WM21 is really a hit-and-miss. If you're dying for an X-box grappler, give it a try, otherwise don't bother.
Before I begin to go into the bulk of this review, I will say that this game had potential and its very unfortunate that the X-box console will never be the home to a decent WWE-style wrestling game.
I will begin on a rousing note, and probably the most alluring aspect of the game – the graphics. For a game being played on a sixth generation console, Wrestlemania 21 is really able to make good use of the X-box's ability to produce fairly good graphics. Most wrestlers are well sculpted and designed, and you will find it difficult to discover faults when comparing the game models to their real life counterparts.
Though, like everything in Wrestlemania 21, with the good comes the bad. The graphics are decent and the best of any X-box WWE game, but I can't help but notice the unrealistic glow that each wrestler seems to possess. Each wrestler's body positively glistens all the time, emanating a glow that really gets annoying after a while.
The menus for the game are absolutely atrocious – plain steel bars that are emblazoned with unappealing yellow text. This may seem like no big deal and often games don't bother presenting their menus all too well, but I feel that a game like Wrestlemania 21 needed to add some excitement to the experience, and all the menu seems to represent is a dull and redundant experience, which is exactly what you will find.
Which moves us onto the game play. The grappling engine seems to be outdated and the amount of moves available is quite small when compared to other grapplers on the market. Matches often become boring very quickly when you have such a limited variety of moves to batter your opponent(s) with. The way in which these moves are executed is also pretty unappealing.
The controls are pretty basic – B and A for grapples, hold down B to apply a standing submission, X is to strike, Y to run, black to Irish whip and white to procure weapons either from the ground or from under the ring apron.
Applying a finisher is rather awkward though, you must first build up your heat meter by taunting the crowd and doing well during the match (to taunt rotate the left thumb-stick), then press A and B simultaneously. Simple, huh? Well, not really. For such moves as the Stone cold stunner, powerbomb, pedigree and such, it is easy. However, moves such as the sweet chin music and spear mean that you and your opponent may be in the correct placement. You can treat this feature as a bonus or detractor, I haven't decided yet.
The AI is extremely annoying. Many underlying bugs mean that your opponents wrestle about as intelligently as a brick. Learning to reverse is a must, as you will be constantly faced with a slew of submission moves whenever you touch the ground. Yet more frustrating, is the AI's tendency to exit the ring and then fight outside for prolonged periods of time, not wanting to get back in.
Don't bother pitting two COM players against each other, as eventually they will become entranced in an endless loop of entering and exiting the ring.
The season mode is decent to play through once. It has good VO's and a slightly enthralling, yet un-branching and out of date storyline. However, you will learn to hate the persona that your CAW assumes. To play through season mode you must use a CAW.
The aforementioned fact wouldn't be too bad had the games CAW been anything special, unfortunately it's not and your CAW's will eventually end up looking virtually like spruced up clones of each other.
You have all the basic matches at your fingertips – Tables, ladders, TLC, cage and HIAC to name a few but for any hardened WWE fan or WWE video gamer, you will be slightly disheartened. There is in no way the plethora of math types that SD VS RAW offers and gimmick matches aren't tag team compatible.
The game uses a recycled soundtrack from SD VS RAW, which was released the previous year. As mentioned earlier, the VO's in season mode are good, yet the commentary will annoy you very early in your endeavors.
My overall opinion – it beats RAW and RAW 2, but it still falls short of being anything worthwhile. Check it out if you really desire an X-box based WWE game, but otherwise don't bother.