X-Box's Last Hope has Vanished
brian bennett
by anchor....
a rating of 6.5.... not worth buying an xbox for... ahhhh PS2.. we still
love you
Creating accurate reproductions of the popular WWF superstars is key to
properly handling a licensed wrestling game, and in many cases, WWF Raw
performs admirably. There are a ton of wrestlers here, including some of
those who didn't appear in last year's WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It for the
PS2, such as Haku, Justin Credible, X-Pac, and K-Kwik. Many of the wrestlers
look amazing--The Rock looks absolutely great, as do many of the other
wrestlers who were unveiled earlier in the game's development. WWF Raw's
character models are replete with facial detail, nicely done muscle and skin
tone, good-looking tattoos, and accurate overall body structure. Some of the
characters aren't quite as well done as the rest, however. For example, the
Triple H character model, representing one of the most popular wrestlers
today, looks very little like the real-life wrestler. The artists also seem
to have overdone it with the Chris Benoit character model, whose midsection
just looks odd. The women also bear little resemblance to their real-life
counterparts. They look rather good when making their ring entrances, as the
high-quality Titantron video feeds, slick pyrotechnics, lighting effects,
and animate crowds set the scene nicely.
The brand-new engine that Anchor has developed for WWF Raw is well suited to
the task of accurately depicting wrestling maneuvers and their effects on
other characters and the ring. When you perform a suplex on an opponent with
your back to the ropes, you can send your opponent flying over the ropes to
the ringside, with the ropes bouncing believably in the process. Striking
opponents when near the ring ropes can get them tangled up, setting them up
for strikes that will take them over the side. Tossing a hapless opponent
into his or her tag-team partner is equally satisfying, since the collision
detection is spot on, and the force of the blow will likely damage or knock
down the second wrestler. Many other wrestling games have had problems with
top-rope maneuvers, but WWF Raw has your wrestler nicely adjust for distance
when going aerial, making these techniques worthwhile and quite satisfying.
Better yet, if you scale the turnbuckles at the wrong time, and your
opponents can reach you before you take off, they can knock you down,
forcing you to endure an all-too-familiar groan-of-agony animation. As an
added bonus, wrestlers sweat when performing, and you can see droplets
appear across the mat, increasing throughout the course of a match. This
little touch can easily pass unnoticed but adds considerably to the game's
simulation-style aesthetic.
Anchor is known for delivering excellent animation, and in this respect, WWF
Raw is quite impressive. When moves are executed, they look genuine, and in
most cases each move has been tailored to animate in the same way that the
real-life wrestler performs it. The Rock leans back and winces in pain while
performing his sharpshooter, for example, and it seems that just about
everyone in the game has a different way of throwing punch and chop
combinations. There's quite a variety of moves as well, while you're
standing up and while you're grappling. The same wrestler may throw a
right-left punch combination, shift positions and use a slapping chop, throw
a low kick or two, or even finish with a flying lariat. The number of moves
you can execute is substantial, considering the simplified control scheme,
and they all generally look great.
While Anchor has shown that it can animate character models extremely well,
some of the animation in WWF Raw seems incredibly rushed. The wrestlers walk
in a rather unnatural, waddling, almost Robocop-like way as they make their
ring entrances. When your chosen wrestler grabs a chair and runs with it, he
leans back a bit and holds the chair straight up ahead of him. However, this
same two-handed grip is used while the wrestler is holding smaller,
one-handed items, like the jack-o'-lantern. It's too bad that so much of WWF
Raw seems unfinished, because with additional development time it could have
been one of the smoothest-looking games around.
The way weapons and items have been made a part of WWF Raw is one of its
greatest features. There's an absolutely dizzying array of items you can
find, wear, and use, both in boxes outside the ring and on other wrestlers.
For example, while fighting the Undertaker you can knock off his bandanna
and put it on yourself. The same can be said for Kurt Angle's medals and
Christian's big goofy sunglasses. The more-insane items you can find include
drumsticks, coat hangers, spare tires, file cabinets, television sets, and
of course, the delicately embroidered swan tutu. The items can be swung as
melee weapons or tossed as projectiles, and each is rated differently for
effectiveness in a number of categories. Some of the more traditional
weapons, such as tables and two-by-fours, have been handled extremely well.
Tables can be broken in a number of ways--just about any move you use on an
opponent near a table can send your opponent crashing through it. Weapons
and tables are prone to breaking in half, but you can use these splintered
pieces as armaments as well. There are dozens of weapons to use and find,
and exploring this facet of the game is rewarding.
You will have to become familiar with the pacing and style of WWF Raw, since
it doesn't play exactly like the games that have come before it. The control
in WWF Raw makes use of a simple system where you can strike, grapple,
block, and perform a multitude of context-sensitive actions. The action
button can, for example, make the wrestler perform a signature taunt, scale
the turnbuckles, pick up and wear items, or climb out of the ring. It should
be noted that WWF Raw uses the same blocking mechanism as WWF No Mercy,
where wrestlers can nullify incoming strikes by sticking out their chests.
Combining the strike and grapple buttons will perform a counter move, which,
if used during the extremely brief window of opportunity, can deflect
incoming attacks or let you sidestep them. In a manner similar to that of
the highly acclaimed Fire Pro series of wrestling games, WWF Raw makes
extensive use of stamina, which sets it apart from the competition. Each
wrestler has a stamina indicator beneath his or her character model, which
slowly depletes as the wrestler performs tiring actions such as running,
throwing strikes, or attempting a grapple. This meter replenishes while
you're standing still or performing a taunt, so if you pace yourself
correctly, it's possible to avoid chronic fatigue.
What truly separates the play style of WWF Raw from that of other games is
the way the designers have implemented momentum and crowd reactions into the
system. Each player begins with an equal share of an onscreen "voltage
meter," which represents what percentage of the crowd's support they've
earned. The voltage meter will swing back and forth based on successful
moves and appeals to the audience through taunts and poses. If a wrestler
overuses a specific move, it will no longer generate voltage and may
eventually reduce his or her portion of the meter. Executing a submission,
like a figure-four leg lock, will generate voltage, while breaking out of it
will add to the recipient's bar, much like a game of tug-of-war. Getting the
voltage meter to flash for a few seconds while the opponent is groggy is the
only way to pull off signature moves and finishers. While this system adds a
lot of depth to the game, the extremely difficult prerequisites that need to
be fulfilled to perform the exciting signature moves are frustrating.
It's extremely disappointing to see that many of the features that were
reportedly going to be available in WWF Raw never made it in the final
version. There is no story mode to speak of, so don't expect any of the
exuberant backstage action and showmanship that make the televised
broadcasts so entertaining. The wrestlers don't bleed, so don't expect any
hard-core violence, either. And while there are lots of weapons to choose
from, most of them are rather underwhelming. Flying off the top rope while
wearing a swan tutu may be amusing the first time around, but in the long
haul, a great many of the items seem like they were the result of poorly
allocated resources--it would have been better if the item list had been cut
in half in exchange for being able to climb the ladders or set up opponents
by seating them in a chair. There are no backstage areas in WWF Raw; in
fact, aside from the king-of-the-ring tournament, you'll always be competing
in a single arena. The create-a-wrestler features in WWF Raw are fairly deep
while remaining streamlined and allowing for easy reproductions of popular
wrestlers that weren't included in the game due to licensing or time
constraints. There are only 16 male and female faces to choose from,
although there's a wide assortment of masks and other details to play around
with. You can also invest quite a bit of time into customizing entrance
routines, which is a definite bonus. But, considering that the Xbox has a
built-in hard drive, it's simply criminal that you're limited to only 16
created wrestlers. While ordinarily this may not seem so bad, the omission
of the former WCW and ECW stars from the roster makes this a glaring
oversight. You will likely want to re-create popular athletes like Rob Van
Dam, Booker T, Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, DDP, and many others, as
well as create your own original creations.
None of these missing features eclipses the lack of game modes, however.
You're limited to the following modes: exhibition match, king of the ring,
and the various title runs. The only title matches you can compete in are
the World Heavyweight, European, Intercontinental, Light Heavyweight
Championship, and the Women's Title. There are no real distinctions between
these title shots, aside from the level of competition you'll draw. You can
enter any wrestler in these events, and we mean anyone--you can vie for the
women's title with The Rock or enter Big Show in the light heavyweight
competition, which totally eliminates their legitimacy. The king-of-the-ring
mode is a seeded tournament, which can take a considerable amount of time to
play through, considering that you need to watch the CPU-vs.-CPU
introductions before you can skip their bouts. Playing through the single
player modes can be quite fun, since there's a considerable challenge in
trying to win a dozen matches with only three retries. The lack of a save
feature makes these modes cumbersome, though, since it means you need to
defeat all of the opponents in one sitting. The most glaring omission,
however, is the lack of a tag-team title mode, which ruins any possible hope
for extended cooperative play sessions. In addition, many of the modes that
are now considered standard, such as cage matches, table matches, Ironman
matches, multiple pinfalls, and six-man tags, are nowhere to be seen.
The overall lack of supplementary features isn't a major drawback, however,
since what's important to a modern wrestling game, aside from the graphics,
is solid multiplayer action and challenging CPU AI. Disappointingly, these
areas don't fare much better.
When you're playing against the CPU, the grappling system and play mechanics
in WWF Raw seem more than adequate, but when it comes down to head-to-head
play, the game becomes totally unbalanced. Certain characters, like The Rock
and The Undertaker, are overpowered in comparison to weaker wrestlers, such
as K-Kwik and X-Pac. Their stamina bars let them perform a greater number of
strikes while also replenishing much faster, and their appeals to the crowd
are much more powerful. While this imbalance does adequately portray the
real-life capabilities of these characters, it ruins the possibility for
challenging matchups between equally skilled players. Many of you will find
that the only fun of playing multiplayer games in WWF Raw is finding all of
the bizarre items to use and wear.
The single-player action isn't much better, however. To state it bluntly,
the CPU AI in WWF Raw is just plain awful. Countless times the CPU opponent
will do things that are just unexplainable. Interfering wrestlers will race
in and choose an opponent to batter, but there is no actual allegiance or
loyalty in play, and they will just as quickly turn on the other side.
Tag-team matches suffer from the same problem, as wrestlers have a penchant
for attacking their teammates. During non-time-limit singles matches, an AI
wrestler outside the ring will constantly run back into the ring and roll
right back out, as if he were resetting the referee count. When maneuvering
outside the ring, the CPU opponent has a tendency to hang on obstructions,
like the announcer table and steel steps, and just continue walking in place
until you come over and draw him away. If you stay inside the ring, the CPU
does manage to put up a challenging fight, and it's quite proficient at
avoiding grapples and performing counters. Playing through the single-player
title modes is quite challenging and can be entertaining if you can look
past the AI's limitations.
On the audio front, WWF Raw is solid throughout, with sound effects as
varied as the many items you'll find in the game. Weapon strikes sound
particularly brutal, and the constant crowd noises provide a wealth of
atmosphere. WWF Raw employs frequent use of guitar-driven, high-intensity
tracks that are clearly intended to quicken the game's pace. The entrance
music sounds really good for just about everyone, since the real-life themes
are used for such notables as The Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin,
and even Christian has his opera music. It's really too bad that THQ saw fit
to ship this game without the ability to rip your own soundtracks and intro
music--this seems like an extremely obvious functionality to include and is
most relevant to this type of game, considering how often wrestlers cycle
through entrance music.
The problems Anchor stumbled upon while creating WWF Raw are easy enough to
explain. When compared with legitimate martial arts events like the Ultimate
Fighting Championship, professional wrestling requires a greater amount of
variety to properly emulate the many facets of the sports-entertainment
experience. Without the benefit of a large variety of play modes, WWF Raw is
forced to stand out on the merits of its grappling system and its single-
and multiplayer experiences, none of which are truly satisfying. WWF Raw
could have benefited by specializing in either of the two established
directions: having a realistic fighting engine that takes location damage
into account, like that in WWF No Mercy, or having a more arcade-style
setting with a wide variety of play modes and a slew of wrestlers onscreen
at once. Even more importantly, WWF Raw should have spent more time in
development so that features seen in previous games, such as blood, fighting
in the crowds, and backstage areas, could have been included, as well as an
updated roster.
In the end, WWF Raw is a valiant effort by Anchor, which has succeeded in
creating a formidable game engine that allows for a number of really great
future possibilities. The many items to find and use are an absolute riot,
and despite a truckload of missing features, the create-a-wrestler mode is
solid. Those who absolutely need a wrestling game for their Xbox will
obviously eat this one up--it's not hard to look past the considerable flaws
and laud the virtues of what is easily the best-looking wrestling game
currently available. The discriminating player, however, would do well to
rent this one first.
Gabbagal
And a WWF game being ANY consoles last hope, please....
Gab
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Mortis
brian....@uk.easynet.net says...
> Yes Yes... it was the last hope for the x-box and its been fucked right up
> by anchor....
>
> a rating of 6.5.... not worth buying an xbox for... ahhhh PS2.. we still
> love you
>
>
> Creating accurate reproductions of the popular WWF
I take it all the other WWF games were works of art then?
No?
Thought as much - I could of told you WWF was going to be shit on any
system. This is not news. Of course, it won't affect it's sales one
bit.
--
___________________________________________________________
-Mortis- -Kawasaki 7X7R-
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Don't shoot the messenger. Unless he's an anorak-wearing
pigeon raper." - Nite (AGHLTFC)
___________________________________________________________
Midnight Pete
then smackdown 3, that game is terrible. My next hope for a great wrestling
game is gamecube's wrestlemania X8, hopefully that one will be killer
"brian bennett" <brian....@uk.easynet.net> wrote in message
news:YH9a8.11443$Js5.2...@monolith.news.easynet.net...
Michael Dauria
Wrestlemania on N64 seems to be the favorite.
"brian bennett" <brian....@uk.easynet.net> wrote in message
news:YH9a8.11443$Js5.2...@monolith.news.easynet.net...
BrianZ
Challenge?.... or was it Morrowind: Elder Scrolls 3?.... or was it Gun
Valkyrie?... or Sega GT?...or Unreal Championship?...or Project
Ego?.....looks like there are plenty of last hopes, jackass. The machine
hasn't even been out for 4 months yet and already it has produced some of
the best videogames ever made. Get a clue. Come fall of this year the Xbox
lineup will look just as impressive as PS2's, if not more so.
BZ
"brian bennett" <brian....@uk.easynet.net> wrote in message
news:YH9a8.11443$Js5.2...@monolith.news.easynet.net...
John Thorenson
Nah, it's too shitty to be. Sorry.
>.or was it Rallisport
>Challenge?....
Huh?
> or was it Morrowind: Elder Scrolls 3?....
Buh?
>or was it Gun
>Valkyrie?...
Crap.
>Sega GT?...
Crap.
>.or Unreal Championship?...
Indefinitely delayed.
>or Project
>Ego?....
Crap.
>.looks like there are plenty of last hopes, jackass.
Well Bloodwake, Wreckless, and WWF Raw are all pieces of shit. This doesn't
bode well for the "great" XBox exclusive library.
>The machine
>hasn't even been out for 4 months yet and already it has produced some of
>the best videogames ever made.
It's produced a single noteworthy (i.e., top five) FPS which will be better in
every way once it hits the PC. Even I couldn't predict things would go this bad
for the XBox this soon.
>Come fall of this year the Xbox
>lineup will look just as impressive as PS2's, if not more so.
Of course since its lineup will be exactly what the PS2's was last year. See
the problem?
__
"What color is Shaquille O'Neal?"
HOE
"John Thorenson" <omar...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020212145930...@mb-fc.aol.com...
> >I always thought that JSRF was the Xbox's last hope...
>
> Nah, it's too shitty to be. Sorry.
>
> >.or was it Rallisport
> >Challenge?....
>
> Huh?
Try to keep up with one of the most anticipated releases on any console. K?
http://xbox.ign.com/articles/137/137334p1.html
http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/previews/0,10869,2832161,00.html
http://teamxbox.com/content.php?id=237
http://www.microsoft.com/games/Xbox/rallisportchallenge.asp
Oh, and by the way muttering unintelligible things like 'buh' REALLY drives
your point home.
dick
NOw.. go make me a fuckin' sandwich
"HOE" <Heh...@nowway.spamerino> wrote in message
news:_%ja8.44576$Pz4.252417@rwcrnsc53...
HOE
Typical COCK. Always the intelligent, witty poster. You do know what a
complete and total idiot you are -- right?
"dick" <bighan...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:u6k7so...@corp.supernews.com...
John Thorenson
While there's no title on the XBox that could be called anticipated by anyone
other than idiots, this surely isn't it. Don't cry.
HOE
> >Try to keep up with one of the most anticipated releases on any console.
K?
>
> While there's no title on the XBox that could be called anticipated by
anyone
> other than idiots, this surely isn't it. Don't cry.
Can I laugh at your parrot like endless retarded banter?
Hahahahahahahahahaha! Hey John, I am not crying, I am laughing! At you!
Hahahahahahahahahaha!