What do you get when you mix Snoop Dogg with the fighting genre? If you answered
Tekken Tag Tournament 2, you're not exactly wrong, and we couldn't fault you for playing that game over
Way of the Dogg. Combining Snoop Dogg, fighting games and the music and rhythm genre gives you the Doggfather's new game, and it's not quite as bad as it sounds. The player quickly jumps into the game's storyline on a quest for vengeance and finds a rather short storyline complete with time travel, treachery and plenty of new and classic songs from Snoop Dogg. The player with clash with various characters throughout the game, and the closer you can match the button mashes on the screen, the better the fight will go for you. Numerous issues with the game keeps
Way of the Dogg from being as good as it could be, but it's still good for a few laughs for it's ridiculous storyline, good music and fun local multiplayer.
America Jones is the star of
Way of the Dogg. America is the best fighter around, but he soon finds his world turned upside down when his girlfriend is killed during one of his tournaments. With nowhere else to turn, America heads to the temple where Snoop Dogg teaches martial arts to seek his guidance and looking for leads to get revenge on the people that took his life away from him. In typical exploitation film style, the whitest man in the whitest suit is behind the attack, and America will have to work his way up the ladder from the bottom if he hopes to get his hands on the man named Don Blank. Though the storyline is by the books, it does offer up some humor at the ridiculous scenarios that unfold, especially during fights. Faulting the game for having a poor storyline would be a bit like hating
Rock Band for having a storyline whose most entertaining aspect is hiring your mom as your agent. The storyline isn't important in
Way of the Dogg, but what is unforgivable is the entire campaign will take roughly one and a half to two hours to complete.
Fights in
Way of the Dogg take place with the button commands on screen matching the beat and lyrics from the Snoop Dogg track playing in the background. Each fight contains numerous sections, and when both fighters hit about the same amount of buttons, as is often the case, a final combo will appear and award the player who inputs the command quickest.
Way of the Dogg can be a fun game at times, but the game controls a lot better on mobile devices than consoles. The game only allows you to input directional controls with the left analog stick instead of allowing the directional pad to be used for more precision, and it can be really frustrating to lost a section of the fight because of the controller not recognizing your input. Other times, commands simply do not pop up correctly, and restarting in a match often glitches a word on screen that can only be removed by completely restarting the game.
The saving grace of
Way of the Dogg is the game's soundtrack that features newer songs from Snoop Dogg and also classic such as
Who Am I? (What's My Name),
Murder Was The Case, and
Snoop Dogg. It's worth noting however that the game is only rated T by the ESRB, so these are the edited versions of the Snoop Dogg songs. The graphics in the game aren't bad either, but repeated animations do get tiresome when repeating fights. Another real problem with the game is lack of content. Outside of the two hour campaign, there are three difficulty settings, though most players who have played music and rhythm games before will be able to handle the hardest difficulty with ease. A multiplayer mode offers some fun to see who is the best between you and your buddies, and there is also a challenge mode in the game, but it essentially recycles storyline chapters and adds a hit counter with a random difficulty setting and isn't at all exciting. If you're interested in playing
Way of the Dogg, your best bet is to wait for the game's release on iOS and Android, since this is the best version of the game, and the game may receive a price drop when it is released on mobile in the near future. As it stands today,
Way of the Dogg is a hit or miss title, that will resonate with some fans and will make other cringe.
Way of the Dogg is now available for PlayStation Network, Xbox LIVE Arcade, iOS and Android and can be purchased for $9.99 or 800 Microsoft Points.
Way of the Dogg is rated T by the ESRB for Violence, Blood, Drug Reference & Mild Language. For more information on the game, check out the official
Way of the Dogg website.
Game Features:
Offline Multiplayer 1-2
Featuring Tracks from Snoop Dogg
19 Chapters & Three Difficulty Settings
DLC Support
Trophy/Achievement Support
Game Information:
Developer:
Echo Peak
Publisher:
505 Games
Platforms: PlayStation Network, Xbox LIVE Arcade (reviewed), iOS & Android
Release Date: May 3, 2013
Score: 6.5 out of 10
