Lots of damage n’ body slammage!
Pro-wrestling is one of the strangests beasts in the field of entertainment. It lies in a gray area where it is considered a niche product with no respect from mainstream outlets yet it manages to sell out gigantic stadiums like MSG. That being said, the pro-wrestling industry and video games have a long and shared history, dating all the way back to the 1980s. WWE would debut Micro-Wrestling in 1989 – from there the floodgates opened and there was no turning back. Year after year we would get a new release from them. It all culminated in 2007, 14-year-old me was obsessed with wrestling and I would watch it every week. WWE had just released Smackdown Vs Raw 2007, and for lack of a better word, I was PUMPED. It had ALL my favorites: Kane, Undertaker, The Boogeyman and more. Saving up my allowance money, I hoofed it over to Gamestop, bought it, and was so hyped by the tagline on the box, “Don’t just watch it…. LIVE IT!”
As stated above, this is a pro-wrestling title, which essentially is a subset of fighting games. Your run of the match will have you pitted against an opponent and you must pin them or force them into submission. Simple enough, you will have your standard 1v1, but this game is PACKED to the brim with different modes. “Handicap” matches- 1v2 or more, “Hardcore” matches- bludgeon your opponent with an array of weapons, or my personal favorite, “Hell in a Cell” – a 20 foot fence change with all sorts of opportunities for mayhem. Another mode included is General Manager mode, where you book matches and storylines and see how it plays out in the ratings. Honestly, this was the mode I played the least, it’s pretty confusing and kind of boring. However, you can plug in two controllers which makes it go by twice as fast, and also you will be rewarded with unlimited XP for your wrestlers afterwards. The main attraction is the game’s career mode, which functions as the campaign. It’s surprisingly well-written and paced. You can pick any wrestler of your choosing and fight your way to win the World Heavyweight Championship. It has a plethora of twists, turns and surprises to keep the player engaged.
Bar none, my favorite feature in this is the “Create A Wrestler”. The customization is very extensive and you can pretty much create some of the coolest and slickest or woefully absurd wrestling characters you can think of. I would spend HOURS creating wrestlers, their entrances, and tag teams. Speaking of customization, you can take pre-existing wrestlers and alter their move set to your liking. You can take someone like Big Show or Great Khali and give them the move set of Rey Mysterio or RVD. Seeing someone over 7ft perform a flying kick or a 619 will never not be hysterical.
All that being said, this game is fun but it is FAR from polished. I dare say from a technical standpoint this is one of the clunkiest and awkward games I have ever played. The standard combos of pre-existing wrestlers is generally ok enough, but when you customize your own combo it really shows its jankiness. The first hit from your combo will push out of range making it impossible to land the rest. The hit detection is extremely shoddy and you can literally be right in front of the opponent and miss a chair shot. Trying to land a high flying move is very frustrating. There is no indication of if you’re in range to land your hit, you basically have to eyeball it. Running in this game is hilariously awkward – you press triangle to run, however you can not change directions once you’ve started running. You have to run, stop, turn and run again, making the matches look and play goofy as all hell. The commentary for the matches are solid enough performances but it quickly becomes very repetitive and hilariously nonsensical. Commentators will talk about wrestlers who aren’t in the match, moves that weren’t performed and reversals when both characters are completely still.
Regardless of its shortcomings, this is one of the most entertainingly broken games I have ever played. I wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s a goofy and absurd experience just like the actual product of which it’s based. There is more than enough here to warrant a playthrough. I dare say this is an example of quantity over quality done right. Step into the squared circle, pin your opponent and make your way to the championship.
OOOOOoooo yeaaaah!!!
Fil
Verdict: 6/10