graphics |
|
4.5 |
| Audio |
|
2 |
| Replay |
|
1 |
|
| | | |
