WCW Nitro

"If only for the edit mode..."

People these days love a good CAW (Create a Wrestler, or Create a Superstar of WWF SmackDown fame) in their wrestling games, in fact, they demand it. And while they say how HUGE the one in WWF SmackDown 2 is and how simple and good the one in WWF No Mercy is, they have seemed to bypass this gem.

Graphics: 7/10

Hey, they get the job done. Some move animations beat Smackdown 2 (Jacknife Powerbomb 1, anybody?), if you'll believe THAT. The wrestlers look OK, not great mind you. The arenas look very cool, with flashing lights and whatnot. There's really not much else to speak of besides your basic wrestlers pictures who pop up all over the menu selection.

Control: 5/10

I haven't tried it with a controller yet, but the Keyboard control is annoying. Moves are done like, D+A = Powerbomb, S+F = Piledriver and so forth. So if you don't know where each key is without looking at them, you'll find yourself glancing down and aligning your fingers correctly. This isn't really bad, and could be looked at as a learning curve if you didn't get attacked by your opponent while looking at the keyboard.

Sound: 4/10

No themes. NO THEMES. Well.. the Nitro one.. but gosh darnit, NO THEMES! Heenan and Shivonie (I just can't spell that clowns name right, ever!) call the action from the old Nitro booth near the entrance stage.. and appear in 2D image form. What sucks about this is that while they do call the action, it's insanely repetitive. They don't randomly call the action, rather, each move has it's own preset clip of commentary from a preset announcer. Tony S yells out ''POWERBOMB!'' every time you hit one. So it gets old, yet still fun to listen to. And since you know when it's coming, you tend to say it with him. ''IT'S THE POWERBOMB!'' indeed. Grunts, smacks and slams are all there, just in ''Ehh.. so-so'' form.

Gameplay: 4/10

Each wrestler has the same moves. Yeeeep. A small difference is that little wrestlers have the option to do Frankenstieners while bigger wrestlers do Gorilla Presses. But, each wrester gets his trademark moves... at least the ones not hidden. You can't jump over the top rope, can't hit your opponent with a chair, no blood, no submission victory's. Comes up short as far as 'Wrestling' and 'Sports Entertainment' go. Also, Just not enough moves to feel like a wrestling game. Matches are SHORT, ending in a few minutes. You also have a lifebar, which I believe grows either as you taunt or go without getting hit, or both.

Replay Value: 9/10

If you have a hardcore interest in CAW's and a decent paint program, get this game. You can DRAW your own wrestlers and let the game turn them into models! Those models then do whatever the other wrestlers do! Cool, huh? It's pretty simple. Open up a wrestler model, find the face of the person you want to make, paste it over the face on the wrestler model, then draw to make the clothes. There are a few FAQs on the subject throughout the web that walk you through it, step by step. Also, you get to change the commentary! If you have a mic, you can call the action. OR, find WAV files all over the net.. get Jim Ross Paul Heyman (Or Lawler) to call it or have Homer Simpson call the damn thing.. it's up to you. There are tougher challenges, like creating your own arenas too. Be forewarned, all this editing is done souly by you, there is no program in the game to do this like the actual ''CAW'' mode in other wrestling games. Because of this, the replay value is high.. but if this isn't your thing, the replay value is quite lower, like a 5, simply because doing the same move over and over to win gets boring.

Overall: 7/10

I bought this game in 1999 for $30 and still play it. I have Jeff Hardy battling Metallica (sorry, Lars!) and The Crow beating the piss out of Sting. I really feel I got my money's worth. As for you, I don't think you'll get this game, play it for a bit then smash your keyboard over how bad it is and such a waste of money. Simply because 1, it's cheap these days and 2, it isn't bad at all. You might even find a cult detected to creating wrestlers, arenas, sound files and so forth. If you're into the whole CAW system, get it. As far as wrestling, it's the best you're going to do on the PC for now.

BTW, did I mention this game has Online play? However I don't think there are any active servers.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/04/01, Updated 10/04/01