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View Full Version : IGN INSIDER REVIEW! READ! Part 3



zeus2772
02-10-2002, 05:42 PM
The game modes in Raw are a little disappointing because there isn't much
variety. Under the Exhibition Menu you have 1 on 1, two varieties of tag
team matches, a triple threat match, Battle Royal, a Fatal 4-Way, a 2 on 1
handicap and a 3 on 1 handicap match. This may sound like a lot of options
but it's not when you consider that they all--with the exception of Battle
Royal-- have the same winning conditions: first pin wins. You can change the
winning conditions and all of the other match rules but there's not much in
the way of specialty matches. Considering we saw cage matches and ladder
matches on the N64, in games with just as many wrestlers and animations,
there's no reason why we shouldn't expect at least the same on Xbox.

Also it's disappointing that two of the features that were supposed to make
it into Raw were left out at the last minute. Six men in the ring is now,
six wrestlers on screen with four in the ring and there's no fighting in the
crowd even though you can go all around the ring and back by the stage area.

"Implementing fighting in a crowd is more difficult, in terms of
programming, than it looks. We didn't want to do a sort of mediocre version
of fighting in the crowd. Rather than putting lots and lots of mediocre
modes in the game we wanted to fewer well done game modes," says Onoguchi.

The Royal Rumble is the only other arena setting besides Raw but you don't
get much for winning the tournament other than a celebration screen. The
Title Mode lets you go after the Women's, Hardcore, European,
Intercontinental, Light Heavyweight and WWF Heavyweight belts. But there's
no story driving the action here. The higher the belt, you simply have more
matches to win. The Women's Championship only requires three victories
compared to 12 wins, against the very best guys in the game, for the WWF
Championship. So when you create your kick ass character there's not much
for him to do other than conquer a handful of other wrestlers but there's no
extra sense of adversity. Each match will simply feel like an exhibition
match. A story driven Career Mode is so sorely missed because the rest of
WWF Raw is so very well done.

The AI in Raw is extremely tough even on the default difficulty setting.
Gamers should expect a surprisingly steep learning curve but it's nothing to
be intimidated by. The ability to interfere with your opponent's entrance is
a great addition mainly because you don't always land the first blow. And
watch out for run-ins. You never know when the interfering wrestler is going
to switch sides on you.

Graphics
The level of detail in Raw begins with the wrestlers themselves. Every scar,
every tattoo and **** near every hair out of place has been re-created on
the Xbox. You can clearly see the reflective shine on Undertaker's leather
pants, or Chris Benoit's snaggled tooth, or Rikishi's jiggling cellulite or
that new tattoo on the back of the Big Show's neck whether it's during their
intro or during a match. The lighting effects are subtle but they work well.
Remember WWF Raw is lit for the TV cameras so everything should look the
same pretty much from every angle.

The camera work is and underrated feature in this game. During one on one
matches the camera will often cut from it's 3/4 view above the ring to a
more dramatic angle to better capture the action. It's all done seamlessly
and you'll never get disoriented coming into or out of the 2 second shot.
The camera work is simplified for the 3 and 4 wrestler matches. The camera
cuts on wrestler intros makes the whole thing look like it's a TNN broadcast
as the wrestler's go about their routines on their way to the ring. Some
intros even have different camera moves each time you run them.

But the overwhelming strength of Raw's wrestling animation is what carries
this game. The Rock moves with all of the attitude of The Great One. From
his moves to his taunts to his ring entrance, The Rock is animated
consistently as the TV personality. In fact many of the moves in CAW are
named after WWF Superstars because they're that unique and that
recognizable. The Bubba Ray punch looks nothing like Kane's uppercut and
each move has its specific timing and speed. It's all of the transitions
from one move or animation to the other that really make this game so
authentic. You never see a guy hop from one animation to another. If you
want to follow up that left hook with a chop, you're going to have to wait
for Jericho to reset himself before he can throw the next move.

You'll especially like some of the facial animations. Even created wrestlers
will contort their faces and grimace in pain. But the coolest is how some of
the superstars will be moving their lips as they come down the ramp during
their intros or during their special moves. You can almost hear Bubba Ray
telling D-Von to "get the table!" when he makes his two armed gesture.

A smaller guy like Spike Dudley is extremely quick and looks undersized when
he goes to pick up somebody like Test, who's **** near a foot taller than
him. The models may not be in proportion but it's good to see a wide variety
of body shapes and sizes and animations that are consistent with those
shapes and sizes. Rikishi is a lumbering oaf who runs out of energy very
quickly in Raw but he has a lot of power in his moves. The Hardy Boyz always
have the energy they need to pull of a high risk move but they can't take
much punishment from opponents because they seem to wear themselves out.

Sound
The sound quality in Raw is evident in the wrestler intros. Just turn on
your surround sound system and listen to the gong and the "dead man walkin'"
during 'Takers entrance. You can even hear his motorcycle start up and rev
as he comes down the ramp. All of the WWF Superstar themes are of the
highest quality and faithfully reproduced in this game.
The background music during matches isn't very endearing but it's hard to
think of a song that would sound good in a wrestling match than can take
anywhere from 1 to 30 minutes. Some of the menu music gets a little freaky
though with all of the subliminal echo-ey samples.

The sound effects of the weapons are well done. The metal objects ping and
gong when they smash into an opponent and everything else makes the
appropriate thud or thump when it comes into contact with something. The
crowd reactions are right in time with the crowd meter but a better "boo"
sound effect will be in order next time around.

We already mentioned the absence of the custom soundtrack feature but it's
worth repeating here. A WWF game simply demands this Xbox only feature
because it's the kind of thing wrestling gamers have wanted to do for a long
time. Think of how Microsoft, the WWF and THQ could cross-promote a new WWF
CD with all of the new themes the wrestlers are sure to have next year.

"The game was supposed to be a launch title but we didn't have all of the
information about the Xbox's capabilities. So we weren't even able to use
all of the features of the hardware for this game like we wanted to. But
we'll definitely be ready for the next version of the game," adds Masahiro
Onoguchi.

We'll be sure to let Anchor know that we have to have wrestler voices in the
next Xbox wrestling game too. It's another case where they look like they
want to speak so therefore they should.

Comments

WWF Raw has a fantastic wrestling engine which goes a long way towards
making this game enjoyable. It looks and feels like you're in control of a
WWF match from beginning to end and this is what wrestling games are
supposed to give us. I was a huge fan of No Mercy and Wrestlemania 2000 on
N64 and this feels like a huge next generation leap forward from those games
in terms of gameplay. I'm not sure how Wrestlemania X8 is going to turn out
on GameCube, but I know long time Nintendo/wrestling fans would definitely
want something like Raw.
The lack of a true career mode hurts this game the same way it hurts sports
games that merely pay lip service to this feature. I had lofty expectations
for the first Xbox wrestling game and I wanted to see complicated,
interactive, choose-your-own adventure type story modes. Even though I was
being very unrealistic, it's still disappointing that Raw, with this Title
Match Mode, does not even attempt any sort of true career/story mode.

With that said, Raw does a whole lot more good than bad, and it's still a
game that Xbox owners need to pick up if they have even the slightest
interest in the WWF. I'm not sure if there's such a thing as casual WWF/Xbox
fan but Raw will appeal to them as well with its outstanding WWF realism.
The hardcore fans will get plenty of enjoyment out of the difficult AI, the
awesome multiplayer modes and the super deep Create-A-Wrestler mode.

--Aaron Boulding






Presentation
You need cable to get something that looks and feels more like the WWF. The
intros alone bring the WWF to life. 10.0
Graphics
Outstanding animation and an amazing level of detail on the models carry the
look of this game. The great camera work doesn't hurt either. 9.0
Sound
The music is authentic and of the highest quality. Sound effects are all
effective right down to the steel chairs. 8.0
Gameplay
The innovations alone --items, grappling, crowd/energy meters-- make this
game fun. Best wrestling engine we've seen yet. 9.0
Lasting Appeal
Tough to decide. The create-a-wrestler feature is awesome but we can't
forgive the lack of any kind of career mode. 7.0
OVERALL SCORE (not an average)
9.1

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