What would it feel like to go from obscure independent wrestler to winning the World Wrestling Entertainment World Championship in just one year? “WWE Day of Reckoning” from THQ gives you that opportunity.
The controls in the game are a throwback to the controls of the old Nintendo 64 wrestling games. One button controls the grapples, and the same button controls the moves that can be performed out of the grapple.
The graphics in this game are also well done. The animations are smooth. They also do a new thing when you hit your finishing hold. When you successfully hit your finisher, the camera cuts to one of several different angles, just like they do on television. So now you can get several different perspectives of how hard you drop your opponent on his head.
But the true heart and soul of “WWE Day of Reckoning” lies where it should: in the story mode. This, by far, is the best story mode in a wrestling game ever. You begin as a rookie wrestler who has just signed a contract to work for the largest pro wrestling entity in the world, World Wrestling Entertainment. The only catch is that you have to begin your WWE career as a developmental wrestler, so no fame or fortune yet. On a quick side note, the WWE’s actual developmental territory is Ohio Valley Wrestling, based just down the road in Louisville, Ky.
From the developmental area you have to work yourself up to a “dark matches” wrestler. Dark matches are the matches that are put on for the live crowd, before the cameras start rolling.
After you wrestle in those matches for a few weeks you are given a choice to either wrestle on “Raw” or “Smackdown.” After you make that choice you are placed on either “Heat” or “Velocity,” depending on the choice you make there.
After toiling away there for a month or so you are promoted to the Big Show. You are now on the path to championship glory.
The game also includes some of the specialty matches that the WWE is famous for: Ladder, TLC, Hell in a Cell, Cage, and of course every man’s favorite match, the infamous Bra and Panties match.
The computer’s artificial intelligence on this game is pretty smart. They tend to reverse around half the punches you throw and moves you attempt.
This is an excellent game. It is well worth the price of purchase, and the replay value is very high. If you want a great game then pick this one up.