Def Jam Icon, the successor to Def Jam Fight for New York, is the third installment in the Def Jam series. To my knowledge, the games are not based on the same story, but my lack of experience with the series may besiege me. The unknown territory I was about to step into, was surprisingly similar to game play I had experienced before although the story and agenda of the game was far different.

As with most games, at the start of the campaign you are allowed to create your character and customize him/her as you see fit. All the normal options are available for creating your character; face, hair, apparel, but nothing new or surprisingly extraordinary. Next, you name your record label. At this point, it becomes obvious the object of the game is to build your record label empire and become… an icon… who would of thought?

So how does building a record label fit into a fighting concept? The game begins with a cinematic of your newly created character speaking to Chris Carter, the assumed CEO of your record label (unknown at this point), in which the conversation is abruptly interrupted by a drive by shooting, leaving Carter dead in the street.

Flash back to you in a club in which you are involved in an altercation where you throw down for the first time. Having no tutorial on how this fighting concept works, you are on your own to figure out. It is possible to pause and go to the controls section which does give you a breakdown of what the buttons do, but it is still a little complicated to understand their actual application or usefulness. Once I began A