After two fighting games that were never groundbreaking, but always fun to play, the Def Jam series was expected to come out swinging for the cheap seats with its first Next Gen product, Def Jam: Icon. And on most counts, it succeeds, from graphics and music to voiceover work and story. But when it comes to the gameplay, what used to be an enjoyable romp with some of the biggest names in hip-hop has become a tedious, thumb destroying exercise, where you put up with the fighting parts of the game just to push the story forward.

And the story is intriguing, thankfully, even though it is far-fetched. You play the main untitled character, a street thug who happens to meet record industry mogul Curtis Carver (played by former Def Jam boss Kevin Liles), who takes you under his wing – not only as muscle, but as an aspiring A&R rep and producer. Of course, to sign artists, you have to fight the people in your way, whether they’re paparazzi, mixtape makers, or other competition.

Once you win your fights, the story progresses, either by signing artists, meeting the ladies, or getting involved in squabbles with Carver’s main competition – the label run by Troy Dollar (played by Anthony Anderson). Along the way, you will also visit various stores for your requisite amount of ‘bling’, and set recording and marketing budgets for the artists you sign, with chart placement and record sales either adding to or smashing your bottom line.

There are cut scenes throughout the game that do the best job of moving the story along, though e-mails are also a key tool in seeing what’s going on with your artist roster (including paying for the various expenses incurred, such as lawsuits, tour expenses, new houses, etc) and your growing legion of girlfriends. And I won’t spoil the story, but suffice to say that things start slowly and then simmer as you move on in the game, with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end.

Adding to the atmosphere are top-notch graphics and animation (think a grittier Fight Night Round 3 – which was also developed by EA Chicago), with character models that truly represent the heavyweights of the hip-hop game such as T.I., The Game, Method Man and Redman, and Lil’ Jon. The only casualties here are the ladies. Believe me, I’ve seen Melyssa Ford, and the model in the game is no Melyssa Ford.

That aside, the playable characters and the various fighting locations are Next-Gen worthy, as is the voice acting and the soundtrack, which does earn its ‘M’ rating. I did find it funny though that numerous F-bombs made it into the game but the word ‘weed’ was edited out. Go figure.