Celebrity Deathmatch Screenshots   The Final Say! Gameplay 7.0 Graphics 6.9 Sound 7.1 Value 6.9 Celebrity Deathmatch - reviewed by Andrew B Review Date: November 2003 Review Score: 6.9/10  Distributed By: Take Two Interactive

The premise behind MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch is simple, bring together a plethora of celebrities and have them beat the living hell out of each other by any means possible. The game is based on the television show of the same name that now lets gamers across the world engage in deadly battles with celebrities that they either love or hate. The game contains a variety of celebrities that include show biz greats such as a Marilyn Manson, Anna Nicole Smith, Jerry Sprinter, Shannon Doherty and a variety of other great entertainers.   Everything that was included in the original clay-made television show has been successfully implemented into the game that includes the "goofy" looking clay-made effigies of celebrities, a variety of deadly arsenals such as chainsaws, balls and even giant bananas and a blood starved clay audience to help with the ambience of this interesting title.   MTV's Celebrity Death is basically a comedic fighter that allows players to perform some outrageous fighting manoeuvres with their favourite celebrities. The game gives gamers a choice of two different gameplay modes but the most enjoyable method of play is called Episode that allows you to play through an entire episode of the show. The episode mode is basically a story mode and by successfully completing the matches, it opens up new celebrities and areas where you can battle head-to-head in a deadly battle that only celebrities could do.   As mentioned earlier, the game features a variety of celebrities and each celebrity has their own special move when they engage with other opponents. For instance, the deadly millionaire killing ex-playmate Anna Nicole Smith (forgive the melodramatic introduction) uses her gigantic luscious breasts to attack her formidable opponents, whereas the hedgehog Ron Jeremy, ex-porn star and... (wait a minute... this is a family orientated web site) but you get the drift, each character has their own unique way of battling, whether it's the suave Mr. T who uses the A-Team van to crush his opponents or Dennis Rodman with his deadly basketball, the developers ensure that nothing becomes too repetitive.   The gameplay of Celebrity Deathmatch could only be considered as a fighting game with hallucinogenic properties of a world gone mad. The battles themselves are extremely entertaining and amusing and the first time you see characters use their special movies, it will have all gamers in hysterics.

The control system of Celebrity Deathmatch is extremely easy to pick up and uses a combination of the analog sticks with the buttons to control your characters. As the game is basically a button masher, even the most novice of gamers will easy master this title in no time.

There is also a variety of weapons that are located in the fighting arenas from chainsaws, pick axes and street cones to help spruce up the fighting. Although Celebrity Deathmatch is basically a button-masher, it unfortunately lacks the prowess of games such as Soul Calibur 2 and many of the moves become a little too repetitive and although the characters can perform a variety of moves, they needed a few more tricks up their sleeves.

Graphically, Celebrity Deathmatch on the XBox is a little too "rough" at the best of times and although it looks like the original television show, they look like they have been taken from a cartoon and appear more 2D than 3D. However, the developers have done a great job at recreating the celebrities and gamers will have no problem at recognising the celebrities that litter this game. There is also a variety of effects in the game such as blood and guts splattering from the celebrities themselves and some interesting lighting and shadow effects to give the game that polished look. The backgrounds themselves are unfortunately a little sparse and boring as was the original television show.

The musical score of MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch features the original score that graced the television show and helps with the atmosphere of the game. The audio commentary is performed by Johnny Gomez and Nick Diamond who do a wonderful job at commentating the battles between the celebrities and are extremely funny and entertaining. The celebrity voices are a little rough at times and it would of been nice if they talked a little more often than just the odd occasional catch phrase. The sounds of the fights themselves have also been implemented successfully into this title such as the kicks, punches and various special moves of the celebrities themselves.

In conclusion, MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch is an entertaining game that allows gamers to engage in huge duels between television and sporting celebrities, although the fights themselves are a little sparse and lacklustre, this will cause many gamers to feel that something is missing from this entertaining title. With dozens of different celebrities, some extremely cheesy audio and unfortunately some substandard graphics, I would recommend that all gamers "rent" this title before they purchase it.

- Andrew B