Another wrestling game, another system. I’ve been a
HUGE fan of grapplers since the days of NES, but THQ needs some TLC for their WWE, ASAP! Gone are the days of
RAW on the Xbox; they have been replaced by the GameCube’s
WrestleMania franchise. This
should be a very welcomed change since the short-lived
RAW series (there were only two total) was a stinker compared to its great PS2
SmackDown! cousin. Unfortunately, playing
WrestleMania 21 is about as much fun as lying on the mat taking a Stinkface from Rikishi’s fat, sweaty ass.
As good as WWE WrestleMania 21 looks, its gameplay is on the verge of being utterly crap-tacular. The controls themselves aren’t all that bad; in fact, they work fairly well. The problem lies mainly in the horrible A.I. During any game type that has computer-controller wrestlers, be prepared for an onslaught of frustration. When taking on an opponent, there are times when it can actually become impossible to regain energy, and the A.I. wrestler will continue performing the same move on you over and over again. In tag team matches, your computer partner is worthless and doesn’t know when to save you. In fact, the opponent’s second fighter often joins your partner outside the ring just standing there.
What this means is that for the many gamers out there who buy a wrastlin’ title for the single-player Career mode, you’re going to be extremely disappointed. The only thing that may truly keep you going is the story, because of the use of real superstar voices (finally!). Beyond that, the gameplay of this “Soap Opera for Men” is nothing better than a kick to the groin. Playing match after match got extremely monotonous because I ended up using the same moves over and over again to whoop the computer’s candy ass.
The other half of gamers that buy wrestling titles are into it for the multiplayer experience. Unfortunately, the gameplay here is just as bad. There are a number of glitches in the game, and there is virtually no defense against constant submission moves. The track and field-style button-mashing that takes place to perform and escape from pin falls and submissions is very flawed too, as it is entirely too easy to cause a break. And don’t even get me started on Xbox Live. Playing WrestleMania 21 on Live was the worst online experience I’ve ever had! It blows my mind how much lag can happen in one game. It is worse than most dial-up experiences that I’ve had.
