WWE Wrestlemania 21
The Xbox has the worst luck with wrestling games.
Tags: WWE Wrestlemania 21 Categories: Reviews, Xbox Reviews
Posted by David Hinkle on May 31st, 2005
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| WWE Wrestlemania 21 (title page) | 1 - 2 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Wrestling | No | ||
Microsoft just can’t seem to get a break with a playable wrestling game on the Xbox. Raw and Raw 2 both bombed miserably, and for good reason, as they had countless problems from both a play and technical side. THQ tries to right these wrongs with WWE Wrestlemania XXI, but all they manage to do is dig the hole deeper. It’s a small demographic to cater to, so considering how unbelievable atrocious this title, and its predecessors were, it’s about time to call it quits on the Xbox.
 |
 |
Arguably, the pinnacle of wrestling games were those on the N64. As a gamer, I dumped many hours into my favorite of the bunch (WCW/NWO: Revenge). Coming from that perspective, it’s amazing to see the shift in approach to wrestling titles, whether its the Smackdown! series or Wrestlemania games on both the Game Cube and Xbox. Not amazing in a positive way, but much like comparing the newer Star Wars prequels to the original classics.
 |
Ok, now that I’ve gotten off track and rambled for no reason, let’s get to why this game is going to get the low score it will (trust me, it’ll be low, but don’t scroll down – read on). Wrestlemania XXI holds just about every match you’ve seen on TV through exhibition mode (playable on LIVE!), a career mode, and a create-a-wrestler mode (which you have to go through before starting career mode). All the types of matches you can participate in are staggering, but seeing as how the gameplay itself is so stunted, and blisteringly unplayable, it’s all for naught.
 |
Control in the game is set up ideally on the controller, with a strike button, grapple (tapping or holding the button vary the damage), and two counter buttons. Using all of these functions is a coin toss though, as you’ll find several times you are in the ideal position to place a grapple or land a strike only to have it have no effect. This is also hindered by the poor animation for each wrestler, which seems to give them small openings of invincibility. For example, a wrestler can staggeringly rise from the mat after a serious slam or powerful strike, and without fail there is a small window upon which your punch or reach for a grapple will just go right through your opponent, giving them their own window to successfully strike or grab you. This becomes more and more frustrating through play. As for countering, the game makes this a breeze by displaying a small icon next to your health bar whenever a counter is opportune. This is the only instance where the game consistently works. The animations for some of the counters are a bit lacking, but for the most part it gets the job done.
 |
As for the career mode, it’s a series of matches against various wrestlers as you climb the WWE ladder to the top. Presentation-wise, the game works, adding to the whole soap opera aspect of it all in a series of locker room arguements and behind-the-scenes conflicts. There isn’t too much ingenuity here, however, as pretty much anyone your wrestler comes in contact with during these cutscenes is your next opponent or one you’ll end up wrestling soon thereafter. All the dialogue is voiced by each WWE wrestler’s real-life counterpart, which is an added bonus, but considering just how wooden or ridiculously over-the-top each wrestler approaches it, text would of been better in the long run – it worked before (if barely).
Play through Xbox LIVE! is an intense exercise in extreme futility, as about 80% of the time you won’t be able to connect. When you do get through though, you’ll find the same buggy play, in some cases compounded by severe lag. When you think about it though, you’ll be so let down by the single player game that taking it online really won’t be an afterthought. Of course, should you be the type of person who either enjoys pain or has an extreme tolerance of, you’ll have little luck in finding opponents to take on.
 |
 |
Graphically, the game looks nice, both in its arenas and its wrestlers. The models of the wrestlers look well, with accurate bulging of muscles and soft sheen of sweat. While the models look good, they do not animate well, outside of facial expressions. The volume of clipping problems the wrestlers have don’t help here, as it’s quite often you’ll see forearms protrude through abdomens and disappear through the mat only to return unscathed. The arenas have nice contours, and look nice, especially during the wrestler entrances, which include a lot of cool pyrotechnics.
 |
So the Xbox gets another wrestling game that doesn’t pass the entry exam. Given how bad Raw and Raw 2 were, it’s natural to assume wrestling fans would think this would be a better game, but on a lot of levels this game is in fact worse. THQ should be ashamed at not delivering a game that Xbox gamers have been promised since the console’s launch. At the core, the grappling engine is what dictates whether a wrestling title is worth your time or not, and here it’s the absolute worst part of the title. Stay away folks, you’d have more fun staring at a blank screen.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
The graphics are nice enough. |
4.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
Everything else that would make this game playable. |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| Something sinister, birthed from the pits of hell to taint the souls of the good. Or, you know, a really bad game. | |
[ Post the first comment | View related posts ]
Tags: WWE Wrestlemania 21
Posted by David Hinkle on May 31st, 2005 and is filed under Reviews, Xbox Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
