Hands-on: Final WCW Mayhem

Both versions of WCW Mayhem were on hand today at an Electronic Arts event held Monday morning in San Francisco. The N64 version of Mayhem we were told was finished, while the PlayStation version was about 80 percent complete. We spent some time playing both versions and here's what we found.

The wrestlers themselves on the N64 look a little smoother and more realistic, while the wrestlers in the PlayStation version look a bit more boxy and polygonal.

Ring entrances are pretty straightforward: the announcer says the wrestler's name, fizzy pyrotechnics erupt, and the wrestlers pose a bit to make their way to the ring.

Each wrestler has a bar that gains colored bars with the accumulation of damage. The colored bars go away when that wrestler isn't getting hit. Once the bar is full the wrestler can be pinned. The action in and outside of the ring with this energy set up keeps the matches going for awhile. The control seemed pretty good although at times the wrestlers seemed to have trouble connecting punches and kicks that otherwise looked as though the should have landed.

At anytime during the match you can jump out of the ring and head toward the exit. When we exited the arena we ended up in the parking garage. The action for the first ten seconds was shown in black and white from a fixed view with the words, “security camera” in the corner. After ten seconds or so, the camera view changes back to normal. The normal camera view is quite dynamic - it moves in close and pans around the wrestlers when one of them is performing a choke hold.

Both versions of WCW Mayhem are currently slated for a September 25 release.