WWE Day of Reckoning 2

"DoR 1.5? Possibly. Bad game? HELL NO."

I just got back into wrestling recently after a long hiatus, so I missed out on the hype of the first three wrestling games for the GCN. I bought DoR earlier this year, and found it to possibly rival No Mercy, the famed N64 title. But I thought DoR2 would rival both.

I was somewhat right.

DoR2 is more like an expansion pack to DoR, but it's definitely not a bad thing. I'm just saddened that they hyped it up so much.

--Graphics--

Yes, to a casual gamer, this is usually the most important factor in their games. And as a hardcore gamer, I'm still blown away by DoR2's graphics. This game's graphics rival those on the Smackdown! games and even the XBox games. The faces look so damn similar to their reallife counterparts. You'd think you were watching an episode of Raw or Smackdown!.

Also, laugh evilly when you bust your opponent open three different times within one match, because there's now the Three Stages of Blood feature, where you can further bloody your opponent up to make Eddie Guerrero's infamous bad bladejob look like a paper cut.

--Gameplay--

On the other end of the stick, this is a hardcore gamer's most important factor. DoR2 stays true to the AKI engine, a gameplay engine N64 games like WCW/NWO World Tour and No Mercy used. I won't go into the old stuff; it was in DoR, most likely. New this time is the new C-Stick Submission system, which lets you choose 1 of four different variations of a submission hold and gain some new effects from it. Your opponent can do the same when he's being put into the hold, so if he chooses the same option you do, the hold is automatically broken.

Connected to the Submission system is the other new feature, the Stamina bar. This time around you'll be punished if you go into the match swinging away at your opponent, for every action you do (other than stand still) will have an effect on your stamina. While simple attacks won't do much, using weapons and climbing the cage will drastically drain your stamina bar. If it's completely depleted, your wrestler will move slower, do less damage, and stop to take a rest after throwing a punch.

Opponent AI has improved, for better or worse. I'm only playing on Easy, so I can get used to the game, but I can tell the AI is different. For one thing, they Irish Whip less and Strong grapple more. They also use Momentum Shifts way more (as opposed to almost never in DoR). Thankfully, they don't reverse moves as much, a blessing to me.

The match types are basically the same (meaning Bra and Panties is still in). There's one new type, Last Man Standing, which features its own variation of DoR's infamous 'No-Sell/Second Wind' glitch/feature. Elimination rules are still a noshow, but you can have a pseudo-Elimination match by having a Fatal Fourway LMS match.

Other little things include better selling animations by wrestlers, the removal of the referee's ability to lay a Stone Cold ass-whuppin' on you, and the removal of the afore-mentioned no-sell glitch. There are also three different match camera angles, as opposed to just one in DoR.

--Sound--

It's a bit like DoR's, to say the least. The punches landing, hitting the mat, climbing the cage. It's all still here (not really a bad thing, though). This time around the annoying lyrical music from DoR has been replaced with so-so 'techno' music. You also have the superstar music, which is excellent.

--CAW--

You've got to love CAW mode. It's basically the same as DoR's, except with more stuff. I'm a bit disappointed that, because of the new graphics, I can't as accurately recreate my DoR CAWs. They still look damn good, though.

The move system is a bit different. You can't start off with your CAW brandishing super-powerful moves. You have to meet the Skill level, which is raised with Attribute points earned from Story mode. So now you have to choose whether to raise your Attributes, or raise your Skill points to get that Stone Cold Stunner you want your CAW to have. This is a bit annoying, but it also lets you use moves that were Specials in DoR and in this game as Strong Grapple moves (for example, the Jackknife and JBL Powerbomb).

--Roster--

The roster is very well done. I'm a bit disappointed that they removed Maven from the game, but not Kenzo, but oh well, they kept Hassan in, so I'm not complaining. From Batista to John Cena, from Triple H to Christy Hemme and her forehead, the roster is pretty much up-to-date. The 5 legends are Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind, Bret Hart, and Hulk Hogan, which is probably the best set yet.

--Story mode--

Story mode is definitely improved from last year. Because it's a sequel, the story starts around a year after the first game. Triple H has taken the World Heavyweight Title from you, you've scored Stacy Keibler as your girlfriend, and Evolution has broken up. When you start, Eric Bischoff is addressing the situation of Triple H tapping out to Chris Jericho, while Y2J gets pinned at the same time. He vacates the title, and holds a tournament, with the winner getting the title. You make it to the finals with HHH, but at Wrestlemania, the title is stolen and everybody starts pointing fingers at you being the culprit.

The story is actually very well done. It keeps you guessing who could've stolen the title. I'm only about half-way through, but this is still a great story.

--Closing--

"BUY DIS GAME!"- Ollie Williams, Family Guy

Indeed, this game is a step in the right direction. I just hope Yukes will pull their heads out of their asses and get rid of Bra and Panties mode and bring back Guest Referee.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/02/05