 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |
Navigation
menu
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Do You Smell What THQ is Cookin'? Apparently, many of you gamers out there do. THQ's WWF WrestleMania 2000 is one of the hottest selling games on the market, and, according to many fans out there, "the best damn wrestling game there ever was." WM 2000 features over 50 WWF Superstars, thousands of moves and taunts, enhanced wrestler entrances, and a Create-A-Wrestler option that can lay the smack down on any other wrestling game's any day of the week, twice on Sundays. Want more details? IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU WANT MORE DETAILS! But seeing as how this is the People's website, and I am the People's Reviewer, The Eric says that he'll give you exactly what you want - more details. As far as graphics are concerned, WM2K is as good as it gets. Wrestler faces are easily recognizable and movement is fast and smooth. One of only two drawbacks The Eric sees as far as graphics are concerned is the part of any sports (or in this case, "sports-entertainment") game that is always lacking - the crowd. If you were actually paying attention to the crowd, you'd swear that you saw the same damn ugly guy holding up the same damn boring sign sitting and cheering all over the place and you'd be right. The other drawback is the poor quality of the Titan-Tron entrance videos but hey, at least they have them, right? Everything else, however, from X-Pac's "Suck It" sequence to Shawn Michaels' fireworks entrance, leaves little to complain about. WM2K features the same basic gameplay as past THQ wrestling games, such as WCW/nWo Revenge and WCW vs. the World. While this may be disappointing to fans of the WWF Attitude and WWF Warzone gameplay, it is still very easy to learn and far less complex. There is no need to memorize any button combinations and no need to search the Internet to learn how to do a wrestler's special move (although if there were, you can bet that you'd find those moves here at VGH *wink, wink*). However, this does not at all take away from the VAST variety of moves each wrestler can perform. Each wrestler can perform about 20 moves from the standard front grapple alone, and that's just the beginning. There are still back grapples, Irish whips, turnbuckle grapples, apron grapples, a variety of kicks and punches, top rope moves, and more. Don't get me wrong though, each wrestler also has about 4 of the same basic moves that everyone else has. Despite this, unless you're playing against a five-year old or Joe Bungford, you won't see the same move over and over and over again. When it comes to music, there's good news and there's bad news. The bad news is that in The Eric's opinion, the music is the weakest part of the game. The good news is that the music still isn't that bad. What bothers The Eric is that the same 2 tracks of background music during a match can get very repetitive. Thankfully though, the music is fast-paced and fits the action well. Another saving quality to the music department of WM2K is that it features the authentic music of each WWF Superstar. From D-Lo Brown to Degeneration X, it's all there. Some entrance themes, such as Degeneration X and D-Lo Brown, even have lyrics. One big negative, however, is that some of the wrestlers' entrance themes are a bit outdated. Test's and the Hardy Boyz' current music, both of which kick proverbial buttocks, are absent from the game in favor of their earlier themes, which, quite frankly, are a bit lame (especially Test's!). With or without Test's crappy theme music, the game still has great replay value. You can create-a-belt to defend against your closest buddies, enemies, or gold-digging girlfriend in hours of intense competition. There's also a year-long Road to WrestleMania mode that can keep you occupied on the same career for days or weeks, depending on how much you play. Add to that the fact that there are over 50 Superstars, not including created wrestlers, with whom to choose from, and you've got yourself a game that takes very long to get bored of. Speaking of the Road to WrestleMania mode, WM2K features something very common to modern-day professional wrestling but innovate to modern-day professional wrestling games: the Interview. Sure, the repetition of the same 3 or 4 interviews can get tiring after awhile, but it's much more realistic and is great for setting up grudges. This mic work occurs after a wrestler interferes in one of your career matches, and is fun to watch for the first few times. If you're lucky, (well, unlucky, depending on how you look at it) Vince McMahon himself will walk down to the ring with a Superstar of his choice and strip your wrestler of the WWF Title! An interesting interview sequence follows and then leaves you to fight your way back to the top. Cool, ain't it? Yeah, but it can get extremely annoying if you never get a chance to win the title back and are left with a "Please Try Again" condolence message at the end of your career. Another great feature of WM2K: You DON'T need a Controller Pak. You can create more than 10 wrestlers, you can change any existing wrestlers' name or appearance, you can do up to 3 Careers and 3 PPV's, and you can create belts, all without the use of a Controller Pak. What happens if your going to a friend's house and want to use your created wrestler or defend your created belt? Simple. WM2K gives you the option of saving data onto a Controller Pak in case any of those situations arise. What's missing from Wrestlemania 2000? Well, it would be nice to be able to fight backstage every once in awhile (ala EA's WCW Mayhem). It would also be nice if there were a table or two laying near the ring for you to break along with your opponent's spine (ala Acclaim's Attitude and Warzone). And, it wouldn't hurt to add a little more gameplay options, such as 1-on-1-on-1-on-1 or cage matches with more than 2 competitors (again, ala WWF Attitude). However, whatever these other games lack, WM2K picks up the slack on. If you're a wrestling fan, this is an absolute MUST have. If you're not, it's still one hell of a game and more fun than a barrel full of monkey piss. Additional Media:
Image
1
|
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||
