Beatdown: Fists of Vengeance Review (Ps2)

Anger Issues

Sometimes Capcom make great games – Resident Evil, Final Fight, Devil May Cry. These days were over a long time ago and the latest additions to those franchises have all been commercial flops. What if I were to tell you that they weren’t over as long ago as you may think? There is definitely a case for this diamond in the rough…

This game screams replayability. There are near limitless options of how to play your way through it. Do you choose to go it alone and brutally crush any foe that steps before you? Do you recruit them all and build an unstoppable posse to follow you into battle? This game has many aspects of the most recent Final Fight game, but it builds upon them and makes this an unforgettable journey through the bleak city of Las Sombras.

Initially, you are given the choice between 5 potential protagonists, all unique in their personalities and fighting styles. As you progress through the game you are given the option to recruit members of the ‘blacklist’ to follow you and fight alongside you, in a similar way to Tekken Tag. You can only have two companions with you at one time, but the variety of different fighting styles, weapons, and AI behaviours are incredible.

Another pivotal part of Beatdown was the reputation meter. Depending on how you played through the game, you would be rewarded differently. The best of these was ‘Godfather’, which would leave you with the two strongest bosses as allies in your next playthrough and the local bar ‘The Hole’ being able to sell weapons. The Hole is just one of the many different open world areas this game has to offer, there are subways, police stations, basketball courts, busy high streets and so many more. Not all of the fights are in the style of your classic beat ‘em up either. Whilst traversing the streets you may encounter cops or rival gang members who recognise you and engage in a battle with you akin to Tekken 6’s adventure mode. All of a sudden you’ll be roundhousing three cops simultaneously.

You won’t be recognised by everyone, as long as you frequently alter your outfit. This isn’t the best thing to do though, as any time you fight you will gain XP, which can unlock you weapons and perks the more you level up. Money is also important in this game as you can bribe enemies to join forces with you, buy upgrades and health packs. You can rob people and ATMs to get cash – but you can also gain it the more honest way by winning street brawls and looting dead bodies.
There is so much to do in this game and it never loses it’s magic, I’ve been playing it going on 10 years now and still I have a blast every time I put the disc in. Surprisingly this game only scored 48 on Metacritic, so it may seem that I have the unpopular opinion here. Beatdown: Fists of Vengeance is the definition of a hidden gem, and anyone who hasn’t played it should get online and buy themselves a copy as soon as they can.