PROS: Great roster of wrestlers, amazing amount of fan service, crisp visuals and animation.
CONS: Occasionally frustrating reversal system, limited gameplay modes.
Hulk Hogan. The Rock. Andre the Giant. Rowdy Roddy Piper.
The WWE has proven in recent years that it can remain a force even as its biggest names have come and gone. But those tried-and-true names – Hogan, Rock, Giant – still hold plenty of cache, and that's what THQ's newest wrestling game tries to capitalize on.
"WWE All-Stars" combines the biggest stars of today with the icons of yesteryear, adds a fighting game flair, and mashes it all together into one compact package. The result is a game that's ideal for the wrestling fan. But unlike its timeless stars, the game won't hold your interest past the initial "Wow" factor.
THQ is actually planning to release two wrestling games this year; it will provide its annual installment of "Smackdown vs. Raw" in a few months. But "All-Stars" is meant to fill a different space. Instead of deep group of B-level wrestlers, "All-Stars" focuses on studs: Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, The Big Show and Jimmy Snuka are all here.
"All-Stars" sticks to similar tenets in regards to gameplay. Things are less about realistic wrestling – if there is such a thing – and more about arcade action. The visual style is all muscles upon muscles and exaggerated jawlines, and power moves are similarly overstated. Shawn Michaels' "Sweet Chin Music" sends opponents flying, and The Rock's "Rock Bottom" has him elevating 10 feet into the air before dropping his adversary.
You'll perform some basic moves to build up a special meter, then unleash specials. You're also simultaneously building a Finisher meter, and once that's full, you can use the ultimate move. No button combo is tough, either; to do a special, hold down A and X. To do a finisher, get yourself in the right situation and hold down both bumpers.
The combat feels fluid, although the reversal system, essential to any wrestling game, can be frustrating. You reverse grapples with the left bumper and strikes with the right, but the on-screen action doesn't always provide visual cues of when to reverse. You're left to either spam reversal buttons, or watch the corner of the screen for the reversal icon oh-so-closely. Still, once you get used to things, matches will grow enjoyable.
To succeed, however, "All-Stars" needs more than matches, and this is its main shortcoming. There's no career mode, and no way to upgrade or build up the superstars included. Yes, there will be some DLC wrestlers on the way, but they all control so similarly that mastery is unnecessary. And aside from a few unlocks, there's little benefit to replaying the game's two deepest modes, Fantasy Warfare and Path of Champions.
Path of Champions is three different paths –legends, superstars and tag teams – that you can guide a wrestler down. Each path includes 10 matches, but the matches lack variety. In Randy Orton's path (superstar), you'll fight a bunch of singles matches and a few elimination chamber matches. There's very little done to build drama, aside from a few cutscenes in which Orton talks basic WWE trash. It's more grinding, yet this is how you unlock each wrestler's alternate gear.
Fantasy Warfare is better. This is a series of matches between a star from today and one from yesteryear, two guys who foil each other. One match matches the biggest superstars, Andre The Giant and The Big Show. Another matches warriors – Ultimate Warrior and Sheamus, AKA the Celtic Warrior – and another matches Scottish foes Rowdy Roddy Piper and Drew McIntyre. The matches themselves are drab, but each Fantasy Warfare showdown is prefaced by a video that lays out each wrestler and includes vintage footage of the classic greats, narrated in that classic WWE style. Wrestling fans will adore this.
And it's wrestling fans who will adore this game. Yes, "WWE All-Stars" has some flaws and is a better week-long rent than permanent buy, but wrestling diehards will still find plenty to appreciate here.
Reviewed on Xbox 360
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