This past Tuesday, THQ dropped by with a near-final build of its upcoming Legends of WrestleMania game. Accompanying the friendly PR person and game's producer was WWE Legend Ted "Million Dollar Man" DiBiase.
As for Legends of WrestleMania itself, there's little doubt that this game is designed for the casual wrestling fan. The button-mashing controls are easy to pick up and not nearly as deep (or as rewarding, in most cases) as those found in the WWE SmackDown! Vs. Raw series. The X and A buttons control strikes and grapples, B is for pin and Y is used to block and reverse moves.
While the controls are relatively pedestrian, the game modes, particularly the WrestleMania Tour Mode is worth a laugh, if only to watch the charmingly antiquated video montages that precede each of the matches. Showing off footage of classic match-ups from each of the first fifteen WrestleMania's, this is eye candy for those with an inclination for wrestling nostalgia. Interestingly, while the footage from the 80s looks old, it's amazing to watch footage from ten years ago--to see how young Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock look, and how far the WWE's television production values have come in a decade.
But, back to the game. WrestleMania Tour Mode lets you compete in classic WM matches in one of three ways:
Relive: Replay classic WM matches and try to complete them as close to the real outcome as possible. For example, in the WrestleMania III match between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, your goal isn't just to beat the massive Frenchman, it's to slam him just like Hogan did back in the day in front of more than 92,000 fans.
Rewrite: Here, you try to change history by changing the outcome of a classic match.
Redefine: Based on my time, this one's my favorite of the bunch. Here, historical match-ups are remade from the ground up, resulting in some sometimes inspired matches. The very first match in the mode--between Big John Studd and Andre the Giant--has been recast from the original $15,000 body slam match into a Hell in a Cell competition. Even more preposterous: both of the legendary big men start out on TOP of the cage. You can Irish whip your opponent until he teeters on the edge of the cage and, eventually toss him right off the edge of the cage, sending him crashing to the announcing table below, ala the classic Hell in a Cell match between Mick Foley and the Undertaker.
In addition to WrestleMania Tour mode, there's also a ladder-style competitive mode you specifically devoted to your created wrestler. It's known as Legend Killer mode, where you pit your created wrestler in a series of ladder style matches against the various grapplers in the game. Wins will earn you points you can use to improve your created wrestler's attributes.
Speaking of the creation modes, the create-a-wrestler has a similar look and feel to the SmackDown! Vs. Raw series and the game will also have a create a move-set, create an entrance, and create a tag team (but sadly, no create a finisher like SmackDown! 09). However, with the just-announced feature allowing you to import the entire roster from SmackDown! 09 into Legends (including your created wrestlers. No WWE Divas, sadly), you'll have no shortage of grapplers to choose from.
While the exaggerated wrestler models took some getting used to, I've come around to the game's look. Producers told me that imported SmackDown! characters will still look like they do in that game, so it will be strange to see the disparity in the two character model stylings when going head-to-head. Character animations doesn't fare as well, unfortunately--there's all sorts of strange animation continuity errors, especially in the quicktime events that pop up often in a match. In one frame, both wrestlers will be on the mat and, in the next, the frame will switch to both characters standing.
Legends of WrestleMania's nostalgic lineup and simple gameplay are clearly aimed at the casual wrestling crowd, while it's potentially massive roster (for those who have SmackDown 09, that is) is a nod to the more hardcore. I'm not quite convinced long-time wrestling game fans will find enough to satisfy them in Legends but, if nothing else, it might keep them busy until the next SmackDown! Vs Raw arrives.
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