Lay the smack down, open a can of whup ass, or just suck it? Review

Lay the smack down, open a can of whup ass, or just suck it?

Under the leadership of the savvy and uncompromising Vince McMahon, the WWF has become a global enterprise of outrageous proportions. It’s the number 1 thing on TV, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any smaller. Unlike the golden days in the mid-80’s (aka ‘Hulkamania’), contemporary wrestling doesn’t even pretend to be real. The wrestlers, themes, moves, and plots are more ridiculous than ever. Pro wrestling is the entertainment equivalent of a fart joke – you know you shouldn’t laugh, but you just can’t help it.

Last year, Acclaim Sports

wowed the gaming world with WWF

Warzone. It was one of the best selling games of the year, behind only Gran

Turismo and Resident

Evil 2. Gamers have been waiting patiently for the follow-up, and after

many delays and setbacks, the sequel is upon us. And frankly, it rocks.

WWF Attitude actually manages to improve upon its phenomenal predecessor with more moves, wrestlers, matches, and body-slamming rasslin’ goodness. Add to that some updated graphics and one of the most impressive player creation systems known to man, and you’ve got a game worthy of the title, “King of the Ring.”

Attitude uses the same fighting system found in Warzone, so

most of you will be instantly familiar with the controls. This is a good thing;

I thought Warzone had a really cool control system and am glad to see it reused.

Each wrestler has a ton of moves, though mastering the controls in general doesn’t

take long at all.

The game is jam packed with game modes and options. You can pretty much fight

in any kind of match imaginable. Wrestling staples like Tag Team, Royal Rumble,

and the dreaded Steel Cage are here, as well as a bevy of ‘new’ match types,

like Tornado, Lumberjack, and Gauntlet. Now add on Pay-Per View matches, King

of the Ring, and a slew of match modification options (First Blood, Iron Man,

2 out of 3, etc.), and you wind up with a seemingly endless variety of gameplay

choices.

The most appealing single-player mode is the epic Career mode. You have to

move up the rankings to win one belt, after which you’re placed back down to

the bottom of the next division. You’ll find yourself engaged in a smorgasbord

of match types. I’ve logged quite a few hours and have yet to complete one full

Career. This puppy is deeper than the Godfather’s pockets.

To get a feel of this depth, look no further than the updated Wrestler Creation

feature. First introduced in Warzone, the creation engine has undergone

some major tweaks, leading to a truly impressive editor. They’ve added plenty

of options, including a huge number of eyes, lips, more clothes, and even move

sets you can edit. Unless you’re awfully strange, you can make a wrestler that

looks a hell of a lot like you. There’s nothing quite like pounding on the Undertaker

as yourself.

The single player game is no slouch, but what better way to prove your dominance

than by laying the smack down on some buddies? The multi-player in Attitude

is well-done, due in part to the wide variety of matches. You can play against

up to 3 friends (via multi-tap, for all two of you who have one) in pretty much

any style.

Graphically, Attitude

picks up where Warzone left off. The wrestlers themselves look fantastic;

seamless polygons, smooth movements, and incredibly realistic textures bring

the big lugs to life. At times, the action almost looks like FMV, particularly

during tag team bouts when a few guys are going at it at the same time. I don’t

know what kind of programming geniuses they have over at Acclaim, but someone

give these guys a raise. I’ve yet to see any slowdown at all, even with 4 guys

wrestling at once. This game truly pushes the boundaries of the Playstation’s

graphical capability.

However, the crowd is very shoddy, and the arenas hardly do justice to their real-life counterparts. But you don’t really notice this during play, as the frenetic action takes up most of your attention.

The sound is authentic, with the real WWF superstars lending their vocal talents to the game. The commentary by Shane McMahon and Jerry Lawler is fine and even funny, albeit a bit irritating at times.

My biggest gripe with Attitude is the loading time. Given, these occur before

a match and don’t mess with the gameplay. However, those of you with short attention

spans will be fidgeting around on your couch waiting for screens to load. The

N64 version (due out soon) should fix this, though likely at the cost of sound

and video.

For better or worse, pro wrestling is here to stay. Whether you’re a hardcore

fan who knows the difference between Goldust and Goldberg or just a game geek

looking for the next big thing, go pick up WWF Attitude. You won’t be

let down, though you might… Suck It!