Post by steve on Nov 11, 2008 13:00:36 GMT -5
All reviews are based off a personal opinion, your opinion may vary
CAREER MODE
Equivalent to Season & GM Mode at once, this year YOU get to pick what matches you want to be in and what the rules are. But unlike last year, you can't buy stats because you're too busy earning them. At the start of the Career Mode, if you're using a CAS, you start out at that 35 Overall rating that you always do, and you begin on the mid-card side of your show (Raw is the start for any free agents).
As you start off, you compete in a number of matches to get enough stars to push you to the championship match. Over the course of time, you get your #1 Contenders match and a "Special Match" that it wil be competed in. When you beat that contender's match you will be granted the right to use that match whenever you want in the Career Mode.
After the matches, you figure out your Star Rating for the previous match, and you find out which sections of yours stats you had increase. On the right of your stats are little in-game awards you unlock, which are good things because they lead to you finding out which abilities you get. For example, if you continue to go for the taunting awards, you become a Fan Favorite and get a bigger boost off of a the crowd cheering your taunts.
The area you hang out in isn't a locker room, hell it's not even a room for that matter. You are locked in the privacy of your own private jet where you can check your stats, your awards, mail, and decide who you want to fight next. The object of the Career mode is to simply capture all the gold and win "the biggest match of your career on the grandest stage of them all," as the boys say.
Storylines in this Career mode seem to be invisible, because there are no cut scenes or anything to tell you what's going on. Basically, you're an Indy wrestler in the big leagues.
Career Rating: 7.5/10 - Good, needs improvement.
ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA
In Road to WrestleMania, you can pick between a select few of characters or the one tag team in Rey Mysterio & Batista. Only in the tag team can you access the Multiplayer Story Mode that gamers have wanted for the longest time. And no matter what good can be said about this, you will hear nothing but bad from me.
First, why is there a seperate season mode instead of just letting us choose to go by ourselves or with a partner?
Second, after all these years of wanting two player storymode, and you only give us THREE MONTHS to play, which totals to about twelve matches which can be won in a matter of 3 hours?
And lastly, WHERE'S MIZ AND MORRISON? The two people who spent most of the last year with THQ on how to make this game aren't even the playable characters for the story mode?
The only reason worth doing Road to Wrestlemania Story Mode is to unlock the unlockables. So far, I've unlocked the WCW Brand and Rey's alternate costume via Jericho's RTW and Batista/Rey RTW respectively.
Road to Wrestlemania Rating: 5/10 - Needs major improvement.
CREATE A FINISHER
This is without a shadow of a doubt, the best new feature of the game, followed by Highlight Reel. In this feature you can Create Your Own Finisher and give it to any superstar you see fit. Although it is a limited number of actions, the possibilities are still endless.
In this feature you can choose up to 10 types on animations that combine to make your finisher. After you create it, you can give it one of the pre-assigned names, which announcers will call out, OR you can give it one of your own names, which the announcers will simply identify as "Nice Finisher."
Create A Finisher Rating: 10/10 - Excellent
HIGHLIGHT REEL
Move over Jericho, it's MY TURN to host the Highlight Reel. This feature allows you to save replays and make them into a video cap of the awesome match that just went down.
The only draw backs about this is that (A) The time frame of the recap is too short and (B) You can only edit clips from the same match. Either way, you can still do a lot of shit to make the recap seem like a real Raw Rebound.
Highlight Reel Rating: 95./10 - Minor dislikes
INFERNO MATCH
With the best new game feature, comes the best new Match Type, the Inferno Match. The ring is surrounded by flames which go up to 300*F, and the object is to set your opponent on fire. This match is so great that I've played it a total of 10 times already.
The match seems just like a real one, the longer you are in it then the harder it is to continue due to the flames burning the ozone. And the hotter the flames, the hotter the ropes, which will limit the Cruiserweights to what they can do.
Unlike the RTW, I can't come up with anything bad about this match, so I'm not going to try.
Inferno Match Rating: 10/10 - Excellent
IMPROVED TAG TEAM MATCHES
Hot Tags, Team Finishers, More Team Moves, Illegal Man Playrights, and so much more make the Tag Match my second favorite match on the game. With the enhanced AI, the tag matches go on for at least 5 minutes, and that's if you're good at them.
Starting with being the legal man. Your opponents will do everything in the book to distract you, and you have no choice but to sit there and take it, unless your partner helps you. But it's not all bad, as you can use your partner to your advantage by having him distract the ref, pull down the top rope to send your opponent over board, or you can have him hold the opponent while you take the time to deliver closed punches to his ribs, and when you're done having fun you can lend the spare time to your partner.
While on the apron, you could do everything your partner could, including pounding on the turnbuckle to get your Bloody Red partner to make a hot tag which triggers a two button mini-game that you must get correct to perform the hot tag correctly.
All in all this is a great add on to what used to be the worst feature in the Smackdown franchise.
Improved Tag Team Matches Rating: 10/10 - Excellent
OVERALL REVIEW
This game is great way to develop your dream pro-wrestler. It comes with everything a wrestling fan/gamer can wish for. Though there are rooms for improvement, especially in RTW, this is a great game. I highly recommend not only playing, but buying this game. It's not only a great single player game, but a party favorite as well... Even to the most negative wrestling critics ever.
Overall Rating: 9.5 - Rework the RTW and it's perfect.
CAREER MODE
Equivalent to Season & GM Mode at once, this year YOU get to pick what matches you want to be in and what the rules are. But unlike last year, you can't buy stats because you're too busy earning them. At the start of the Career Mode, if you're using a CAS, you start out at that 35 Overall rating that you always do, and you begin on the mid-card side of your show (Raw is the start for any free agents).
As you start off, you compete in a number of matches to get enough stars to push you to the championship match. Over the course of time, you get your #1 Contenders match and a "Special Match" that it wil be competed in. When you beat that contender's match you will be granted the right to use that match whenever you want in the Career Mode.
After the matches, you figure out your Star Rating for the previous match, and you find out which sections of yours stats you had increase. On the right of your stats are little in-game awards you unlock, which are good things because they lead to you finding out which abilities you get. For example, if you continue to go for the taunting awards, you become a Fan Favorite and get a bigger boost off of a the crowd cheering your taunts.
The area you hang out in isn't a locker room, hell it's not even a room for that matter. You are locked in the privacy of your own private jet where you can check your stats, your awards, mail, and decide who you want to fight next. The object of the Career mode is to simply capture all the gold and win "the biggest match of your career on the grandest stage of them all," as the boys say.
Storylines in this Career mode seem to be invisible, because there are no cut scenes or anything to tell you what's going on. Basically, you're an Indy wrestler in the big leagues.
Career Rating: 7.5/10 - Good, needs improvement.
ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA
In Road to WrestleMania, you can pick between a select few of characters or the one tag team in Rey Mysterio & Batista. Only in the tag team can you access the Multiplayer Story Mode that gamers have wanted for the longest time. And no matter what good can be said about this, you will hear nothing but bad from me.
First, why is there a seperate season mode instead of just letting us choose to go by ourselves or with a partner?
Second, after all these years of wanting two player storymode, and you only give us THREE MONTHS to play, which totals to about twelve matches which can be won in a matter of 3 hours?
And lastly, WHERE'S MIZ AND MORRISON? The two people who spent most of the last year with THQ on how to make this game aren't even the playable characters for the story mode?
The only reason worth doing Road to Wrestlemania Story Mode is to unlock the unlockables. So far, I've unlocked the WCW Brand and Rey's alternate costume via Jericho's RTW and Batista/Rey RTW respectively.
Road to Wrestlemania Rating: 5/10 - Needs major improvement.
CREATE A FINISHER
This is without a shadow of a doubt, the best new feature of the game, followed by Highlight Reel. In this feature you can Create Your Own Finisher and give it to any superstar you see fit. Although it is a limited number of actions, the possibilities are still endless.
In this feature you can choose up to 10 types on animations that combine to make your finisher. After you create it, you can give it one of the pre-assigned names, which announcers will call out, OR you can give it one of your own names, which the announcers will simply identify as "Nice Finisher."
Create A Finisher Rating: 10/10 - Excellent
HIGHLIGHT REEL
Move over Jericho, it's MY TURN to host the Highlight Reel. This feature allows you to save replays and make them into a video cap of the awesome match that just went down.
The only draw backs about this is that (A) The time frame of the recap is too short and (B) You can only edit clips from the same match. Either way, you can still do a lot of shit to make the recap seem like a real Raw Rebound.
Highlight Reel Rating: 95./10 - Minor dislikes
INFERNO MATCH
With the best new game feature, comes the best new Match Type, the Inferno Match. The ring is surrounded by flames which go up to 300*F, and the object is to set your opponent on fire. This match is so great that I've played it a total of 10 times already.
The match seems just like a real one, the longer you are in it then the harder it is to continue due to the flames burning the ozone. And the hotter the flames, the hotter the ropes, which will limit the Cruiserweights to what they can do.
Unlike the RTW, I can't come up with anything bad about this match, so I'm not going to try.
Inferno Match Rating: 10/10 - Excellent
IMPROVED TAG TEAM MATCHES
Hot Tags, Team Finishers, More Team Moves, Illegal Man Playrights, and so much more make the Tag Match my second favorite match on the game. With the enhanced AI, the tag matches go on for at least 5 minutes, and that's if you're good at them.
Starting with being the legal man. Your opponents will do everything in the book to distract you, and you have no choice but to sit there and take it, unless your partner helps you. But it's not all bad, as you can use your partner to your advantage by having him distract the ref, pull down the top rope to send your opponent over board, or you can have him hold the opponent while you take the time to deliver closed punches to his ribs, and when you're done having fun you can lend the spare time to your partner.
While on the apron, you could do everything your partner could, including pounding on the turnbuckle to get your Bloody Red partner to make a hot tag which triggers a two button mini-game that you must get correct to perform the hot tag correctly.
All in all this is a great add on to what used to be the worst feature in the Smackdown franchise.
Improved Tag Team Matches Rating: 10/10 - Excellent
OVERALL REVIEW
This game is great way to develop your dream pro-wrestler. It comes with everything a wrestling fan/gamer can wish for. Though there are rooms for improvement, especially in RTW, this is a great game. I highly recommend not only playing, but buying this game. It's not only a great single player game, but a party favorite as well... Even to the most negative wrestling critics ever.
Overall Rating: 9.5 - Rework the RTW and it's perfect.