WWF Raw is the first wrestling game out for the Xbox and it has disappointed about everyone who has played it. This game was announced about the same time as the Xbox and was the most anticipated game for the Xbox before the launch, during the launch, and after the launch and up until it was released. Then of course it disappointed everyone. It has without a shadow of a doubt the best graphics ever seen in a wrestling game, but that doesn't make up for the mediocre sound, bad game play, and absolutely horrible value. This game was so hyped up, however after it was released, even die hard wrestling fans took it back to the store. The WWF is usually surrounded with success, however this game is an embarrassment and do not be surprised if THQ loses its license to produce WWF Games. This game was a huge disappointment and the only good quality it has is a trademark for games of the Xbox; awesome graphics. Graphics The graphics in this game are flawless. Each wrestler is individually modeled, and have spent a lot of time on their individual characteristics. Each wrestler acts, and moves like their real life counterparts. You can tell that the ring entrances were an important part to get right for THQ when they made this game. Each ring entrance is exactly like what the real superstar does during his entrances. Stone Cold Steve Austin goes to all four corners and lifts his arms up, HHH does his thing where he goes to the ring and sprays the water out, and The Undertaker rides out on his Harley Davidson. Plus on each of these entrances in the background on the Titantron are the real entrance videos of the wrestler. The graphics are superior to any wrestling game ever, and this is the only great part of this game 9 out of 10 Sound Effects/ Music The sound is okay in this game. Each WWF Superstar comes out with his own intro music which is up to date as the games release. The in ring music is the same as the WWF Smackdown series, there are no announcers, just "wrestling music." When you are playing you can hear the crowd cheering or booing, it's really obvious how they feel about each wrestler. The sound effects are done very well. It is pretty cool how they got the sound of chair meeting skull so well. You can tell what the player is being hit with by just listening to it, such as when you get hit with the microphone there is feedback that goes throughout the whole stadium. One of the major drawbacks is the not being able to play your own music from the hard drive. This could have been a great feature, which for some reason they didn't have. You could have been able to play your music while you wrestle so you don't have to listen to their "wrestling music", and you could have been able to create a wrestler and have him come out to your entrance music. There's a lot more that they could have done with the sound of this game, which makes it only average in this category. 7 out of 10 Gameplay This is the worst wrestling game ever in this category. You cannot just pick up the controller and mash buttons anymore; you have to know which buttons do what. When you first start to play this game you will be so frustrated that you will want to throw your controller against your T.V. (which is not recommended) because you will not be able to do anything. The wrestler's reaction to the buttons when you press them is so slow! You will press the button to punch, and before your wrestler gets his arm back the computer's wrestler will hit you about two times. The only way you will learn how to win at this game is if you are really, really, really dedicated to beating this game. The next thing is the game play, it will take you a long time to figure out that the bottom meter which for some reason is the biggest meter is who the fans want to win, not who is actually winning. They made the most important meter which shows when you can pin the other wrestler and who is winning the smallest bar for some reason. This is the most important part of the game and they make it seem as though it is not important. They should make the huge bar at the bottom of the screen show who is winning, and when you can pin the wrestler. One of the only cool things about the ease of play is that you can actually configure your controller exactly how you want it, just like a computer game. Other than the ability to configure your controller the ease of play is really, really bad. 2 out of 10 Long Term Fun Unless you play this game with your friends, and you are all huge WWF fans, this game will get the most dust on your shelves than any other game. This game also has the least amount of modes of any WWF game; even WWF War Zone for Playstation had more modes than this! There is Exhibition, Title Mode, King of the Ring, and Create a Wrestler. In exhibition mode there aren't any table matches, ladder matches, cage matches, hell in a cell matches, Iron matches, etc. There are none of those! There is only, One on One, Two on One, Three on One, Tag Team, Tornado Tag Team, and that's it! Yes you have the option of making the match hardcore, but who cares! As I said there are more options in a game made for Playstation about six years ago than this game. The title mode as well sucks; you have the option of going for any belt, but not the tag belts. This is really stupid because you can make the Big Show or any other wrestler the women's champ. When you go for each belt the number of matches grows from going through three girls for the women's championship to going through ten people for the WWF Championship. Then King of the Ring is just a tournament you can play through. This game's number modes are very, very, very bad, and the pathetic create a wrestler mode is bad as well. This game's long term fun should be called short term disappointment. 2 out of 10 Reviewer's tilt 5/10 Overall This game is the worst wrestling game in the past seven years. Yes the graphics are awesome, and the sound is okay, but that doesn't make up for the horrible game play, and long term fun value. You will not take the time to learn the buttons because this game is not worth playing, so you won't want to learn the buttons. There is not long term fun value at all. You will be bored with this game after the first couple hours you play it. I even a WWF fan was looking for the receipt about a few hours into this game; you will probably be doing the same if you buy this game. If you are a WWF fan I'm telling you, to go out and rent this game before you buy it, just so you know how bad it really is. 6.0 Even if you are a die hard WWF fan like I am, you will regret buying this game -Ben Berry
By rdhnightwolf | Review Date: Apr 03, 2006 | XBOX
Just plain blah..... This game really isn't worth 10.00. It's just not very innovative at all. The story is non existant and everything else just feels thrown together in an attempt to get the first game out the door.... Read Full Review
WWF Raw was the first wrestling game released on the X-Box. It was designed by Anchor. Raw has great graphics for its time, and a large roster, but falls short on many aspects. First, I'll start off with the story mod... Read Full Review
