| Legends of Wrestling (Rated T for Teen) When I say that I�ve played every wrestling game on the market today, I don�t just stick to the THQ masterpieces. I mean every one of them sold. Unfortunately this also means the Acclaim flop-a-roo Legends of Wrestling. For the most part it�s a very sound game. Acclaim put in the work to try to make this great, it�s smooth and has very few glitches. You have top wrestling names like Hulk Hogan, Jerry Lawler, and Rob Van Dam available in a game. It�s a hardcore wrestling fans dream come true. Unfortunately for this fan that dream soon became a nightmare. The game play is slow, very slow. They went to too much trouble to place that �trendy� new bullet time camera technique, which means waiting to watch a kick work from every angle all at once. The wrestlers don�t move like they should. Oh sure they walk and move around normally, however their arsenal of moves is something off of Monday night Raw and not out of olden times. These guys are from a time where Hulk Hogans leg drop was the most controversial move in wrestling, and they�re doing Choke slams and stuff. The characters look too much like cartoons and not enough like real people. It�s like �Rock-n-Wrestling� (the ill-fated WWF cartoon from the 80�s) all over again. Now that I think about it, since when is Rob Van Dam a legend?!? Really this game did a lot right, they were the first since the N64 to remember that wrestlers bleed from time to time. In order to make this game salvageable all Acclaim had to do was to copy the controls from the �Smackdown� series of games, or at the very least something similar. However because Acclaim wanted to separate themselves from THQ they had to give you an original control scheme that I just couldn�t figure out. I could master holds and punches and kicks all right, but you can�t pin worth beans. You got to wonder what inspired this game. Looking back when this game was being made the whole �Alliance� storyline was happening in the WWF. When it was released the storyline had ended. However due to licensing problems it would be another year until we saw any wrestlers from the deceased WCW in a THQ/WWF wrestling game. So Acclaim probably figured that a game that featured Hulk Hogan and Rob Van Dam would sell very well. Also at the time that the Alliance thing was happening Jerry Lawler was on outs with the WWF. So there was a third name, and from this Acclaim found a bunch of other grand wrestling legends and built a game. If you still call Professional Wrestling �Rasslin� then yeah, go ahead and buy this game. However for everyone else, this game is a rental only. Don�t waste your money, or a lot of your time on this game. Instead go out and get �Smackdown 3�, �Raw� or wait until June for �Wrestlemania X-8�. Also Acclaim, stay away from wrestling games, you just can�t do them well. Back |
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