For the record, I plan to make a few things straight. I love the N64 THQ and AKI games (WCW/nWo, Revenge, Wrestlemania 2000, No Mercy) but strongly despise the PS2 THQ and Yukes games (Smackdown 1-3); so when I heard Yukes was in charge of Wrestlemania X8 I felt the game would in no way be in my hands. However, since numerous video game magazines and websites claimed Yukes would stay true to the AKI control scheme, my faith was restored to the point that I looked forward to the game. Especially since THQ’s last attempt at a wrestling game, RAW (in my opinion) was total garbage, (due to the horrible control scheme, limited CAW, lacking single player mode, etc.). So, I was left with little to no choice but to purchasing Wrestlemania X8, since no other wrestling games were coming out soon. As the due date drew closer and closer, I was expecting to hopefully relive memories that I had had with the THQ and AKI games I loved so much. But after playing Wrestlemania X8, for what I believe to be a fair amount of time, I was in shock. The game, to put it nicely is nothing more than a polished turd.
The roster (up to 40 wrestlers from the get-go) in Wrestlemania X8 is pretty much updated to today’s televised WWE superstars. While the original nWo members (Hogan, Nash, Hall) and ECW/WCW super stars like Booker T and Rob Van Dam are in the game, you’ll also find some incredibly out dated characters such as the “break dancing” Albert and Mighty Molly. Still, outdated or not, the wrestlers do look impressive. While not ultra-realistic like in RAW, the wrestlers appear similar to those in the N64 games by appearing somewhat blocky, yet easily recognizable and detailed. From the head down you’ll notice the tiniest details such tattoos, scars, and textures for the wrestlers’ attire. The animations for the majority of the time appear extremely realistic when dishing or receiving strikes and devastating grappling moves. However, there is noticeable clipping at times, mostly during grapples and ground attacks. But what bothers me the most is that the players’ faces don’t carry much emotion when compared to WWF RAW. Hell, just look at Booker T, the poor guy looks like he’s zoning out the whole time.
Besides the wrestlers, the in-game visuals capture the atmosphere of the WWE pretty well. The arenas (RAW, Smackdown, Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, etc.) are recreated exactly how they would appear in real life (with the exception of Raw due to it’s out-dated look). The entrances, while visually impressive, seem a tad dull and the crowd appears to be nothing more then card board cut outs shaking violently while holding up cliché signs as light bulbs flash depending on the move(s) performed.
But anyway, I was focusing more on how the control was like. Like I stated before, I couldn’t stand the Smack Down series due to the arcadey control and fast paced matches; so if Yukes had brought their “brilliant” control scheme over to Wrestlemania X8, I would have been devastated. And while the control scheme is not a carbon copy of the Smackdown scheme, it’s still pretty horrible. Performing a combination of pushing a direction and the A button at the same time does one of the ten possible grappling moves. Now here is my problem with it. For starters, you only get to execute five moves on the front and back, making you view the same moves over and over; Then, there is the fact of not being able to remain in a grapple position while planning which move to pull off, which makes the arcadey side of Wrestlemania X8 show out a bit.. Finally, my biggest gripe is that some of the moves programmed for some wrestlers aren’t even the ones that they use on a day-to-day basis, more like rarely to never.
Performing the striking moves transform this game into a button masher since the in game combos are performed by beating down on the “A” button rapidly while playing the guessing game as to which direction on the D-Pad performs what. Personally, I would of changed it so timing would be required, since it would eliminate the pain that is hitting the air over and over while your opponent stands 5ft. away from you.
Aside from tossing wild jabs and limited grapples, you’ll be able to beat your opponent(s) with typical WWE weapons (tables, ladders, chairs, trash cans, sledge hammers, etc.) until your little heart cries with joy…. or disappointment. While I will admit the idea of having a touch sensitive control scheme is a good one, it is somewhat useless to have. Light chair strikes barely daze the opponent long enough for you to perform another move, while the more powerful attacks take far too long and can be seen coming a mile way. This makes performing reversals so easy since each shoulder trigger is used for reversals. One shoulder button is used for reversing strikes while the other reverses or cancels grapples; plus, when a finisher is performed on you, by pressing both shoulder buttons at the same time, you’ll be able to reverse that as well.
But on a final note for the control scheme used in Wrestlemania X8, and this is perhaps my biggest gripe with the game. I hope and pray that no other wrestling game made from now on requires a player to press two buttons at once to do some of the most basic maneuvers. For example, grappling from behind, Irish whipping an opponent, and picking up a weapon require pressing two buttons at once. Why THQ and Yukes decided to do this now, I don’t know why, but I find it extremely aggravating and annoying to place my thumb in a painfully odd position for the sake of Irish whipping my opponent! Perhaps this idea will be ditched, or so I hope.
For those who thought this review couldn’t be more negative towards Wrestlemania X8, I warn you now, that things will be getting ugly in this area. Reason being is that the sound in this game is near to non-existent. From the weak introductions (including those who have pyro effects) to the dead silent matches, you’ll wonder if you accidentally hit the mute switch on your remote. The only noticeable aspect or hint of sound from the entire game is when the match takes place. The grunts, attacks, slams, and death defying aerial moves carry that “UMPH!” this game so desperately needs. Even the music playing during the matches is too “soft” in my opinion to take place in a wrestling game. Clearly those in charge of the game’s sound slacked off, rushed the game, or my assumption is that they did both. Heck, the game doesn’t even carry in-game commentary (while that may not be such a bad thing), even though Jim Ross and “The King” are visible there throughout each and every match. What happened THQ!?
Now while the game does support up to four players in numerous match types such as Triple Threat Match, Hell in a Cell, TLC Match, Battle Royal, Royal Rumble and much more, some will be used more than others. There is also a single player career mode of some sort which may not be as deep as Smackdown’s career mode, but is still pretty decent considering the fact you are given the chance to defend your belt. There are a total of six belts to claim and defend in the game’s career mode, but dozens more in another belt related game mode. This sounds like a great idea on paper, but in all honesty it is a cheap way of making you spend your money on another memory card (for those who don’t already own two). You see, the only way to defend or put up your belt when going against your friend(s) is to own two memory cards. I can understand the purpose was so you could travel to a certain friend who owns a copy of this game and a GC, but what about those who don’t care to do that and rather just stay at home and duke it out there? Personally, I stand in the latter group but since I own only one memory card, I can’t even do that. Since I refuse to pay for another memory card for the sake of using it on a single game, why should I even bother unlocking the other dozens of belts?
If you couldn’t tell as of now, I practically hate the game. Some of you may argue that I am not willing to accept the changes made by comparing them to the N64 WWF games, but why shouldn’t I? Those games were, and still are, great! Heck even the Create-a-Wrestler mode used in Wrestlemania 2000 beats out the one in Wrestlemania X8! Clearly this game was rushed in some areas for the sake of having it released in the summer time, but I would of rather dealt with delays for a solid wrestling game than a wrestling game that doesn’t meet the demands of those expecting a quality wrestling game. So hopefully THQ will wake up and tell those who worked on this game to “get the F out.”
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