HMM? I dont know whether to be frustrated or impressed.
I'm telling you, its comforting once you reach all tens in every stat layer to comback and kick the living crap out of every one of them but it still hurts my gamer's balls to think that I had to go through all this trouble for one match which was only about 15 to 25% into the season.
Anyway that was my rant but here is the breakdown.
Gamplay: Despite all the trouble I went through, it all comes down to how strong the character is that you are controling. How strong he or she is determines how well you will dominate in the match. This is the type of game where you should always let the computer strike first due to the reversal system. I must say that its very similar to the traditional ways of the WWF No Mercy game for N64 than any of the other Wrestling games. From a wreslting standpoint, the plot of the story mode was acceptable but to keep it "real" it was the most corny thing I've ever heard. The game tries almost too hard to make you seem like a wuss. The story was too chick flick like and had too much of a bubble gum sweet ending. The writers might want to consult the SD vs. RW team.
Graphics: Superb. By far the best of the series. I think they really jumped out of the box on this one. Such detail was put in to making it. I was impressed with how clean the lighting was as well as the cleanliness of the wrestlers. Some things can stand for improvement. I know its tough not to make John Cena look like a huge orange blimp on his entrance with that shirt but other than that, I can't argue with the results of the game's look. The camera angles really give you an idea of how huge these wrestlers are.
Sound: Not bad. I may have been a tad bit annoyed with the sound track of the previous DOR game buts its not like I wanted it eliminated and replaced with trashy Techno. Also Maybe someday we'll get some color commentary from Taz, Cole, King and JR.
If the story were good enough the game would be okay without a voice track but it is what it is.
On the plus side, they made an effort to put the entrance songs in full length. I didn't really like how the crowd would cheer during the matches. At least have them chant our CAW's nick names Also it would have been better to make it seem as if the crowd's cheer was drowning out the entrances a bit to create a realism effect.
Value: If youre a passionate WWE fan Buy it. If you have anger management issues, stay away. The reversal system is a love hate type thing. Its surely worth a try if you were satisfied with the first DOR. Its nothin to run out and grab immediately. Once you finish the season you'll probaly be so burnt out you'll never play it again. Plus the story mode is probaly its only deep feature aside from its CAW. Beyond that its just another wrestling game.