Capcom's Beatdown: Fist of Vengeance is one of those hybrid games that attempts to combine urban themes with fighting and light RPG elements. While the game is by no means the next big thing since Def Jam Fight For NY, it is nonetheless a solid game that beat 'em up fans should find enjoyable - if they can get by the few small irritations that the game contains. Read on and judge for yourselves if Beatdown: Fist of Vengeance is worth the price of admission:

The Game:

Players pick one of the five playable characters and play through the story set in a modern and gritty urban environment, beating up anyone they so choose and earning valuable experience, items, cash and occasionally new allies. These five characters include Raven, Jason G "The Big G" , Gina "The Dark Rose" , Lola "Target Eliminator" and Aaron " Drug Lord's Love Child". This rag-tag group of street brawlers and thugs have been set up by their mob boss for murdering the drug cartel, setting up the inevitable scenarios you'd expect in a beat 'em up from Capcom - revenge and street justice.

Once you get rolling in Beatdown you'll realize that this isn't Streets of Rage or any of Capcom's other fight games; no one is going to hold your hand or guide you to where you go first or next. That's because there's a giant map with multiple areas that you'll have to explore and hundreds of people you'll have to meet or inevitably... beat down - no pun intended. As you do your best or your worst to the inhabitants of this sprawling metropolis, you'll gain experience, new allies, new teammates to fight alongside you, cold hard cash and weapons that will help you serve up the revenge that your enemies so richly deserves. Basically Beatdown tries to combine role-playing, adventure and action to create a unique gaming experience. For the most part the game succeeds.

Both hand-to-hand fighting and armed combat are an integral part of Beatdown, and the fighting system in the game works very well. Players will be able to kick, punch, defend, and pick up various weapons to take down all kinds of thugs and common citizens as they make their way through all the game's less than reputable urban areas.

As players gain experience they level up, allowing them to upgrade various stats that make them fight and interact better with the world's seedy citizens. These stats include attack, stamina and technique. These stats are pretty straightforward (attack increases your power, while stamina increases the number of total hit points you have), but Technique is most important because it allows you to learn new fighting styles.

The game also uses a reputation system called a criminal level. Your criminal level is affected by the things that you do in the world and how you interact with the criminal and law enforcement communities. Luckily if you tick off one or the other (and believe me, you inevitably will) you can use that cold hard cash you take off of your defeated opponents to buy hand dandy disguises. As the old saying goes, "if you can't beat 'em. join em."

Beyond the single player game, there are two multiplayer modes in Beatdown: VS mode normal, where you can select up to three characters for your team, then choose player vs cpu, player vs player and cpu vs cpu; and Also VS mode custom, where you select up to three characters for your team and load a three character party that you have recruited from the single player game. The same three options (player vs cpu, player vs player, or cpu vs cpu) still apply to this mode as they do in regular Vs. Mode. While the Vs. mode is a nice diversion, real multiplayer support would have been better. Still it's a nice occasional break from the story driven single- player game..

Presentation

While the graphics are adequate they aren't up to par with a lot of other beat 'em ups on the market for the PS2. Certain items like the weapons are real nice looking and flashy, while other world objects like buildings and cars aren't rendered very well. That's not to say that these objects look awful - just that they could look better.

At least character skins fit the urban theme of the game and look good.. The in-game cutscenes and cinematics are sharp, crisp and clean as well. It should also be pointed out that the lighting in the game is good, which is pretty important considering the dark gritty world that the game takes place in. The best aspect of Beatdown's graphics has to be the player and enemy models, which look good and stand out in the world. Everything from their appearance to the way they move and fight is done well.

Beatdown is presented via a third person perspective, which is usually best for the sanity of anyone that enjoys these kinds of games (could you imagine a beat 'em up in first-person?!?). But more to the point, this perspective is implemented in a way that is comfortable and easy to pick up, making movement smooth and seamless. Players can also look around the general area that they are in, which is important when exploring the multitude of areas in the game. Another nice feature in Beatdown is the damage model for player and enemy characters; if your fighter takes too much abuse (and doesn't get some type of healing), bruises appear on his (or her) face. There's nothing more impressive than seeing a battered and bloodied fighter after a viscous scrap..