YBFREE.comIn Pursuit of Human Interests
| YBFREE.com In Pursuit of Human Interests |
Archives | BLOG | Auctions | Shoppe | Message Board | Company Info | Search |
You know when you see a really good movie and you just can't wait to see the sequel? That is exactly how I felt 
playing WWF Raw,. It kicked ass! It's the best looking wrestling game ever!
Game play: 7 out of 10 The Good: Choose from 45 different wrestlers, each one elicits a different response from the fans. Austin and The Rock rule and will get huge fan support, making it extremely hard to beat them. This is something I find very innovative. You can actually watch the tide turn in a match based on the fan's response. In addition, moves now take effort. You cannot just beat down an opponent with ease. You have to conserve your energy or you will not be able to hit the more devastating moves. Try landing six chair shots in a row and you will notice that the chair falls right out of your hands.
Even wrestlers have certain strengths they never had before. Austin throws a quick punch, allowing him to get more off, but Jericho throws a punch and has to set himself before throwing another one, giving the opponent time to counterattack, meaning no more cheesy quick jabs and kicks to get a victory. Finally, a realistic game that takes skill and not just a lot of luck. Combine this with an awesome create-a-wrestler mode, items you can pick up, attack, break or wear and you have euphoria!
The Bad: No story mode. You can't have your wrestler start from scratch and work his way through feuds and backstage cut scenes on his way to the title. You just fight one guy after another til you get a belt, which is too much like the old way of playing wrestling. Also, there are only four wrestlers in a ring at a time, which limits match options. Finally, where are the cool match modes? No Royal Rumbles, no Ladder Matches, no Cage Matches, no Table Matches; get the idea. The X-Box is a powerful system, but N64 had better options to choose from. Playstation 2 had 8 wrestlers in the ring. How can the X-Box not follow suit?
Graphics: 9.75 out of 10Developed by Anchor for THQ, Raw really brings the WWF television show 
to life. Each character looks like his real life counterpart, almost to a tee. My friend freaked me out when he mentioned how sexy Trish looked. Well, she did and she sure moved with such fluidity that the action just kept on going, making for a fast paced exciting game and it happened without any glitches. Also, for the first time, characters are sized proportional to each other, so Spike Dudley looks like a midget compared to Test. My only complaint that the wrestlers walk to the ring like they have a board up their asses.
Sound: 10 out of 10 The music is top notch so crank it up and listen as the Undertaker makes his way to the ring to Limp Bizkit and Jericho Breaks the Walls Down. You can hear every punch and every chair shot and that's cool, because with the rumble effect on your controller, you can sure feel it, too. Now, I wish they had some announcing.
Replay value: 8 out of 10. I still love the game. It's a great first effort for the X-Box. It gives the company something to improve on, plus I never played story modes after I beat it the first time anyway. My favorite thing is creating a fantasy league with create-a-wrestlers and some close friends. This game is perfect for it and offers a lot of fun for hours, because no one can easily master this game, so there will be a lot of victory trading and rematches demanded.
Overall: 8 out of 10 I love the game, but when you break it down, an 8 is the most you can give it. For an X-Box game, I expected a lot more, but I still enjoy playing it. This game sure made me excited about what can happen next. I think our expectations were too high, like with Star Wars I. This game is sick and I try to imagine how sick it can get with better announcing, more wrestlers, a storyline, and grudges. When it comes to game modes, Smackdown 3 and No Mercy still rule the roost, but in terms of graphics and gameplay options, Raw sets the pace for the future of wrestling titles.
Send your comments and or questions about this article to Bandwidth@ybfree.com.