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WRESTLING VIDEO GAMES
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WWE Day of Reckoning
by THQ (for GameCube)
Description: I, as with Wrestlemania x9, eagerly awaited the
release of THQ's next grappling installment, as I've
always felt that the gameplay (which is certainly
important) in the Wrestlemania series is far superior
to that of the Playstation and Playstation 2's
Smackdown! games. Here I will explain different
aspects of the game and what I think of them before
giving my overall opinion on the game....
MATCHES & MATCH TYPES :
The only 'new' development here is the addition of the
'Bra and Panties' match, which has already been done
in the Smackdown! series. To be honest, even though I
am a male, and a fan of most of the 'Divas' included
in the game (which isn't very much) this match bores
me to death. But hey, they've done it in the WWE, so
why not include it? I'll leave you to make up your own
minds about that. All the favourites are here such as
TLC Matches, Hell In A Cells or if you fancy a good
ol' beatdown there's always the infinetely fun
Hardcore Match.
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STORY MODE :
Story Mode is probably the most excitable aspect of
Day Of Reckoning. I'm sure many of you think it's
great because it's never been done like this before,
right? Well, I'm afraid you'd be wrong!
Perhaps the most irritating part of Story Mode is that
you HAVE to create a superstar using the
'Create-A-Superstar' tool to use in Career. You can't
use an existing wrestler such as Triple H or The
Undertaker which really cheesed me off. I hate to keep
comparing this to one of the Smackdown! games, but
once again they come out on top once again with their
Career modes.
Back onto Day Of Reckoning : You and your created
superstar start off in the WWE Developmental
department where you must obliterate some of the
jobbers there that THQ thought up of. Highly amusing
to see their terrible names and attire. Anyway, after
you impress the right people with your progress you
are promoted onto Heat for a couple of dark matches
before wrestling for the first time on TV. When you've
had a good enough run there you are given a chance to
wrestle on either RAW or Smackdown! where you wrestle
your backside off until you are given a chance at the
big time : A title shot at Wrestlemania! You earn
money with the matches that you win which you can use
in Shopzone on various items. It is great fun. That
is, until you go onto RAW and have a tedious storyline
with Evolution.
To sum it up, this is a vast, VAST improvement on the
utterly useless 'Revenge Mode' of X9 and offers some
good entertainment.
IN-GAME ACTION, GRAPHICS & GAMEPLAY :
As per usual, the in-game action, graphics and
gameplay have improved greatly. And as per usual there
is something copied straight from WWF No Mercy. Now
you need to work down your opponent's spirit if you
want to nail a successful Strong grapple move. There
is now much more timing needed to reverse attacks,
which can become annoying (unless you play on Very
Easy). The move animations are superb (although they
still haven't fixed the slightly sketchy Vertical
Suplex animation) and are quite possibly the best THQ
have done since WWF Wrestlemania 2000. One thing to
note about attacking with weapons is that now all the
weapons eventually brake or are thrown away so over
the course of the match you can pull out as many
weapons as you wish, (obviously there are still limits
as to how much at a time you can use) which also means
that you have a chance at pulling out a glorious
wooden table, unlike on X9 where it was a rarity. I'm
sorry to say that in the TLC Matches you can still
only break the two pre-set tables and then you must
scavenge for more under the ring.
CHARACTERS & ROSTER:
Here is the full character list for the game...
SMACKDOWN! TALENT:
- Kurt Angle
- The Undertaker
- John Cena
- Rey Mysterio
- Eddie Guerrero
- Big Show
- Charlie Haas
- Chavo Guerrero
- Hardcore Holly
- Rhyno
- Doug Basham
- Danny Basham
- Booker T
- RVD
- Mark Jindrak
RAW TALENT:
- The Rock
- Triple H
- Chris Jericho
- Kane
- Randy Orton
- Shawn Michaels
- Christian
- Val Venis
- Garrison Cade
- Batista
- Matt Hardy
- Ric Flair
- Chris Benoit
- Lance Storm
- Shelton Benjamin
- Edge
DIVAS:
- Molly Holly
- Victoria
- Trish Stratus
- Stacy Keibler
There you have it. I must point out that The
Undertaker looks better than he ever has done in this
game. His character mug-shot alone will blow you away.
CREATE-A-SUPERSTAR :
Just like any new THQ installment, the
Create-A-Wrestler feature has been improved. There are
much more items than X9, also there are much more
pre-set logos to choose from including the A.P.A.'s
Tanktop designs. This time around you can finally
change the colour of any Gear you give your Superstar.
I must also point out that the fantastic custom
Entrance tool is featured here again, as is the Paint
Tool. There are a couple of new moves too. Perhaps the
most notable new feature to the C.A.S. is the tool in
the Profile section which allows you to take a photo
of your character to use as a Mugshot. You can even
use lighting to make your character more menacing and
change their expression from Normal to a smile or make
them look pissed. Far removed from the idiotic spikey
haired blue chap Smackdown! uses.
OVERALL :
WWE Day Of Reckoning is undeniably a fine grappler.
But there are too little new developments to make it a
truly special affair. Every new WWE game the roster is
updated, the Story Mode is changed, a few more items
added in Create-A-Superstar and sometimes there's a
new match or two. Not much more. The Smackdown! series
is progressing much faster and much more efficiently
than the Gamecube games, but I still think that the
Wrestlemania series is better, specifically for the
gameplay and animations. To be totally honest, I
wouldn't really recommend it to general video game
fans. For the diehard WWE game fans, this would be a
decent purchase.
(out of 5)
MATCHES & MATCH TYPES : **
STORY MODE : ***
IN-GAME ACTION, GRAPHICS & GAMEPLAY : *****
CHARACTERS & ROSTER : ****
CREATE-A-SUPERSTAR : ***
OVERALL Rating: ***
Reviewed by Lil' Theater on February 11.
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