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WRESTLING VIDEO GAMES
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WCW Backstage Assault
by Electronic Arts (for Nintendo 64)
Description:'WCW Backstage Assault' was the next installment of
WCW games made by Electronic Arts after the mediocre
'WCW Mayhem', so, as the Hardcore division in World
Championship Wrestling was growing popular they
decided to omit the single most important part of a
Wrestling game : the wrestling ring. Now you are
confined to backstage areas venting your murderous
frustration on fellow WCW stars in a variety of
settings with a variety of different weapons to
utilise.
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MATCHES & MATCH TYPES:
There is only one single match type in this game, and
that is a one-on-one exhibition battle with an
extremely small selection of stipulations such as
'First Blood' and turning Submissions and knock-outs
on / off. There is an option to have a two-player
fight however it's only for a single match. A
backstage wrestling game without tag-team or Handicap
modes is a serious let-down indeed.
STORY MODE:
'Hardcore Championship' is what you use to unlock
secret characters and more settings to brawl through.
First off you choose your difficulty which represents
the level of the belt you fight for. Easy is for the
Hardcore Championship, Medium is for the U.S. title
and Hard is for the World Title. You must fight in one
backstage area to start with, and once you win against
your opponent in the first match, you are allowed to
use a new area. From then on, with each room you
unlock you can pass through each one on your travels
in the Championship, as well as in Exhibition. There
is a 'Hardcore Gauntlet' mode, too where you must
survive a grueling 7 matches without any health
regeneration. You can unlock secret characters using
this as well.
IN-GAME ACTION, GRAPHICS & GAMEPLAY:
This is where 'Backstage Assault' really falters. The
graphics for this game are absolutely horrible, all of
the wrestlers have at least one fault with their
appearance (for instance Scott Steiner has green hair,
which, thank God you can change, and in doing so
removes the character's portrait which labels them a
C.A.W.) and most look nothing like they do in real
life whatsoever. The in-game animations are truly
diabolical with the wrestlers shaking about like
they're fighting in the Russian Winter. As with 'WCW
Mayhem' there is a grappling system implemented here
whereby you press B to lock shoulders and use any
number of buttons and a direction on the D-pad to
perform a maneuver. They have unnecessarily filled up
two of the C-buttons for using weapons and different
strikes and grapple combinations. Awful.
CHARACTERS & ROSTER:
The roster for this game is great, probably the best
thing about it :
Asya, A-Wall, Bam Bam Bigelow, Big Vito, Billy Kidman,
Booker T, Bret Hart, Brian Adams, Bryan Clark, Buff
Bagwell, Capt. Rection, Chris Candido, Chris Kanyon,
Corporal Cajun, Crowbar, Daffney, David Flair, Diamond
Dallas Page, Disco Inferno, Don Harris, Doug
Dellenger, Elizabeth, Eric Bischoff, Evan Karagias,
Goldberg, Hulk Hogan, Jeff Jarrett, Jimmy Hart, Johnny
The Bull, Kevin Nash, Kimberly, Konnan, La Parka,
Lance Storm, Lex Luger, Lt. Loco, Major Gunns, Medusa,
Mike Awesome, Mona, Miss Hancock, Norman Smiley, Rey
Mysterio Jr., Ric Flair, Ron Harris, Scott Hall, Scott
Steiner, Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, Shane Douglas, Shane
Helms, Shannon Moore, Sid Vicious, Stevie Ray, Sting,
Tank Abbott, Torrie Wilson, Vampiro, Vince Russo
CREATE-A-SUPERSTAR:
The Create-A-Wrestler tool is absolutely useless in
this game for two reasons : 1. There aren't enough
good options to make them look unique, and 2. They'll
look poor once you finish them, anyway. Unlike 'WCW
Mayhem' you do not choose a Wrestler's pre-set move
list for your Superstar, instead you can actually
choose your own moves. However they introduced a
terrible, terrible points system for each move you
choose (a lot like 'WWF Attitude' and 'ECW Hardcore
Revolution') which limits your prospects drastically.
OVERALL:
'WCW Backstage Assault' is a poorly thrown together
game with terrible graphics and gameplay and messes up
an interesting concept for a grappling game which
could've worked. Not at all recommended to buy, even
for diehard WCW fans. In fact, save your money and
don't rent this game either. It's that bad.
(out of 5)
MATCHES & MATCH TYPES : *
STORY MODE : *
IN-GAME ACTION, GRAPHICS & GAMEPLAY : *
CHARACTERS & ROSTER : ****
CREATE-A-SUPERSTAR : *
Rating: OVERALL RATING : *
Reviewed by Lil' Theater on February 15, 2005.
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