WWE WrestleMania 21 (XBX) Reviews

IGN's WWE WrestleMania 21 (XBX) Review

http://xbox.ign.com/articles/606/606033p1.html

WrestleMania 21
The WWE has returned to the Xbox, but was it worth the wait?
by David Clayman

April 19, 2005 - Compared to the PS2, Xbox owners have had slim pickings when it comes to WWE wrestling games. This is especially odd considering that when the system launched Bill Gates was joined by the Brahma Bull himself. While the PS2-exclusive SmackDown! series has continued to evolve with each yearly installment, Xbox owners have been left with Acclaim's lackluster Legends series and the older RAW games.

I had hoped that all this would change with the announcement of WrestleMania 21 by Studio Gigante. With highly detailed player models and motion captured animation, the game started to visually shine early in its development cycle. If it could match the accessibility and gameplay options of SmackDown!, wrestling fans would have themselves a treat. Looks however, can be deceiving. While WrestleMania 21 has the outward appearance of a champion, it plays like a 98-pound weakling.

This is Studio Gigante's first attempt at a wrestling game, so it hasn't had the benefit of missteps and fan reactions like the WWE franchise on PS2. They did, however, have the opportunity to harness the power of the Xbox to wow gamers with a realistic presentation and smooth online play. For some people, these two factors alone will be enough to sell them on the title, but hiding beneath the surface, there are a number of gameplay issues.

Simple Control
The controls in WrestleMania are amazingly easy to get the hang of. The A button enacts a quick grapple and submission grapples are mapped to the B button. Strikes such as punches, kicks, head butts, and crotch shots, are performed by hitting X along with the directional pad or analog stick. Most environmental interactions are handled through the use of the L trigger. This includes climbing turnbuckles, getting on top of tables, and climbing in and out of the ring. There is also the option to run, pick up weapons, initiate an Irish Whip, and call for outside interference when the conditions are right. Like most wrestling games, each character has a stamina meter that determines their ability to stay on their feet. Under this is a heat bar that fills up with each successful attack, broken submissions, or taunts. Maximum heat enables a wrestler to perform their special move by tapping A and B at the same time. The system is about as simple as it gets, and can really be picked up by anyone, wrestling buff or not.

The grappling would be too simplistic if not for the countering system. There are two types of counters, one for grapple moves, and one for strikes and they are assigned to the left and right triggers respectively. With each move, a small blue icon appears next to the wrestler's name that indicates the opportunity to perform a reversal. Depending on a character's stats, they will have more time to pull off one of these moves. Like basic combat, the system is easy to get the hang of and after a few rounds players will be reversing almost every grapple, and many of the strikes. On the harder difficulty settings the indicator for reversals is removed and leaves it up to the gamer to get the timing right. For every counter there is also a unique animation, which really shows off the game's slick motion capture work.

So far I've described the makings of a decent, if rather basic wrestling game. However, as soon as two WWE superstars face off, problems emerge from behind the game's gleaming façade. The first bump in the road has to do with collision detection. In early builds of the game, wrestlers would bump invisible objects, and stagger through each other when more than two people occupied the ring. These problems have been addressed, but not fixed. This is mostly frustrating when going for dives, aerial attacks, or slams to characters on the ground. The game decides that characters are "up" almost as soon as they begin to rise from the mat. This causes a discrepancy between when it looks like players can drop on a downed character, and when it actually connects. Missing with an elbow drop doesn't just result in a bruised ego; it causes your character to writhe in pain for a few seconds leaving him vulnerable to a rebuttal. This adds injury to insult, and makes the collision error endlessly irritating.

Speaking of mat strikes, many of them can be endlessly linked to quickly drain a wrestler's stamina. On the easier difficulty levels this works in favor of the player. It is possible to land successive elbow drops on an opponent that doesn't have time to get up or roll out of the way. On harder difficulty settings, the problem works against players, especially when taking on a submission artist. It takes so long to rise from the mat, that by the time your wrestler begins to shake off a hit, he's already been placed in another hold. This type of game-breaker used to occur all the time in older wrestling games, but is inexcusable in modern releases.

The motion-captured animation turns out to be a gift and a curse in WrestleMania. Players move realistically, but in many situations the movements feel far too sluggish. The benefit of non-motion-captured animation is that certain moves can be sped up to better jive with the game play. Wrestling games typically move slower than straight up fighters but recent trends have been pushing the genre towards more action oriented pacing. WrestleMania feels like a step backward in this respect.

Another area that falls short of the current benchmark for games in this genre is the opponent A.I. In a simple face-off, the computer acts normally, with an assortment of grapples, strikes, and special moves. However, as soon as another variable is added to the equation, strange things start to happen. This first became apparent in career mode when a third wrestler entered the arena and teamed up with my opponent. While one character continued to fight, the extra wrestler circled the ring aimlessly until the match ended. Another example of poor A.I. can be found in the tag-team TLC matches. Computer controlled team members not only hit each other with objects, they routinely topple the ladder just as their teammate is going for the win. When smashing an opponent through a table, the player doesn't break through the object, instead it simply lowers into the matt and disappears. The list of broken parts continues. Individually, they wouldn't lower the score by much, but taken as a whole the game feels very rough around the edges.

Another complaint likely to come from WWE fans concerning this game is the outdated roster. There are 45 wrestlers in total, including five legends and six divas. But it's disappointing that they include someone like Val Venus while Billy Kidman and La Resistance are nowhere in sight. There are two wrestlers who are no longer with the WWE on the list, but most of the title matches from the real WrestleMania 21 can be re-created within the game.

Create A Wrestler
The create-a-wrestler option is one of the most comprehensive features in the game. It includes an impressive list of customization options for a wrestler's appearance and skill set. The costumes are broken down into 11 separate categories like head, pants, and shoes. Each option has its own set of subcategories. So if you decide to go shirtless, another menu pops up offering accessories like tattoos, jewelry, and pads. Players are able to choose a nickname, their hometown, an area of expertise, weight class, skin tone, and some very specific facial features. Some players may find themselves spending a good day adjusting the width of their character's jaw and the color of their eyes. For a more in-depth look at the create-a-wrestler feature, take a look at our "Building a Legend" features parts one through three.

Having such a large assortment of options is nice, but the menu system is clunky. Instead of previewing each item as it is selected, players have to choose the item and view it separately. Eventually, popping in and out of these menus became so tedious that it wasn't worth the trouble of adding extra details to the character. This holds true for every menu system in the game. While most of them are easier to navigate than the character customization screen, they all have an ugly metallic quality.

Players can also pick their wrestler's move set, taunts, and entrance style from a list that includes every character in the game. The entrance music can be selected from a custom soundtrack, making for some pretty personalized and cool looking presentations before a match. There are also some unlockable entrance options like pyrotechnics, crowd signs, and videos that can be purchased with cash gained in the career mode.

One nice touch is a realistic weight class system that determines a wrestler's style. The larger characters like Big Show can't be tossed around by a smaller contender like Ray Mysterio. If you mistakenly try to lift a heavyweight, the attacking wrestler will strain under the weight and leave themselves open to counter attacks. Like other wrestling games, these rules apply to a limited move set and really only effect a few aerial maneuvers.

The career mode for create-a-wrestler entails a single storyline that remains the same each time you play through. In Smackdown vs. Raw the divergent pathways of career mode were sacrificed for higher production value, and it looks like WrestleMania has received the same treatment. Here Comes the Pain had the option to travel to new venues in between matches which resulted in branching storylines. This resulted in a deeper single player experience and a reason to play through the season multiple times. Instead, after each match there is a short cut scene that moves the story along and if players lose a match, there is simply the option to retry or quit. The career mode has all of the double crosses, back stabbings, and backstage beat downs that one would expect from the plot lines of the WWE, but after one play through it doesn't offer any surprises.

The career begins on common ground. The custom character is fresh out of development and is more than ready for the big time. There are a few "gimme" matches before interesting variables like interference, TLC matches, and tag team bouts are thrown into the mix. Without revealing any spoilers, the story line gets a lot more interesting as it progresses through the 52 matches that make up a year of kicking ass in the WWE.

There are a respectable assortment of match types in the game, including last man standing, TLC, and everyone's favorite: the bra-and-panty match. Four players can battle in multiplayer mode, and the game only seems to be able to handle four characters at any given time. The match types all translate to the Xbox Live experience except for the Royal Rumble which does not fit the four player format. Online play feels just as smooth as multiplayer on the same console. Of course it also suffers from all the same gameplay problems as the single-player experience. The offline tournaments include an option to create a championship, complete with a fully customizable belt. The online mode is based around the more common setup in which players are ranked by how many times they have successfully defended their title.

Like Studio Gigante's other Xbox effort, Tao Feng: Fist of the Lotus, this game has excellent character models. Each superstar is made up of more than 10,000 polygons, which is almost twice the number used on characters in PlayStation 2's Smackdown vs. Raw. Each wrestler looks almost exactly like their real-world counterpart, and the resemblance is only strengthened by the animations. My only complaint concerning the character models is that up-close they sometimes appear too shiny. This leads to a "plastic doll" effect which was also prevalent in Tao Feng.

Closing Comments
WrestleMania 21 is a mix of high quality visuals and frustrating, flawed gameplay. As PS2 editor and wrestling nut Jeremy Dunham is fond of saying, at the end of the day, gameplay is king. Even with the smooth online matches, motion-captured animations, and detailed entrance segments, the game quickly reveals itself as all glitz and little substance, not to mention the serious A.I. problems.

The most positive aspect of this game is the potential that lies within. A wrestling game with the looks and online options of WrestleMania 21 and the gameplay of SmackDown! vs. Raw could easily make a run for the title. Unfortunately, this is not that game.

IGN's Ratings for WWE WrestleMania 21 (Xbox)

Presentation > 7.5 : The intros and special moves are spot-on. The menu system is difficult to navigate and the game chugs during transitions.

Graphics > 8.5 : The player models are exceptional and animations are very realistic. This is one good-looking game.

Sound > 6.0 : Official wrestler themes and custom soundtracks counteract the outdated licensed music and poor voice-over work.

Gameplay > 5.0 : The grappling system feels frustrating even with the addition of counters. This is due to the numerous issues concerning poor A.I. and collision detection.

Lasting Appeal > 6.5 : There are a good number of gameplay modes and there is also online play, but these are both negated by the disturbing gameplay issues.

OVERALL > 6.0(out of 10 / not an average)

6 out of 10. PS2 Fanboy that reviewer is. I knew it ever since he decided not to update the vids of WM 21. Even if it is bad, if it is better than Raw 2, I am getting it

I believe Gamespot also gave it a 6/10 (correct me if I'm wrong) It could just be that the game is bad...Idunno. It looks better than RAW 2 though, so if you liked that, then this is your game here.wwervin

Gamespot's review isn't up yet. But guess what kiddies? the version of Wrestlemania XXI you can buy today's online DOES NOT WORK. Don't believe me check this out

[QUOTE="wwervin"]I believe Gamespot also gave it a 6/10 (correct me if I'm wrong) It could just be that the game is bad...Idunno. It looks better than RAW 2 though, so if you liked that, then this is your game here.The_Dude14

Gamespot's review isn't up yet. But guess what kiddies? the version of Wrestlemania XXI you can buy today's online DOES NOT WORK. Don't believe me check this out

:shock: What!?

GamingRing's WWE WrestleMania 21 (XBX) Exclusive Review #1

http://www.gamingring.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000366#000000

by Mike Regan

There hasn't been a wrestling game that has been dissected and covered like WrestleMania 21 for the X-Box. GamingRing.com has covered the game perhaps better then any other website on the net. With that said GamingRing.com presents you the comprehensive review of the game.

The first thing you notice when you put WrestleMania 21 in your X-Box is how freaking awesome the game looks. Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to the next generation. The game especially looks nice in high definition. With the high definition av adapter the game runs at 480p. The character models are some of the very best seen on the console and the atmosphere in the arenas also just happen to be the very best seen in any sports games especially with the lighting and the overall atmosphere of the arenas. With the entrances, WrestleMania 21 has some hits and misses however, while the graphics are outstanding there are some presentation defects that will cause some aggravation for the hardcore fans. And if your reading this at this website your a hardcore fan. For example, pyro technics, some ring outfits and some animations are off and not true to real life which the game tries to capture.

One of the disappointments for me was the licensed music tracks that THQ picked. It's essentially the same soundtrack they have used since WWE Day of Reckoning this past August which they then reused with WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW. I do wish there was some more variety on the selection of music tracks or the ability to use your own music for the games soundtrack. The voice-overs were a major disappointment with WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW. And THQ and Studio Gigante took those to heart and delivered some of the best voice acting seen yet. Its a tremendous improvement over WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW. The game delivers all of the bone crushing slams, and the game features some of the best in-ring sounds heard yet in a wrestling game. The commentary, while much of it is recycled from WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW does feature some cool moments. Especially in the Career mode where the announcers actually mention what happened to your character the previous week.

WrestleMania 21 out of the three WWE games released this past year is the easiest to pick up and play. The pro-reversal system is without a doubt the best seen in a wrestling game. The pro-reversal system is intuitive but deep enough where it does take some time to master the timing. The more you play the game and utilize the system the better you will be in the game. The A and B button is used as your grapple buttons that function as four different types of grapple depending on if you hold or tap the corresponding button. Weak if you tap, and strong if you hold down. And you can perform different moves using the 2 grapple buttons in conjunction with the directional pad. The Y button is used as a run button. X is your strike button. The left and right trigger is the pro-reversal button. At times when you press a grapple button it takes a while for the on-screen wrestler to perform the move. It also suffers with some sluggish and clunky animations especially when you throw your opponent to the turnbuckle. Which makes the game sluggish and frustrating, to some. Again that may be personal preference but it was a nagging point for me. Another issue I had with the gameplay was the lack of variety of moves per wrestler and some of the movesets that Studio Gigante gave to the superstars. For example,. Undertaker performing a jumping axe kick on his opponent. Another issue I have with this game is that the motion capturing in some cases is lack luster. I am especially disappointed with the Pedigree. One of the best features about SmackDown! vs. RAW and to a lesser extent WWE Day of Reckoning is the moves and the animations. With WrestleMania 21 the moves are hit and miss. Some of them look very good while others are horrible. And there are even some taunts and moves that are missing that really shouldn't be missing. Booker T's Spin-a-Roonie, for example. I realize it's a taunt but its such a important move for his character that it not being included in the game is just downright wrong. And as much as it sounds like I am dogging the gameplay and control I really had a good time playing this game. As I said before its very easy to pick up and play which is a good thing for some people. And I honestly feel that the real star of the game is the pro-reversal system and I really cant give that feature enough praise. Another feature I like that THQ and Studio Gigante added to the game is the different challenges you must complete in order to unlock the hidden legends, Alternate costumes, weapons and arenas and belt parts. This does add some great replay value to those who don't have X-Box Live.

The roster is actually pretty good in this game. There are some wrestlers that are in the game that don't even Wrestle for the WWE anymore and there are wrestlers who really should be in the game but are not for what ever reason. What does the WWE have against La Resistance? I like the inclusion of the legends but really I want more. More legends, and more time spent to actually capture their look and style and move set. If you have Bret Hart in the game he should wrestle as Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Otherwise, whats the point?

The Create-A-Superstar mode, for a first time effort by Studio Gigante, is commendable. However, the actual costume choices for your superstar are limited. While you may be able to capture a perfect replica of your favorite wrestlers face you would have a hard time creating his actual wrestling gear/pant. (Example Ultimate Warrior and Sting) Another flaw is that there really aren't enough entrances for your CAS. I especially liked the fact that they included some of the old school logos from WCW and ECW which is always appreciated. But there really should be more clothing options. I also dig the fact that they added the face paint of Demolition, and the Powers of Pain. I just think that we should have more variety and more options when it comes to costuming our CAS.

The Career mode is absolute blast and I feel that its the best Story/Career mode seen in a wrestling game. Studio Gigante did a tremendous job with the career mode. The story line while it doest branch is still entertaining and engaging. It feels like your watching the WWE on TV. And in some case it surpasses the story lines that we are fed every week on RAW and SmackDown!. The cutscenes are great I in particular liked the beatdown that Evolution gives to your character at SummerSlam when you win the US Title. There are some instances where logic flies out of the window a little bit too much for my taste. Come on, Eric Bischoff offering a one time match between Andre The Giant and your CAS. Andre RIP is dead. Eric Bischoff must really have pulled some strings to pull that match off.

The game does feature a huge assortment of modes and match types for WWE gamers to sink their teeth into. Pretty much all of the favorites are here, except of course the Elimination Chamber, but as I said, for a first time effort Studio Gigante did an admirable job with the match types. I did have some problems with the table match and the fact that there really is only 2 ways to put people through the tables. The DDT and the Pile Driver. I have tried repeatedly to fly off the top rope and land on my opponent to end the match but he always seemed to wake up and get off the table in time.

The online play which for many of you reading this is the number one reason why you're buying this title. All of the match types besides the Royal Rumble are in the game. And the game plays with a minimum of lag which is a blessing for those who had the misfortune to play WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW online. The real value on the X-Box live component of this game is the ability to talk smack over the X-Box communicator. And the fact that you can create your own belt and defend and earn prestige online even makes it better.

All in all, WrestleMania 21 is a good but flawed Wrestling game. I can easily recommend it over the other wrestling games released for the X-Box. The online play is really going to give this game serious replay value. And thats even despite some of the problems with the game play and the controls. Its a solid first time effort and worthy of a purchase. Studio Gigante has establish a viable platform for which they can base future WWE games on and should be recommended for the effort they put in this game. If you compare WrestleMania 21 with other first game efforts by other wrestling game developers I think you will see that while WrestleMania 21 isn't perfect that its still a worthy engine to base future games on.

(Editors Note) We do realize that there is a problem with the retail version of X-Box Live portion of the game. We will have more information as it becomes available. The X-Box Live portion of the game does work in the review build we received from THQ. Until you receive word from THQ on the status of the problem, I would suggest holding off picking up this game.


Mike Regan Score

Graphics - 9.0

Sound - 8.5

Controls - 7.0

Gameplay - 6.5

Roster - 7.0

Career Mode - 9.5

CAS Mode - 7.0

Replay Value - 9.0

Overall - 7.9 (not an average)


Charles Shane Score

Graphics - 9.0

Sound - 9.0

Controls - 7.4

Gameplay - 6.5

Roster - 8.0

Career Mode - 8.9

CAS Mode - 7.5

Replay Value - 9.0

Overall - 8.5 (not an average)


Stan Morris Score

Graphics - 8.0

Sound - 7.5

Controls - 4.0

Gameplay - 4.0

Roster - 7.5

Career Mode - 8.0

CAS Mode - 7.5

Replay Value - 8.0

Overall - 5.0 (not an average)

GameSpy's WWE WrestleMania 21 (XBX) Review

http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/wrestlemania-xxi/606295p1.html

THQ's third WWE title for X-Box breaks the mold for wrestling games on the platform, but is that a good thing?
by Justin Leeper

Pros
X-Box Live support; story mode has many positive attributes; plenty of voice-over talent.

Cons
Terrible collision; submission mechanic will make you tap out; needed MUCH more dev time.

WWE and X-Box have not had a very successful relationship. RAW and its sequel were some of the worst wrestling titles in recent memory -- marred by bad gameplay, a lack of polish, and unintuitive control. This game starts all over with a new developer and a new brand, hoping to right the wrongs of the past. What WrestleMania 21 ends up doing is making something far nastier, and essentially flushing a lot of potential down the crapper.

Before I get into general commentary on the state of the game, here's a scenario that plays out like one of those how-many-mistakes-can-you-find pictures: I'm in career mode, and my third match is against Chavo Guerrero. Its no-DQ, and I've already pissed off Rene Dupree with my bad attitude (no control over what a jerk your created character is), so you know he's going to interfere. To boot, I have to win in under three minutes, essentially against two guys at once. Chavo tosses me to the outside, where Rene -- who interferes about 20 seconds in -- puts me in a chokehold. This prompts the break/submit meter to come out -- on the outside via an illegal move by someone who's not even in the match! Tazz and Cole are selling it like I'm going to give up. They double team me until my timer expires, forcing me to try yet again.

Like The Shockmaster's Helmet

If this doesn't show you the game is messed up, let's break things down. The control is simply awful. Lag can be counted out loud -- and I'm not talking for online play. It takes upwards of a second between you pushing the strike button and your onscreen character actually doing it. My character would somehow attempt ground-based moves on an opponent who had been standing for a while. Even worse, for rope breaks on submissions, it takes four seconds to get the hold broken -- in that time, you're still taking damage. This wouldn't be so bad if the health/stamina bar wasn't so short. A mere fireman's carry takes off a good 15% of it -- thus attributing to the short, TV-style matches. It's bad enough WWE programming only gives the matches a few short minutes; why does the game have to follow suit?

I'm both appalled and confused by the collision. On one end, I experienced times when an opponent would bump into me as I got up, throwing them off balance. On the other hand, I witnessed air-balled kicks and punches that had absolutely no reason to miss. One extreme would be bad enough; both is unacceptable. Then, of course, there are times when it looked like a magnetic force drew the two wrestlers together to execute a move in a very unnatural display. Finishers are especially notorious for this; doing Y2J's Lionsault made my opponent teleport to the center of the ring and Jericho magically appear in springboard position. Something tells me putting a new studio and a new engine together requires more time to get a game that's less like guano.

The A.I. reminds me of Eugene, and that's not a compliment. I had opponents do the same submission move to me six times in a row. With the rope break bug, there was nothing I could do about it. They also like to run the ropes for no reason, even when they're not Ric Flair. If you're going to put a ref in the game, make him do more than count pinfalls. He's not even involved on submission attempts. Remember: these types of details are all over sports games like Madden, so they should be in wrestling, too.

It's A Living

I have a love/hate relationship with the career mode. It offers a ton of cutscenes, and they're all done pretty well. It really establishes a storyline, rather than being just between-match filler. Even the commentators follow the plot throughout the match (though I have beef with them which I'll explain later). I'm still waiting for a Knights of the Old Republic-style morality system which lets you mold the personality and heel/face tendencies of your wrestler, but at least he has some personality in WrestleMania, even if he's as cocky as hell.

Career mode is pretty harsh, though -- thanks to the three-minute rule and difficulty spike illustrated above. Also, I find it weak that you can only play with a created character. I'm getting pretty tired of having to pick all my moves in tedious fashion, and this game doesn't do you any favors in expediting the creation process. For example, you have to select an accessory or physical characteristic to be able to view it on your character, then go back and do the same thing to see all choices. Hear that? It's the sands of time falling needlessly.

You Can't See Me

As expected, WrestleMania XXI dishes out good graphics; I'm especially fond of the different fabric textures on gear. However, compared to the WWE games on PS2 and GameCube, there's not as big of a visual leap as you'd think. Some of the animations look pretty bad (even when not hampered by collision bugs), and the camera is a travesty. The view is far too low, messing with your depth perceptions -- except when it randomly pulls way too far back.

The same music I didn't like in SmackDown! vs. RAW is here, too. You'd think with the money these games draw, there'd be a bigger budget for licensed music. I like using hard drive-stored songs for entrances (ODB's "Oh Baby, I Like It Raw" is my default choice), but you should be able to pick ambient music that way, as well. While Cole and Tazz stick to the plot in career, they lack continuity in other ways. For example, I was wrestling in San Antonio, when all of a sudden Tazz is talking about "Canadian fans." As Stone Cold says, "What?!"

Actual Superstar voices are done really well, though. For some reason, I noticed a lot more sound effects coming from the ring. It's subtle, but I really liked it -- maybe because I haven't been in a ring for a year.

Don't Pay To View

Multiplayer is decent, and it's novel to create your own belt to defend on X-Box Live, but as I always say: if the game stinks, you're not going to want to play it in multiplayer. WrestleMania XXI truly is a sad state of affairs. I blame the convention that sequels need to be pumped out like babies at a trailer park. I don't know whether Studio Gigante isn't capable of developing a good wrestling game, or if the new engine is flawed. Whatever the reason, this game is Grade A, 100% jabroni.

Team X-Box's WWE WrestleMania 21 (XBX) Review IS NYAH!!

(see below)

Team X-Box's WWE WrestleMania 21 (XBX) Review

http://reviews.teamxbox.com/xbox/934/WWE-WrestleMania-21/p1/

by Rob Semsey - "Horus"

You really gotta love wrestling fans. They are some of the most passionate folks around despite knowing that the spectacle they watch is an over-the-top soap opera with a major dose of testosterone and athleticism. I’m not here to strike up the argument of whether wrestling is a “real” sport however. Despite its theatrics, there is no doubt that professional wrestlers have skills that rank up there with any other pro athlete. The real question at hand is can the X-Box finally get a solid wrestling game that can compete with fan favorites like WWF No Mercy, Fire Pro and the WWE SmackDown! series?

The two previous attempts, RAW and RAW 2, had a few redeeming qualities (mainly in the presentation department), but the overall gameplay faltered quite handily. Rather than beat a dead horse, the folks at THQ decided to drop Japanese developer Anchor in favor of Studio Gigante; headed by Mortal Kombat co-creator John Tobias. Being that the lackluster fighter Tao Feng was the product that Studio Gigante had shipped previously, the decision to put all the WWE eggs in their basket was a curious one. Tao Feng did have fantastic character models, which seemed like a logical building block towards the new X-Box exclusive wrestling title, WrestleMania 21. The real concern was focused on the game engine. Could a fairly young studio create a solid wrestling engine from scratch? With the talk of a revolutionary reversal system and the promise of online play, many X-Box wrestling fans had hoped that WrestleMania 21 would finally be their heavyweight champ. Sorry folks, this wrestler needs more time in the development ranks before it can compete.

Gameplay

If you look back at the 2003 X-Box release of WWE RAW 2: Ruthless Aggression it did do a few things right. The roster was huge, the create-a-wrestler was solid, and the presentation was off the hook. The “silent” career mode was a bit of a joke and the AI was more sickening than Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley’s wardrobe.

The focus of WrestleMania 21’s main features seemed slightly askew right from the beginning. Don’t get me wrong, using real WWE Superstar voice-overs and motion capture technology is great, but it counts for very little if the gameplay is sub par. One feature that did show promise was the all new pro reversal system that allows easy countering of any attack or grapple if timed properly. For the first time on the X-Box, online play is supported via X-Box Live (no System Link) for 1-4 players, and you are able to use created wrestlers and belts (for the first time in any wrestling game) to essentially build your own “legend” in the online ring. Most of this sounds great, so where exactly does WrestleMania go wrong? It’s hard to pick just one item, but let’s begin…

Presentation:

Normally I wouldn’t focus an entire section to just presentation, but as in pro wrestling, it is absolutely vital in order to be a big draw. WrestleMania 21 fails in nearly every category of presentation, right from the opening movie. Even if you don’t like pro wrestling, everyone will admit it is intense. Unfortunately WM21 is dead on arrival and this is partly due to the incredibly bland and poorly designed menus. When selecting the majority of menu options there is no way to navigate to the previous menu as the game automatically saves and you are required to re-enter to change an additional item. This holds true in the Create-A-Superstar mode as you can’t preview any type of changes. You’re forced to select an item and then go back and remove/change it afterward, but more on that later.

In order to keep track of your earnings from each match, each player is required to use a profile. The problem is that the last active profile is not auto loaded and there is no way to select a profile after choosing a wrestler in any mode; they MUST be loaded prior in the Profiles menu.

There are two different cameras to choose from (game and broadcast), but aside from some slightly zoomed angles, you’d be hard pressed to find a difference in the two. Also, in the multiple man matches the camera does tend to zoom out more than we’d like to see. In something like a Battle Royal, it’s understandable, but in one-on-one matches there is no need to zoom out to show your opponent’s ally aimlessly walking around the ring.

Unlike RAW 2’s snazzy load screens that replicated WWE broadcasts, the ones used in WM21 simply show stiff character renders with a few gameplay tips. Most of the ring entrances are accurate, but WWE fans will immediately notice that Triple H doesn’t synch with his music and his “water fountain” spray, Batista’s entrance is way off, and several other little touches were skipped. Many Superstars have changed costumes, looks, and roles since the game began development. Using Batista as an example again, he is no longer a heel, yet he is always booed by the crowd. He also has a different haircut, doesn’t wear earrings, and has different trunks and pads.

WM21’s roster also takes a major hit with only 45 WWE Superstars in total, a few of which no longer have an active role with the company. It pales in comparison with RAW 2’s 60 Superstars, although you can obviously create close versions of newer faces like Muhammad Hassan or Orlando Jordan. No Hulk Hogan, no William Regal, no Carlito…that’s not cool. The commentary also has some major issues with dialogue that doesn’t match the venue or action at times. Are these tick-tacky issues? Perhaps. But these are the small things that end up making or breaking a wrestling game.

Gameplay Controls:

Ask any wrestling video game aficionado and they’ll tell you that control is king. WrestleMania 21’s scheme is actually one of its strong points and is easy to learn. Button mashers will find some success, but strategists should ultimately win out due to the game’s deep control set. A two button grapple system is used (one for quick/strong grapples and another for specialty/submission grapples), while strikes utilize just one button. Obviously combining these functions with specific directions on the left stick or D-pad will perform a variety of moves. Placement of your opponent, weapons, type of match and other variables also determine the types of moves available.

• Left thumbstick/D-pad – move Superstar
• Left thumbstick (click) – call for interference
• Right thumbstick – taunt 1 (left/right)/taunt 2 (up/down)
• Right thumbstick (click) – change target
• Left trigger – grapple reversal
• Right trigger – strike reversal
• Left + Right trigger – finisher counter
• A button – quick grapple (tap)/strong grapple (hold)
• B button – specialty grapple (tap)/submission grapple (hold)
• A + B buttons – finisher move (with maximum Heat only)
• X button – strike attack
• Y button – run
• Black button – Irish whip
• White button – pick up/drop weapon/tag partner

The pro reversal system allows you to counter any strike or grapple by pulling the right or left trigger respectively when prompted by a circle that is quickly displayed on-screen. The time allotted to pull off a successful reversal is determined by a few factors, including your wrestler’s attributes and current stamina. The visual cues are turned off in the higher difficulty levels as an added challenge. Early on in a match when your stamina is high, it becomes relatively easy to counter any move, but later on it feels like you’re watching for the circle cue and trying to react to it, rather than reacting to the action in the ring. The timing window shrinks significantly once your Superstar takes on damage, lessening the effectiveness of the reversal system.

Most of the other moves are simple to learn after a few exhibition matches, but getting on your feet can be a chore at times. After the mo-cap animations of downed wrestler struggling run their course, you’ll spend a lot of time rolling away from an opponent in order to buy time so that your Superstar will finally get up off the mat. Unlike other wrestling games, slamming on any button doesn’t determine if a wrestler gets up faster.

Gameplay Modes:

Exhibition – with 18 types to choose from WM21 has a decent amount of available matches, but still seems a bit thin when compared with other games; no hardcore matches, no way to insert the use of a manager, no three team matches, etc. What you will get is the following: Normal, Cage Match, Hell in a Cell, Table Match, TLC, Ladder Match, Bra & Panties, 2-on-2 Tag, Tornado Tag (2 teams), Handicap (1-on-2, 1-on-2 Tag, 1-on-3, 1-on-3 Tag), Triple Threat, Fatal 4-Way, Last Man Standing, Battle Royal, and Royal Rumble.

Career – here is where you’ll build your own legend by taking a newcomer through the ranks of an entire year-long season on the WWE circuit. You MUST use a created wrestler as there is no option to go through using a current WWE Superstar. The storyline remains the same no matter how many times you play through it and there are no branching plots. Starting off on Velocity, you’ll face a few cream puffs and eventually build a name by winning each match across the primetime shows like SmackDown!, RAW, and even the major PPV events. You’re able to retry any lost match, so there is really no drop in your prestige by losing. Just keep trying until you win, move on and repeat.

The career mode cut-scenes are nice and are completely voiced by most of the WWE Superstars. That’s right, a career mode with situations that you can actually comprehend! You even get the occasional cheer or jeer from the crowd in the background as if they are watching it on the TitanTron.

In the end, the Career mode is entertaining the first time around, but there is very little reason to play through again unless you simply want to try to use a different style of created wrestler.

Create –two different elements make up WM21’s “Create” mode, including the opportunity to craft your own Superstar or Championship Belt. The options available for creating a Superstar aren’t paltry by any means, but they aren’t as deep as RAW 2’s. A custom wrestler must have a designated expertise (traditional, aerialist, power, or technician) which affects his attributes. By progressing through the career mode and other matches you can purchase additional attribute points in the WWE Shop. Weight classes also come into play because it will impact your Superstar’s performance. For example, creating a Super Heavyweight aerialist probably isn’t the best idea. This also determines how difficult or easy it is to throw your wrestler around the ring. Obviously a Cruiserweight can be tossed like a rag doll versus a Heavyweight.

Most body and face attributes can be adjusted via sliders and there are a decent amount of items like hats and jewelry to add to your gear. The selection of moves is extensive and is accompanied by a nice, small animated character acting out the currently highlighted item. Entrance options are a bit lean and there is no way to choose alignments or whether you’re Superstar is a face or heel. On the plus side, you can use custom soundtracks for entrance music.

The Create-A-Championship component of WM21 promised to “change the wrestling genre”, but it doesn’t feel fleshed out enough. You can name the belt, decide whether it is a single or tag team championship, and style it to your tastes. Most of the options are basic as there is no way to customize a belt with a paint tool or something similar. After building up your belt through title matches you can eventually take your championship online and defend it amongst all comers. It is a fantastic concept and one that may play out well depending on the Live community’s acceptance. Our initial thought is, like most of WM21, it needs some added love to reach its full potential.

It is worth noting that both created Superstars and Championships can be used online, but they MUST be created while signed into X-Box Live from the get-go via Live Aware. You can create these items while not signed in, but then they’ll be relegated to strictly offline play.

X-Box Live:

It’s nice to finally have a wrestling game on the X-Box with online play and it may be WM21’s saving grace. 1-4 players can battle it out with voice support in most of the matches available in the offline game (no Royal Rumble for obvious reasons). In our playtests most matches performed at the same level as the offline game with little lag, but it remains to be seen how the retail version performs with four players on X-Box Live. If the hardcore crowd can look past some of the flaws and really adopts online championships, then WM21 could get a boost. This is a big “if” however, being that the gameplay is hard to stomach. As with the rest of the game, the X-Box Live UI is poorly designed.

Overall Gameplay Impressions:

WrestleMania 21 is like a mid-card wrestler that never meets their full potential. While the controls are easy to use, the mo-capped animations end up being a detriment to the gameplay. Unless you get out of the gate fast and inflict a ton of damage on your opponent, the animations can make a comeback difficult. Often you’ll be waiting out an animation and have little to no time to counter your opponent’s next move. Obviously this can be used to your advantage if you are on the giving end, but with really no way to make a big shift in momentum, those wrestlers that take punishment early on tend to be in trouble. The Heat meter is filled depending on your performance in the ring and can also be raised via reversals, submission breaks, and taunts. If only there was an opportunity to really turn the tide in select situations as you often see in WWE matches. The tug-of-war style submission method is effective and the finishing move transitions are well done.

The AI, more than anything, was an area that Studio Gigante had to get right in order for WrestleMania 21 to be deemed a success by the hardcore crowd. While it may have been unfair to put this task on a dev team that had no prior experience in the wrestling genre (no, wrestling and fighting games aren’t the same), it was their task nonetheless. The AI seems better than RAW 2 at times, but then you’ll experience a tag team match gone awry when partners attack each other. Calling for interference is also interesting being it can sometimes be a toss up if the interfering wrestler actually provides the requested help.

The collision detection is horrible and seeing a wrestler magically morph from one side of the ring to the other during a grapple or throw move is just insane. Weapons and tables also vanish into thin air after use, which lessens the feel of an intense WWE match. In the end there are far too many issues that need to be addressed.

Graphics and Audio

As we all assumed, Studio Gigante comes through in many ways regarding WM21’s visuals. The character models are the most detailed of any wrestling game to date, although there are still a few Superstars that just can’t get the proper attention needed to make them look as accurate as the rest. This is primarily due to hair modeling and physics just not being there on this generation of consoles. The main issues again revolve around the presentation and outdated costumes/looks of a few Superstars. The motion capture animations do look nice when the collision detection actually works. Still, there is far too much clipping during grapples and weapon strikes. The arena venues are very detailed with plenty of animated wrestling fanatics, signs, and pyrotechnics. The framerate doesn’t seem to be much of an issue aside from the kooky transitions at the end of a match when cutting to replay and the final cut-scene.

The soundtrack has approximately 18 songs and you can always use the custom soundtrack option for your custom wrestler’s entrance music. The ambient noise during a match seems to lack the real punch that a wrestling title needs. Yes, the 5.1 surround sound is utilized, but the crowd can go nearly silent at times.

The commentary during matches and voice-overs during the career mode add some WWE panache, but the inaccuracies and repetitiveness do detract a bit. Why say, “Welcome to RAW!” when you’re actually wrestling at No Way Out? You’ll hear the familiar voices of Jim Ross, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Michael Cole and Taz. The commentary is also plagued by the same choppiness during end-of-match replays that affect the framerate.

The Bottom Line

With X-Box gamers having such high hopes for WrestleMania 21, it is truly a shame that it couldn’t live up to its potential. While many of the glaring issues could be considered growing pains for Studio Gigante, it’s of little consolation for gamers that have been waiting for a decent wrestling title on the X-Box. Like previous efforts, WrestleMania 21 has some nice eye candy in the ways of character modeling and mo-capped animations, but it ultimately fails where it counts the most…in gameplay. There is a ton of potential and a number of great ideas implemented, but WrestleMania 21 is clearly not the heavyweight champ we had hoped for.

The controls are easy to master, but the gameplay is a test of patience. The reversal system has some issues and the overall pace of each match is as exciting as watching paint dry.

Fantastic character models and smooth mo-capped animations. Unfortunately the animations end up being a hindrance to the gameplay and some of the models are using outdated costumes and looks.

More dialogue and voice-over work than any other wrestling game to date. Commentators have a tendency to spit off inaccurate information that doesn’t vibe with the match or action.

The career mode will take you some time, but there is little reason to play through twice. The online play is what will eventually make or break WrestleMania 21.

While the inclusion of an online championship component and the reversal system are both promising, the overall gameplay and presentation are a step back in most respects.

Overall Score NOT an average

GameSpot's WWE WrestleMania 21 (XBX) Review

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/wwewrestlemania21/review.html

by Alex Navarro, GameSpot POSTED: 04/21/05 04:03 PM

Up until this point in time, it seemed like WWE games on the X-Box simply couldn't get any worse. After the aggressively unremarkable WWF RAW and WWE RAW 2 came and went, THQ eventually decided to ditch former developer Anchor and start anew. Enter Studio Gigante, and its first foray into the world of professional wrestling, WrestleMania 21. Unfortunately, change was not for the better in this case--not even close. WrestleMania 21 is about as half-baked a wrestling game as you're going to find on any platform. Despite the fact that it boasts a nice-looking graphics engine, a career mode featuring voice work from all the WWE superstars, and online play for every major match type, none of these things can salvage what is ultimately a shallow, clunky, near-broken mess of a game. Not to mention that one of these features (namely, the online play) doesn't even work.

First and foremost, WrestleMania 21's gameplay engine is an out-and-out failure. The basic concepts are certainly sound. You've got one strike button and a pair of grappling buttons. Each grappling button performs two different types of grapples, depending on whether or not you simply tap the button or hold it down. For counters, a little icon will appear at the top of the screen near your health bar, indicating whether you should hit the right trigger to counter a strike, or the left trigger to counter a grapple. The timing on these counters is tricky, but after a little practice it actually becomes pretty much a total breeze to counter most any attack that comes your way, unless of course you up the difficulty level from the ridiculously easy default level. If you do this, the icons disappear and counters become an exercise in random frustration. Of course, the game is still pretty easy, even if you don't bother with counters.

This is mostly because the artificial intelligence in the game is just flat-out broken. Once you get away from the pathetic default difficulty, your opponents eventually become competent and occasionally challenging, but there are some behaviors that are just mind-boggling. In a tag match, your odds of winning are very high, mainly because even on the off chance that your opponent's partner decides to run in and break up the tag (which actually is not a guarantee), he'll usually get there too late or just miss the pin breakup altogether. If you're playing any variation of a ladder match, all you have to do is just get up the ladder to the belt, and the match is yours. Sure, it does the age-old thing where you dangle from the belt for a while as you try to yank it down. But rather than actually climb up the ladder and try to stop you from grabbing it, your opponent will just intentionally knock over the ladder and stand there like a dolt while you grab the prize. There are even issues with some of the specific wrestler classes, like high flyers for instance, who will constantly go up top for a high-risk move at the most inopportune times, to the point where you might think they're stuck in some kind of AI loop. There are barely any high-flying moves in the game to begin with, so you'll see a lot of easy-to-dodge double axe handles in this case. We could go on and on with examples like these, but to sum it up quickly, the computer opponents in this game are morons.

In fact, the only thing that makes the game challenging in the slightest is how the grappling engine just sometimes doesn't quite work right. Basically, the hit detection is not good at all (even for a wrestling game). Standing strikes and grapples usually lock up alright (though you'll see some really strange misses from time to time), but ground moves are all but broken for the most part. Trying to actually get your guy to lock in a ground submission is extremely frustrating, as you have to take the time to position him exactly in the right spot and then press a direction on the D-pad or control stick, and a grapple button. Of course, this will frequently move your guy out of the way of where he needs to be, thus letting your opponent jump up very quickly.

And therein lies another problem: The game has an altogether peculiar stance on when someone is up and when someone is down. This means that you'll have to be very, very quick about your ground strikes early in a match, because even though you might think your opponent is on the ground, he'll actually be considered up, simply because he's in a sitting up position. So if you try a strike, you'll miss badly, causing your guy to writhe around on the ground for perhaps longer than he needs to. What's even worse is that after a while it will start taking your wrestler or your opponent (depending on who is losing) forever to stand up. This means that you can just lock in submission after submission after submission to your heart's content. The CPU actually is smart enough (or broken enough) to realize this, so you may find yourself in a lot of annoying submission loops where the only chance of escape lies in the hope that your opponent will actually pick you up, at which point you'll recover the moment he strikes you.

What is perhaps most unfortunate about WrestleMania 21's gameplay is that it really did have the potential to be something worthwhile. The grappling engine itself, while generally simplistic, could have worked pretty well, but it would have needed a lot more fine-tuning to add some actual depth to the whole experience. As it turned out, it's just way, way too easy to just punch and grapple an opponent to death without any competition whatsoever. There is also a fine roster of match types, ranging from the typical bouts to cage matches, hell in the cell, last man standing, and so on (although many of these gimmicks can only be played in a one-on-one match). But you'll never really want to bother playing any of them, because one AI problem or another will cause the match to be over quickly, or it will drag on endlessly (like the last-man standing match, in which your opponent will refuse to stay down unless you focus all your attacks on his head). Playing against another player alleviates the AI problems, but with so many exploitable holes in the engine, multiplayer isn't any fun, either. There's a framework here for a fun wrestling engine, but that's all it is: a shallow husk with nothing built around it.

In terms of play modes, pretty much all the usual suspects are here, including a career mode, Create-a-Wrestler mode, a WWE shop to purchase unlockables, a Create-a-Belt mode, and new to WWE games on the X-Box, full X-Box Live support. However, for varying reasons, each and every one of these modes fails to reach the level of any other WWE game from this console generation.

The online play in WrestleMania 21 is easily the most attractive feature in the game. Too bad you can't play it. Somehow, some way, the retail game that you can buy in stores right now will not connect to X-Box Live at all. It doesn't even try; it just spits out a fat connection error the second you try to sign in. How the game could have shipped with such a significant oversight is unthinkable, though for what it's worth, with gameplay like this, online play wouldn't have helped much. And in case you were wondering, the possibility of an online patch doesn't seem like it's going to be an option, what with the whole inability to even connect to X-Box Live thing.

The career mode is perhaps the best mode in WrestleMania 21, though the term "best" is relative here. Similar to WWE Day of Reckoning on the GameCube, you'll first have to create a new superstar. The Create-a-Wrestler mode has a decent, if somewhat limited, list of available customizations for your wrestler. Granted, you'll need to play a fair amount of matches to earn cash to buy a lot of the good stuff for the CAW mode. But even so, the good stuff isn't that spectacular, and you'll find an awful lot of omissions here, including a much shorter list of moves, costumes, facial adjustments, and entrance customizations than even RAW 2 had. The CAW interface is also super clunky, as you can't even view any potential customizations until you've actually selected it from the menu, which means you'll have to go back and forth constantly to try to find the right pieces.

Anyhow, back to the career mode itself. Once you have your wrestler created, you find yourself in SmackDown! general manager Theodore Long's office. Teddy Long gives your wrestler a chance to earn a roster spot on SmackDown! by working a few matches on Velocity. From here, it's 52 matches from Velocity to WrestleMania, and then your career is over. Much like in the PS2's SmackDown! vs. RAW, any possibility of branching paths in your career has been done away with for the sake of making a more scripted and produced storyline. The mode features dialogue from all the wrestlers in the game; however, unlike in SmackDown! vs. RAW, that's not an altogether bad thing. Save for a few really bad dialogue spots, the voice acting is a whole lot better than that of SmackDown! vs. RAW, and the story itself isn't half bad, either. Your character is even assigned a voice, though in somewhat of a strange choice, the developers decided to make your character initially very unlikable. Essentially, you're a total jackass and you bad-mouth everyone backstage, regardless of their affiliation. After a while, everybody starts trying to screw you over, so eventually your attitude becomes somewhat justifiable. But to begin with, having your character play a total heel doesn't seem like quite the right way to go. Certainly, having him be a total Boy Scout would have been a bit much too, but a more delicate balance would have been preferable.

Once you've finished the career mode (which shouldn't take more than four to five hours), there's not a whole lot of reason to go back to it again, as the storyline never, ever changes. With the online play pretty much broken and the create-a-wrestler mode lacking in depth and a decent interface, you are left with just the Create-a-Belt mode to play around with. Unfortunately, this mode isn't that great, either. Basically, you can use all the old WWF-style championship belts, as well as logos from all the pay-per-views. Throw in a few unattractive-looking extra plates, and voila, you've got a belt. You can use the belts in exhibition matches (though you can't actually assign the belt to a specific superstar; rather, the game will just give the belt to whoever you're playing as), but the main draw of the mode is that you're supposed to be able to win and lose your created belts online. So much for that idea, eh?

Even outside of the broken online mode, shallow gameplay, and utter lack of other engaging features, WrestleMania 21 features a lengthy laundry list of obnoxious bugs, rough edges, and interface problems. For starters, the menus and related features of this game transcend clunky to the point of being unusable. Take, for example, the profile system. If you're going to make a game where you have to use a profile to save all your earned cash and other assorted goodies, you'd make that profile automatically load upon start-up, right? Well, apparently Studio Gigante disagrees with this notion. You can start a career, or you can wrestle 100 exhibition matches and never earn a dime because you didn't think to go create a profile, or because you forgot to load your current one. You have to load it yourself every single time. Another big problem with the game is the loading times. They are overly long and they make the game chug badly--to the point where the loading menus become choppy. In fact, whenever the game has to try to load an end-of-match replay, it practically looks like it's going to have a heart attack, as the screen gets crazy choppy and the audio breaks up horribly.

If there is one bright, shining light to be found in WrestleMania 21, it's the graphics engine, which can be quite stunning at times. The wrestler models are extremely impressive and highly detailed, and they look especially nice because of the game's lighting system (though they can look a little too shiny at times, as well). The wrestling arenas are similarly well made, and the crowd graphics are easily the best in any wrestling game. Now, with all of that said, there are some problems, too...specifically, animation problems. The basic move animations, when performed properly, look very nice, thanks to the use of motion capturing. However, the motion capturing also makes the movements of the wrestlers seem sluggish at times, too. The biggest animation issue is that sometimes animations will glitch very badly. You'll hit the grapple button when you're like six feet away from your opponent, and then you or he will teleport into the grapple. Executing a finisher will cause your wrestler to skip ahead to the move setup from a completely inopportune stance, which looks awful, and breaking a table causes it to instantly disappear the second you hit the mat. Things like this ultimately drag the visuals down. Then again, considering the level of quality throughout the rest of the game, it's not surprising that the visuals have their blemishes also.

Apart from the solid voice acting, there's really not much to the rest of the audio. Commentary is about on par with SmackDown! vs. RAW, though during the career mode here the commentators will actually talk about specific points of interest regarding the main storyline. Aside from this, the audio is just a bland play-by-play that sometimes is flat-out wrong. WrestleMania 21 features roughly the same soundtrack found in both WWE Day of Reckoning and WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW, though with a few more tracks of the same basic hard rock genre thrown in for good measure. You can, thankfully, use the X-Box's custom soundtrack feature for entrance themes for your created wrestlers. The sound effects are OK for the most part, but there are at least a few that are pretty off. A lot of the weapon hits aren't really very good, and some of the strike moves just sound odd. There's also the problem with the audio skipping during the loading screens and menu transitions. Granted, that's a side effect of bigger problems, but it still hinders the overall audio experience.

As far as wrestling games are concerned, WrestleMania is the kind of bad that hasn't existed since THQ was releasing games like WCW/NWO Thunder. This game clearly wasn't ready for prime time for a whole slew of different reasons, not the least of which is the promised online play that doesn't even function. X-Box wrestling fans haven't had it easy this console generation, but even so, there's no reason they should settle for a sloppy mess like WrestleMania 21.

Gameplay > 5

Graphics > 8

Sound > 7

Value > 5

Tilt > 1

Overall > 4.5 (poor)

I now would like to take this opportunity to give you my review for all of these low scoring reviews (excluding some GamingRing reviews)....

GamingRing's WWE WrestleMania 21 (XBX) Exclusive Review #2

http://www.gamingring.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000370

by The Stanster

Earlier, Mike posted a review of his of WrestleMania 21. It included subscores of mine, although they will be edited to change, because I've played the final version for a while and remembered how much I hate this game.

I literally had to learn to love this game just to talk to Mike and Chuck, because they LOVE almost every new game that they get (and you can sense that Mike really hates this game, but hes playing nice). Sorry guys, but this is the truth. I'm not saying this to hurt any of your feelings, but I have to clear my conscious before I continue any sort of job on this site.

I'll go through this abomination one feature by one feature, and tell you why you should NOT buy this game at all. Here they are:

Gameplay:

The gameplay is horrible. If you enjoy grabbing through wrestlers and nothing happening, hitting a button and seeing a response a second later, and generally feeling like that you aren't even playing as the guy on screen, this may be the game for you. The matches are horrifically boring. If you pull a move off, you don't feel rewarded due to the fact that the moves look like s**t, plain and simple. 90% of all 10 moves in the video game look like s**t. Which brings me to my next point: There are hardly any moves. It's obvious when you see wrestlers doing moves that they never have done and that are signature moves of other wrestlers that there is a problem. This has never been more evident than in WrestleMania 21. The total lack of moves in the game makes you feel like that all wrestlers are the same guy with different stats and finishers.

Controls: The easiest way to say this is that the controls are not good at all. They become bearable after a while, but as soon as you play another game, you'll hate these controls all over again. For one, X-Box controllers are hard as hell to tap buttons on, although I'm sure a ton of people will disagree. You are tapping buttons on large hemispheres that absorb shock due to the "button pressure sensitivity" feature in the X-Box, and because of this, button tapping is no fun at all. I don't know why any game would include it anyways, no one wants to beat buttons like a mad man, although I found myself wanting to beat the controller itself after a half hour of play. Did I mention that when you press a button there is an evident delay in the time you hit it and the time the response takes place? Well, I can't say that enough so I added it here again. I might add it to the sound portion too, since it is so awful.

Sound: I like the soundtrack, although almost all of the songs are recycled songs from the past two titles of last year. The mat effects sound nice, as do most ring effects (turnbuckles, ropes, etc...) but that's it. Commentary is off, badly. I was playing as Edge (Well, that's what his label was, I'm not really convinced that it was him). Anyways, while I just stood there, J.R. said "Oh My, Edge with the devastating spear!" and me and Garry just looked at each other. True, career voice-overs are great, but commentary is off.

Also, when you win a match and the replay is going, can you make out what is being said? Because it glitches with me so bad, its like a laggy video game trying to process too much info/graphics/whatever else and so it freezes up.

Replay Value: I already am done playing this video game after 20 minutes of play from the second I bought it. That's a new record.

Visual: The graphics on the outside look good. The arenas look good, and the lighting looks good. But the entrances are pathetically wrong and horrible, move animations look bad, and the facial expressions. How can I describe the facial expressions. Well, if you have ever been constipated and looked in the mirror while trying to gain relief, this pretty much describes the faces in the game, or at least many of them. The bodies of the wrestlers do look good, however, and I'll give THQ that. The graphics are good. Unfortunately, this isn't a movie, its a video game and everything else that is important in a game makes it bad.

Specific Game Aspects:

Career Mode:

The career mode of this game is pretty good actually. But here is the catch, because you knew there was one. You'll play through it one time, and never again because there are no rewards for it other than CAW advancement, its linear (no choices ever), its one player, and its the same the second time through as it was the first time, leaving absolutely no reason to touch it after the first time.

Online: I can't comment on the online feature because it DOESN'T EVEN WORK YET. THQ made the ultimate decision of stupidity by sending out the wrong copy of the disc. I mean that's horrible. It's a shame they didn't copy something else like MX vs ATV Unleashed. At least then my checking account wouldn't feel sodomized. However, reports point to online being smooth. Still, the gameplay sucks so bad that online could be as smooth as Splinter Cell and it still wouldn't help much.

Roster: I'm actually fairly happy with the roster, but there are obvious errors. The released superstars who were included in the game are the first thing. No, I know THQ didn't know that they would be fired, but the simple fact that they were in that position on the roster TO be fired shows why they should not have been included in the game. Hey, I have an idea: Instead of including La Resistance', Carlito Caribbean Cool, Torrie Wilson (Yeah I know), Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold, or anyone else, lets include Val Venis, Nidia, Rhyno, and Jimmy Snuka. Who the freak would want to play as Jimmy Snuka? Sure, he's a legend, but he has been in way too many games as of late and he wasn't THAT popular to anyone including his kids. I'd much rather play as oh, say, anyone than Jimmy Snuka. Why not include Jim Neidhart to reform the Hart Foundation? That would only cost THQ a large T-Bone steak for his character rights. What about Roddy Piper? A vial of cocaine would get him. So it's not about money here, it's about complete lack of judgment.

CAS Mode: I'm actually not too upset with the create a superstar mode. You can mold faces to look VERY accurate to whoever you are creating. I made a mean George W. Bush, who rules by the way. But there are lacking areas here too. No Sting/Ultimate Warrior face paint. Only 10 entrances to choose from (this is not a typo). There are a few areas here that hurt the CAS.

Overall:5/10. Another disappointment from THQ, WrestleMania 21 actually saddens me, because I figured that THQ would have learned to listen more to what people want. BETTER GAMEPLAY. Here is another idea: STOP SPENDING ALL OF YOUR RESOURCES ON BETTER GRAPHICS, THEY DON'T MATTER AS MUCH AS THE GAMEPLAY DOES. This game is a prime example of what happens when the higher ups make calls that are dead wrong but they think that they are so smart, so they don't look at what the people really do want. You can't do that in the wrestling industry. It's not like CSI or 24. The FANS make the superstars what they are. Stone Cold, the Rock, Hulk Hogan. They were all heels, but the fans started loving them even though the higher ups didn't want them to be face wrestlers, and because of that, they became megastars. At a point you MUST listen to what the fans want and go with it over what you want or what you think is best. Vince McMahon does this all the time (Batista's whole push, for instance). So in closing, I think you messed up big this time THQ, but I think that it was in a MUCH worse way than you did on SmackDown! vs. RAW. That game had plenty of flaws, but it also had the backing of an entire series of pretty good games. This game doesn't, its the first in the series, and it's TERRIBLE. Oh, and I'm sure a ton of you disagree, including Chuck. So I'm going to do something different, and give a few examples of what others are saying. First, my cousin Garry:

quote:

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Bonus to having this game: titantrons, music, voice overs, that's where it ends! this game SUCKS!!! If I were a WWE official, I would push for THQ to get sued again, I'd rather smash my testicles with a rubber mallet, and stick a rusty nail in my *** **** than play WrestleMania 21 ever again!

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That's how I feel too, if you didn't know. Here are some other reviews:

GameSpot Review

quote:

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Yes, believe it or not, there is an X-Box wrestling game that's worse than either WWF RAW or WWE RAW 2.

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IGN's Review

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WrestleMania 21 is a mix of high quality visuals and frustrating, flawed gameplay...gameplay is king.

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GameSpy

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The control is simply awful. Lag can be counted out loud -- and I'm not talking for online play. It takes upwards of a second between you pushing the strike button and your onscreen character actually doing it.

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Team X-Box

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WrestleMania 21 is like a mid-card wrestler that never meets their full potential.

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BOTTOM LINE:

DON'T BUY THIS GAME - IT IS A WASTE OF MONEY

PS. Chuck disagrees with me vehemently. In fact, I'm a troll, PS2 fan boy, and wrong in his words. As far as a PS2 fan boy, someone should link him to my SmackDown! vs. RAW review. And as far as a troll, there appears to be quite a few of them on every single review site, minus X-Box U.K. (Which reviewed the game on April 1st, so they obviously were playing a big joke on everyone), who agree with me. And besides, Chuck says that this game is better than Splinter Cell! When he said that Mike busted out laughing. Play both and decide which game was worth releasing and which game was worth using as a coaster.

Composite Score of All Reviews

:cry: unless it gets fixed, my birthday money will be spent on something other than this and I was looking forward to this. Boycott THQ. Wonder why SD vs Raw had perfect online play and no glitches? Wonder why DOR had glitches? Wonder why WM 21 sucks? Because THQ love the PS2 and want people to get the PS2 games.

Gamespot gives it 4.5!? :shock:

Oh well...that was disappointing...

But theres one thing that concerns me about this game. The Arenas, and which ones are in the game. That screenshot of Andre walking out in the WMXX arena specfically. Did SG even include 2005 arenas? Let alone WMXXI?

Sorry for double posting...but I came up with a thought.

THQ seriously needs to give the development to Yukes. Yukes are probably the best wrestling gamemakers today, and would do wonders for the Xbox. But if that idea fails, you could always port Smackdown or Day of Reckoning to the Xbox, it wouldn't hurt at all...

Smackdown vs RAW 2.....comes out this year....forget about WM21 and all this nonesense...just look forward to SDvsRAW2.

Smackdown vs RAW 2.....comes out this year....forget about WM21 and all this nonesense...just look forward to SDvsRAW2.wwervin

Don't forget about WWE Day of Reckoning 2! ;) Be looking forward to that too! (b'-')b

[QUOTE="wwervin"]Smackdown vs RAW 2.....comes out this year....forget about WM21 and all this nonesense...just look forward to SDvsRAW2.Jackov

Don't forget about WWE Day of Reckoning 2! ;) Be looking forward to that too! (b'-')b

I know for a fact I will be getting both! Me and my friends have a yearly tournament to declare who is champ of the WWE games and I have won the last 2 years so far! :D

Smackdown vs RAW 2.....comes out this year....forget about WM21 and all this nonesense...just look forward to SDvsRAW2.

wwervin

True, and heres hoping that it's the best wrestling game ever...