Straying from the existing wrestling formula that focuses on gamers being able to play as real-life wrestlers, DJV provides a roster of mostly fictional characters along with 12 actual hip-hop artists from the Def Jam label. All the characters have their own moves and combos, and different fighting personalities. Artists such as Ghostface Killah, Method Man, NORE and Ludacris are all represented, and act as the boss characters in the story mode. As the player progresses through the story mode, they will face several fictional wrestlers before meeting a Def Jam boss.

Each wrestler that is defeated is then unlocked for play in the other modes. The Story mode is the main mode in the game. This follows the progress of a fighter re-entering the shady world of underground wrestling. Initially there only to fill in for a friend, the player soon finds themselves getting deeper into the underground world. Although there are several playable characters in this mode, the story will progress the same for each one. There are several unlockables within the game, mainly extra wrestlers and galleries of pictures of the female wrestlers, and it will take several trips through the story mode to unlock all of these.

Each wrestler starts the Story mode as a novice, with low ratings on various types of stats such as defence, stamina and grappling. For each win the player gets a certain amount of money, which can then be used to build up the wrestler's stats. The progression in difficulty is balanced quite well, with a gradual increase in the skill of the opponents as the player works through the story.

As well as the Story mode, there are also Battle and Survival modes. In the Battle mode the player can set up individual, tag and handicap matches, as well as multi-player games. The Survival mode is a battle of attrition against an unending string of opponents. Unfortunately DJV could sorely do with some more options and modes. There is a multitude of match types that could have easily been adapted for the underground setting of the game. A cage match at least would have been well suited to this game. A Create-A-Wrestler mode would have been great as well, and would have added to the replayability of the game.

The main attraction of DJV is the fighting. Developed by Aki, the fighting engine is based on those used in the N64 classics No Mercy and WCW/NWO Revenge, and this is certainly evident in the quality of the gameplay here. The fighting style is based more on grappling, momentum and submission, rather than the brute force displayed in the WWE Smackdown titles.

Each fighter has a momentum meter, similar to the Smackdown meter. The difference here is that the higher the meter in DJV the better moves each wrestler is able to perform. At the start of the match the more powerful moves will generally not be able to be pulled off, and have more of a chance to be reversed. This works very nicely, and balances the fighting well. It also provides quite a challenge if the players opponent manages to get their momentum meter up. Fighting well will lower your opponent's meter, and vice versa. The gameplay is such that momentum can swing between each wrestler several times during a match.

The momentum meter is filled up by performing moves on the opponent, or by countering opponent's moves. Each move will increase it a little further, however performing the same move repeatedly will not fill the meter up by as much each time. Performing a range of moves is encouraged as is stringing together combos of moves, such as an Irish whip followed by a running attack. There are combos that apply for all wrestlers, as well as wrestler-specific combos. Unlike other Big games such as SSX Tricky and NBA Street Vol. 2 the combos are hidden, so quite a bit of experimentation is required to find them all. Unfortunately there is no bonus for finding each combo. Having some unlockables linked to finding hidden combos would have been a fine feature.

The moves in DJV can be broadly classified into two categories, either strikes or grapples. Strikes mainly involve punches or kicks, and are generally used to soften opponents before a grapple or to inflict further pain after a grapple. Grappling an opponent can lead to Irish whips, throws or other types of attacks. There are variations of these depending on the position of the opponent, and the way the buttons are pressed. A tap of the button will produce a softer type of move, while holding the button down will create a stronger type of move. The stronger type moves require more momentum, are harder to perform, and can be more prone to reversals. Each move can be reversed or countered, although it will require some skill to do this.

As with most 'Big' games, once the meter is filled a more explosive and powerful move can be performed. Depending on the health of your opponent, the special move can either KO your opponent or decrease his health meter quite a bit. Of course the downside of this is that your opponents also have access to these special moves, and often a match will be lost if they are allowed to perform one.

Graphically the game is excellent with a large cartoony style that is characteristic of other games in the 'Big' series. All of the male characters are large and well muscled, even the Def Jam artists who seem to have gone through quite a transformation from real life. The female characters have not fared so well, though. While looking good in the cut-scenes, once they switch to the in-game fighting they seem more like elongated stick figures. A better portrayal, such as using Elise from SSX, would have been preferable.

The arenas the game is played in are well done each adding to the underground nature of the game. None of the arenas changes the actual gameplay though. Each ring is surrounded by a small playable area, with the rest of the arena inaccessible by the player. Unfortunately the playable area is not very interactive as there is no useable weapons or items. The ring ropes are interactive but it would have been nice to be able to use the environment more, such as whipping a player into steps or the ring post.

The music in the game is excellent with all of the featured Def Jam artists providing tracks, some of which are exclusive to the game. It all adds to the underground fighting atmosphere that DJV lives in. Even if hip-hop is not your thing, the soundtrack and the game seem like a natural fit.