WWE WrestleMania X8

"A Straightforward, Unbiased Review"

When I first heard that a new WWE game is coming out, with a new engine that is not like the SmackDown! or the No Mercy series', I'll be the first to admit I was skeptical but moreover completely anticipating it. Alas, I do not have a GameCube and I had to wait for a long while before playing Wrestlemania X8 after it came out. This game does leave an aftertaste, and I am yet to figure out whether that is a good thing or a bad thing.

GRAPHICS: 8
There is no denying that the graphics in this game completely eclipse PS2's ''SmackDown!: Just Bring It'' and blows N64's ''No Mercy'' straight out of the water. Hollywood Hogan, The Rock, The Undertaker and co. never looked so good...but they also never walked so goofy! Aside from the fact that a pretty good number of the wrestlers walk like faeries (sadly, RVD is one of those,) the ever present ''cardboard crowds'' and those common graphical glitch seen in every wrestling game (oh look, a stomp that goes straight through the chest area!) ''WMX8'' is a visual stunner. The entrance of the n.W.o members boast the black-and-white transformation of the screen, Kane's pyroes are THIS close to being scarily alive and the TitanTrons are just too sweet (no pun intended.) The one thing that took the cake in amazing me is the Hell in A Cell; it's beautiful!

Pros: Great wrestlers, highly-detailed arenas and items.
Cons: Announcers and crowds are still made from cardboard, some wrestlers do not walk like their real-life counterparts by the least.

SOUND: 6
First and foremost: I do not care that Rob Zombie's ''Never Gonna Stop'' and the n.W.o theme is not included; that is not what disappoint me. The fact that I have to hear a gargantuan load of Neanderthal grunts in just one match is. If you finish one of the game's modes, and view the credits, you can actually see ''Voice Actor: (some guy).'' This means that every noise every wrestler made was done by one person. But that's ok, let's move on. The entrance music are very nice, and those wrestlers who did not get their actual theme music are provided with decent ones (the n.W.o replacement music is really not bad at all.) Yukes obviously paid a lot of attention to the in-ring sounds however: slamming a foe into the cage, the sound of bodies hitting canvas and weapons smashing a poor individuals cranium all produces a crisp, believable sound effect. The fact that Yukes dropped the concept of ''repetitive announcing'' gave it major props from me. But in the end sadly, ''WMX8'' is nothing special on the ears.

Pros: great sound-effect of weapons, cages, etc.
Cons: As with all wrestling games, sounds are pretty generic. The in-game referee is the only voice you'll hear and the theme musics, while crisp, doesn't really impress you that much.

CONTROL: 7
This is where it gets tricky. The fact that you move your character around using the joystick and not the D-pad makes wrestling very, VERY annoying at times. For example: you are trying to Irish Whip someone into the corner turnbuckle. You execute the Irish Whip, but finds out that you're throwing him/her to the ropes instead. It's very hard to differentiate between diagonals and simple up/down/left/right sometimes and this can factor highly in a fast-paced match. Also, picking up weapons can be a pain. Not only do you have to press both A and X, which is awkward enough, but you also have to move the joystick toward the direction of the weapon. This makes Ladder Matches very annoying because when you knock your foe out and is poised to seize the prize, you find out that it is hard as hell to pick-up and then set-up the ladder! In matches with multiple opponents, get ready to get frustrated because not only do you have to use the C-Stick to change focus, you also have to move it toward the direction of your target! Intermediate players might find this as a good thing because that way you can just move immediately to one target without going through the others, but beginners will find this awkward and annoying.
One other minor detail is that a running attack that involves Y and then Joystick+B can be very tricky. Thankfully, striking and grappling attacks are still executed with a tap of a button. A for grapple and B for striking and the only difference is tapping B or holding it, and then pressing a direction with the A button. Climbing turnbuckles and cages are easier than ever too.

Pros: WMX8 employs the SD! series' one-button system. Depending on your preference, this can be great or awful. No Mercy fans will find this a pain but beginners in the game can learn a whole lot quicker. I consider this a Pro.
Cons: Tricky movements; that sentence alone is bad enough in a fighting/wrestling game.

GAMEPLAY: 4
The meat of the game. For the first few times playing it, you will be completely addicted my friend. The Cage, Hell in A Cell, Table and TLC matches are more interactive than ever. When there are more than 2 people in the ring, what the other 2 does can effect the third person immediately! For example, if Booker T picks The Rock up and slams him down and Stone Cold is in the way, Stone Cold can actually get knocked down by Booker's descending body. This makes the game even more challenging from the fact that not only do you have to know what you're going to do, you also have to make sure that you're not in the proverbial line of fire. But veteran wrestling-games players will probably cry after finding out that both the Front and Back grapple moves are now limited to FIVE moves per wrestler. This equals repetitive matches. It's a shame that the story mode is extremely linear and shouldn't even be called ''story mode'' because there is no story. You fight for belts, that's that. The biggest challenge lies in the ''Battle of The Belts'' mode where you can compete for about 50 or so belts I believe, each with its own difficulty rating. If you manage to get the #1 Belt by besting The Rock in the ''Painful'' difficulty, you've pretty much done it all. The CAW feature is an abomination compared to ''No Mercy's'' so don't even bother unless you're a huge fan or just trying to squeeze more life out of this game. Of course, you can just bring some friends over to play with you and that will resurrect the game tremendously. I have never had more fun playing a Fatal Four Way than against 3 of my cheapest friends who would interrupt every Finisher and Pinfall on that ring.

Pros: Great in multiplayers, extremely interactive matches.
Cons: no depth in Career Mode whatsoever.

REPLAYABILITY: 3
Without any friends to play you, this game goes to the ''Boring'' category faster than a Mach-3. You can play for about two months, perfecting your skills and winning every belt imaginable in the game, but after that, you're on the end of the road my friend.

BUY/RENT:
Rent, definitely rent. Unless you're a VERY HARDCORE wrestling fan that just have to have every wrestling game on the face of the Earth, do not waste $49.99 on this game. I am a huge wrestling fan, and I refuse to waste more than $20 on ''Wrestlemania X8.'' I'd say borrow it from a friend or rent it for about two weeks, and then pat yourself in the back for satisfying your thirst of trying a new, different wrestling game AND saving yourself from buying a turning-tedious-soon overall game.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/20/02, Updated 10/20/02