The Con

The beefed-out man with the wild red hair flexes his swollen biceps and calmly steps out into the world’s most scariest basketball court surrounded by dilapidated buildings. A second man steps out into the abandoned court and with the grace of a flamenco dancer twists his hands in front of his expressionless face and launches into martial arts kick that the bigger man manages to dodge. The fight is on and the few spectators present start passing around cash as they place their bets. Within seconds the red-haired bruiser is picking up his teeth from the ground and waits until the crowd dissipates to collect money he bet against himself. Ah, the art of the con, how lucrative it is to take a dive. Welcome to The Con, a fighting game for the PSP with a unique twist.

So far the PSP is just barely scratching the surface of what it can really do and we are finally starting to see our favorite genres come to life on the portable’s wide screen. There are racing games and there are platform games and, with Coded Arms, there’s finally a first-person shooter. Yet the fighting genre hasn’t seen much action ... until now. The Con is an underground brawling game where your fighter goes out to gain respect and big bucks anyway he or she can earn it. Think of it as Def Jam Fight for NY with a bet-placing system and the choice to take a dive.

There are three modes in this game: Story mode, Quick Play and Multiplayer. Quick Play features an Arcade mode where you fight against a few brawlers and Time Attack where you attempt to defeat an enemy before the timer runs out. There’s also a Survival mode where you try to defeat as many fighters before you’re knocked out. Story Mode is the main mode of playing the game since it is here where you unlock the extras like clothing, hair and accessories for your fighter. The story revolves around your fighter (either created from scratch or pick from any of the 10 available characters) getting sprung from a police transport by a woman named Reina, who prepares you for the ultimate underground fighting tournament started by a man named Kuro. You start by fighting a few low-level pugilists until you decide to take Reina out of the picture to make money your way.

The cool part is that you can create your character using Basic editing tools or change every aspect of your character’s look from hairstyle to specific facial features and clothing options. Then you pick your fighting style that ranges from kickboxing, wrestling, Tae Kwon Do, street boxing or Jeet Kune Do. From there you take your fighter through a series of fights. While you’ll gain a reputation in the fighting circuit, as well as cash, by winning through the game’s betting system (introduced early in the game) that will have you earning the big bucks.

Whether you place a bet on yourself to win the match or, and here’s the interesting part, bet on your opponent, the art of the con has to be a believable one if you want to get away with a handsome payoff. Taking a dive, for example, just doesn’t require you to stand around taking punches (that’s a sure way of getting too injured to fight again anytime soon), but for the crowds to buy it you must at least land a few punches here. The trick is to keep the Con Meter, a meter that uses a thumb up for pulling off the con successfully or a thumb down for when the crowd isn’t buying it. Since you start off with a six-week fight prep schedule you can heal yourself by visiting the hospital, resting up (your fighter feels the effects of fatigue) or train to upgrade your fighter’s skills, power, speed, toughness and health. Best yet you’ll even get to audition up to two fighters to join your team so you’ll be able to challenge rival teams for money and more respect. 

While all of these things add to something distinctive and interesting in ways that even a good fighting game like Def Jam Fight for NY isn’t able to supply, it's the actual fighting mechanics where the game falls apart. First the good news, the five different fighting styles have their own unique special attacks. If you pick the street boxing style, for example, your fighter will be able to perform a head butt while those who pick Tae Kwon Do will be able to perform a jumping front kick. You can also perform quick combos, throws and you can even kick your opponent while he or she is down. The D-pad is used to dodge, duck, and sway back while the trigger button is used to block or parry.

The bad news is that there are a few flaws and they’re big ones. For starters the camera swings around your character from a behind view that takes getting used to but the problem is that sometimes you can’t tell the distance between you or your opponent. That means sometimes you’ll be kicking at nothing but air. Secondly, the opponent AI is as dumb as a rock, making each fight easy and unchallenging. It’s not that the enemy doesn’t fight back, you’ll go up against characters like Cornfed and Smoke that are able to take a licking and send some decent kicks and punches, but it’s nothing a few combos can’t remedy. On top of that there’s the long load times between each fight and, well, there are long load times between everything you do in this game including saving your game.

Graphically speaking, The Con is a sharp looking game with crisp textures and good character models. Really, this is one game that looks like it belongs on the PS2 or even the Xbox. The character creation process using the Advanced setting allow you to create a character that closely resembles you (and you can always purchase new hairstyles later) and it's great to see your creation knock down some truly bizarre-looking characters. The environments are sparse so you’ll see the same few ones over and over again but at least they’re neat to look at.

The game’s sound is not as impressive as the visuals but at least the soundtrack and sounds of fisticuffs are not bad either. The game’s score has that old-school 70s funk that somehow fits the game like a glove and while there’s not much of a variety it's not bad at all. There is also voice acting that isn’t bad at all, especially when it comes to main bad guy Kuro. As for the fights, tossing punches and kicks sound straight out of SNK fighting games but at least landing blows sound realistic enough.

In the end, The Con might not be the perfect fighting game but it is able to give us an interesting take worth playing on your PSP. I applaud a game that at least strives to be different and manages to bring out these interesting new ideas to life and while the game takes a knock or two in the load time and AI department, it’s a fighting game that shouldn’t be missed if you like an interesting fighting game you can carry around with you.

Gameplay: 7.0
There are enough fighting styles, combos and specialty moves to make each fight memorable but thanks to poor opponent AI and long load times the game suffers a low blow. Yet the betting system and loads of unlockable extras give us an interesting twist in the fighting genre.

Graphics: 8.5
Sharp and crisp, the visuals show off what the PSP is capable of graphically. With great character models, good lighting effects and more than decent cinematic cutscenes, this is one impressive looking game.

Sound: 8.0
With 70s-styled funk rhythms the soundtrack supply is actually pretty good and the voice acting during the cutscenes are not bad as well. The punches and kicks sound like any other fighting game out there but when you do land a blow it has a nice ring to it.

Difficulty: Easy
Sadly one of the game’s biggest flaws that can’t be ignored is the opponent AI that makes for easy bouts even the higher up the ladder you and your stable of fighters climb. Really, the most challenging part of the game comes from Survival mode in Quick Play.

Concept: 8.0
Besides designing your character from head to toes, there are clothing and accessories to unlock and purchase. The underground street fighting has that illegal feel to it but it's the game’s betting system that sets this one apart. Whether you’re taking a dive or starting a fight badly and making a comeback at the end, it’s all up to you.

Multiplayer: 7.5
Wireless multiplayer against a friend should make up for the poor enemy AI and you can even play online so you can share your strange-looking character with others. Just don’t hope the other player drops out because of the long load times.

Overall: 7.5
The Con is a brilliant idea that is executed well enough despites its most glaring faults. Sure the heart of the game is its fighting, something that is a bit of a letdown thanks to its unintelligent AI, funny camera and long load times between fights, but it brings us something different for our favorite new handheld gaming machine.