Brought to you by the beloved Capcom, Beat down: Fists of Vengeance is unlike previous Capcom games in that it is somewhat a mixture of 3rd person roaming and fighting action. The game begins with a group of 5 characters who work for a large city based crime organisation. They have been sent to investigate a drug deal which transpires to have gone horribly wrong. However, upon their arrival at a moody warehouse where the deal took place they discover the whole thing has been a set up and they are now the targets of their boss. The crime boss fears the group are too powerful and perhaps a threat to his position and therefore seizes this opportunity to wipe them out. It is at this point in the game that the player takes control of one character from the five to ultimately escape this situation and then work out what to do next as revenge only seems fair given the circumstances.

Gameplay:

From the beginning of the game you are asked to choose one of 5 characters Lola, Gina, Raven, Aaron and Jason G. Each character has their own fighting style and also their own story line through the game. Upon choosing a character that suits, you can then begin to kick some butt in the games opening tutorial, which sees the group split up and then it’s just you having to guide your character to safety.

Playing Beat Down comes in 3 very distinct styles; the first is pretty much free roaming the city, visiting various locales and talking to a number of characters that are going about their business or simply loitering. It is here where you can visit The Hole (a seedy bar) which is sort of your base of operations. In The Hole you can speak with an informant who will give you valuable information to help you complete the story. Here you can also speak to the bar tender and undertake various optional missions which are great for getting extra cash. You can also change your clothing and the look of your character here in the changing room.

Talking about the clothing for a moment, it appears that when you wander around town there are two types of characters that you will want to avoid, these are the Police (for obvious reasons) and then mafia gang members. With each outfit you wear there is a rating in percent for police and mafia. Should the rating be at 100% then this means you will be recognised immediately and will get attacked and possibly arrested. To combat this you can buy a huge number of clothing items and accessories which lowers this rating (a disguise so to speak). However should you go near a mafia member or a cop in disguise then they will start to get suspicious of you and the percent will go up. There are so many things to buy that it’s staggering; you can buy tops, trousers, skirts, boots, shirts, suits, earrings, gloves, piercings, tattoos, hairstyles and even undertake cosmetic surgery to change your facial features. The options are simply amazing and means that your character can look different pretty much in every part of the game should you choose. I actually made my character look like Jill Valentine from Resident Evil 3 at one point which was great.

When wandering around town you can also purchase a wide variety of health packs and weapons which can be equipped to either the black and white buttons for instant use in a fight. Things like iron bars, pipes, knives are available. In the latter portion of the game you are even able to use guns.

The free roaming part of the game is probably where you will most likely be spending the majority of time as you will need to find various people for clues to help you on your way to exacting revenge on your boss. This throws an interesting mechanic into the equation as the option to fight anyone is available. Well you aren’t going to get very far by simply fighting everyone you meet; there is more to it than that. What the player can do is ask certain people for information about the game world or more importantly about information that will aid you on your quest. However most people aren’t simply going to dish out information just like that; so you are either going to have to pay them some money or better still beat them up until they give you the information fearing for their lives.

This brings us to the second mode of play in the game which is where your character goes one on one with an opponent in a typical side on fighting game viewpoint. Here you have two options which are to simply beat up your opponent or you can weaken their pride which will enable you to grab them, then interrogate for the info you require. Alternatively you can actually rob them, kill or even ask them to join your gang. The latter meaning you can recruit a whole host of loveable rogues to do your bidding throughout the game. A simple phone call is all that is required, then you can go meet them at one of the locations in the game and they will fight alongside you. 2 characters can join you at any given time although you can have a huge pool of characters on standby.

The fighting here is pretty much like a normal fighting game whereby you can execute combos, throws, punches, kicks and other slick moves using a combination of d-pad directions and buttons. If at any time you are defeated then you resume the battle with one of your allies (that’s if you have any with you at the time). Once you have defeated an enemy you will gain experience and ultimately level up. When you level in the game you can add points to your stamina, attack power and technique making your character even more formidable.

The last mode of play is the free for all brawl, which sees your character and allies fighting several opponents at once using the standard viewpoint. Your character will automatically lock on to any opponent who comes near, which allows you to unleash your moves on them with relative ease. It is here where you might also wish to pick up weapons which are lying around and are great for dealing more damage in single hits. After the battle is over you are able to search the bodies for money, health items and weapons which will come in handy or you could simply sell them for a small profit if you are short of cash.

Graphics:

The graphics in the game are simply not as good as they should be for an Xbox game and on one hand the leading characters look fairly decent, the secondary characters don’t look too hot at all. The areas in the game are also very dull and basic looking which might fit the moody nature of the game but really isn’t pleasing on the eye at all. Some dodgy animation is also present especially when your character is running and there are moments of slowdown during some of the more hectic fighting sequences in the game; although this is quite minor. The AI can also get stuck on the scenery at times which is a little off putting but one of those things you tend to ignore if possible, especially as it allows you to position yourself for a free hit if you are sneaky. The camera can also be problematic when in tight areas, sometimes meaning your character is off the screen which is pretty frustrating to say the least. Another thing that gets annoying is the fact that each area has to load which although is only seconds does break the flow of the game. What I will say though is the inclusion of visible damage on your characters is excellent and really shows that you have been through the wars, with blood over your clothes, bruises on your face for both men and women. This is a rather gory feature and definitely a plus point for the game when it comes to realism.

Sound:

The sound is fairly lacklustre and perhaps would have benefited from custom soundtracks as far as the music is concerned. What is on offer is pretty uninspiring and a mixture of hip hop style beats and pumped up fighting tunes. The voice acting is actually on par with some of the worst you will find in video games and lacks any sort of passion. Other sound effects are reasonable such as punches, kicks and the sound of metal on skull. What does get annoying are the repeated phrases that are uttered after combat and I wished for more lines here but alas no.

Longevity:

With five characters available, each with their own story, three levels of difficulty plenty of side missions and the free roaming recruiting of allies means there is a lot do to here and could take quite some time. The main story can be completed very quickly if you choose to ignore all of the distractions but the more you beat the game the more things become unlocked. There is a verses mode which is more like a standard beat em up where you pick a team of 3 characters verses a human or the computer and battle it out although as far as I could tell there are no rewards here.

Overall:

In Beat Down you have one big melting pot of styles rolled into one and for the most part it actually works really well. I think some of the combat is a little awkward at times, especially in the brawling mode where there are several targets to lock on to at once resulting in you not always being able to hit the guy you intended. Other than that the fighting is pretty solid and with plenty of moves available for each character there is a fair bit to master (although you can get by with simple moves). On paper Beat Down is an excellent game and really does have a lot of ambition (especially the customisation aspect). However the graphics and obscure camera really do let the game down on Xbox and with a little more spit and polish would have immersed the player into the game world a lot more.

The RPG free roaming nature of the game is great and actually reminded me a little of the Tobal games from times past. Either way, for fighting fans there is plenty to do and enjoy here and at the end of the day that is what counts (especially if you can ignore the rubbish voice acting). For those of you looking for something different then I suggest you could do well to take a look; although I do recommend renting first as fighting games seem awfully niche these days unless they feature semi naked women.