PlayStation 2 Critic Reviews

A game that is certainly violent, absolutely profane, but also acceptably playable and filled with enough replay value and customization to warrant a purchase as opposed to a rental. But in terms of sheer polish and finesse, "Def Jam Fight for New York" is still the standard bearer against which these sorts of games should be judged.

Beatdown: Fists of Vengeance is a really strange game; a mixture of ideas that comes across as extremely hit and miss. The amalgamation of traditional beat-em-up gameplay and one-on-one works really well; but on the other hand the disguise system seems flawed, who wants to buy a beat-em-up when the aim is to avoid confrontations?

Sadly, the open world and one-on-one fighting engine lack the proper execution, and the copious loading times just get in the way.

Beatdown is a solid fighting themed action role-playing game brought down a notch by too much area transition loading and some limited promised features (like the ability to interrogate every character in the game).

Capcom did the right thing by allowing 2 player battles and extending the replay value with 5 characters but some gamers will have had enough of the load times and mind-numbing decisions by the end of the first story.

It's a beat-em-up. You beat people up. If nothing else, it offers the bare minimum of gameplay to meet the name, but all the other claims of deeper gameplay are half-assed.

It's an engaging scrap that just about manages to keep you hooked. Worth taking a chance on if you like fight-heavy action adventures with a seedy, skuzzy undercurrent and plenty of face-smashing. [PSW]

Ultimately, though, it’s all about how well you wield a crowbar.

Been there, done that.

A game that feels half-baked and suffers from terrible pacing.