Def Jam: Icon is less wrestling-oriented than the previous games, Def Jam Vendetta and Def Jam: Fight for NY.[1] The game's executive producer, Kudo Tsunoda, has stated that he did not feel that wrestling and hip-hop went particularly well with each other.[2] The throws and environmental damage remain in the game.
Gameplay is similar to EA Chicago's Fight Night: Round 3, featuring a focus on up-close brawling,[3] mixing up blocks, throws, parries, and using the right analog stick to deliver stronger attacks.[4] Also, like Round 3, there is no in-game heads up display by default, encouraging the player to observe physical cues on in-game characters to determine their health, such as clothing, bruises and exhaustion of the opponent.[5]
The developers aimed to make the music and the environment a much larger factor in the fight.[6] Among the environments are streets, subways, nightclubs, penthouses, BET's 106 and Park stage, and others.[1][7]
There is a level of interactivity between music and the stages, where the entire backdrop bumps to the beat of the background music.[8] Different events occur on the beats of each song - some of which are dangerous. For example, a column of fire shoots up from a ruined gas station on every "bass hit" of a song's chorus.[9] Other changes will be purely cosmetic: hubcaps on cars will spin and twinkle to the beat of each song.[10] The developers have added more damage to a fighter's punches and kicks if they occur "to the beat" or making a rapper stronger if one of their songs is playing.
By listening to the beat of the song and then timing a throw, the player can toss the opponent into an environmental hazard just as it goes off. The game features a "turntable" action, where by spinning the right analog stick allows the character to manipulate the music and the environment for both players and shows the character as if they are using a DJ turntable in mid-air.[11] With this, the environment can be used for gaining advantage and weakening the opponents by activating the environmental hazards when they are near. During the match, fighters bleed and show visible signs of their injuries.
