Is this WWE game the thing of Legend?
Now for the final of our THQ previews…I give you, WWE Legends of Wrestlemania!
Many of you will know that Wrestling isn’t my favourite thing. But back in the old days with Hulk Hogan, I can remember some good moments. THQ has recognised that gamers want to play with their old favourites and that’s what WWE Legends of Wrestlemania is all about.
The code I got to see was very early and only featured a few modes, but had plenty of space to fill in more before the game ships. Now due to embargo, I’m not allowed to talk about a lot of things…but can tell you the fighting roster so far:
Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Bobby “the Brain” Heenan, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Jimmy Hart
And as for managers, I can tell you that the following are in the game:
Jim Ross, Jerry “the King” Lawler and Howard Finkel
Why all the secrecy? I honestly don’t know, I think a lot of fighters and managers haven’t been officially confirmed yet so it’s probably a legal issue. Now with that out of the way, let’s move on.
The problem I always had with WWE games in the past were the controls. There was a ton of a combo that I just couldn’t get to grips with, but now all that is gone and instead we have a very simple fighting system which only uses a few buttons on the controller. One button to punch and one button to kick, you can lift your opponents with A but in some fights, you need to build up a meter to a certain level to be able to do so.
Which brings me to the main mode that I saw besides standard exhibition mode. Which is the Hall of Fame and it allows you to replay many famous fights from WWE history. The only one that the game had to offer was Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant and shows the actual footage of the fight for the first time in a WWE game and then let’s you replay it. But there are other objectives for you to do like breaking out of Andre’s bear hug and recreating that moment where Hulk Hogan lifts him up for a finish.
Hulk Hogan is without a doubt, the strongest character that I played with in the line-up of characters in the build. Some might say too strong and I would have to agree, the others didn’t stand a chance against the power of Hogan’s moves. I did manage to beat Hogan with The Rock, but it took three times longer than if the tables were turned and I tried to beat The Rock with Hulk Hogan. Let’s hope that they balance him out a bit more, otherwise everyone will use him in online matches and ruin what could be a simple, but great wrestling game.
The level of detail in WWE Legends of Wrestlemania is astonishing. Little things like sweat become very visible and the characters are well animated and designed. Even the text tries to go retro during old fights; it’s that attention to detail that fans will love when the game comes out next month. All they need to do is balance out Hulk Hogan, add the modes in and you have perhaps the best WWE game in years. I look forward to seeing the end result in March.