WWE Day of Reckoning 2

"An Amazing game that beats the hell out of No Mercy!"

First of, I will start by saying that THQ and Yukes have done an amazing job on this game. Clearly, this is the game that will replace No Mercy as the best wrestler of all-time in my opinion. For those of you who don't believe this statement, I know what I am talking about when it comes to wrestling games. I have played most of them since the days of WWF: Attitude. Now, on with the review!

Graphics- 10/10 Simply put, breathtaking. These graphics are some of the best I have seen on the Nintendo GameCube since it launched. All of the wrestlers accurately resemble their real life counterparts and look incredibly life-like. You won't believe how much detail they put into Triple H or Batista or Trish Stratus.

Sound- 8/10 The sound is also well done in this game. One reason why this category gets a high rating as all the wrestlers have their true and authentic theme songs playing when they enter the arena. Hulk Hogan will come out to "Real American", Triple H to "The Game" and RVD to his "One of A Kind". This is a big deal, because after all, how many of us have played wrestling games where some of the most notable superstars are missing their entrance themes? The body slams and powerbombs have all their authentic canvas smashing sound. The slam sound effects and punching effects are really well done. One area where the sound could be better is the music that constantly plays when you are fighting against a CPU or friend. It is really tedious and annoying after a while.

Controls/Gameplay- 8.5/10 Not perfect, but pretty damn good. The controls are really simple to learn and are quite easy to get use to . A is grapple, B is strike, Y is run, L & R are counter grapple and strike. The game also introduces a unique stamina system which depletes as the match goes on and you perfrom moves on your opponent. It helps to add a very realistic feel to the game. After all, how many times have we played a cowardly friend and had them run around the ring trying to avoid us? Gone are those ugly days. Another unique feature added to the game is they tweaked the submission system. Now, when you lock in a submission hold, you have the options of draining your opponents stamina, making them submit (thus lowering their physical attack power), Taunting them (which boosts your adrenaline meter) or applying a rest hold which will recover your stamina. Both added features really help to make the gameplay experience better. Another notable thing in this game is when your wrestler gets hit by a move or a weapon, they will stay down much longer then they did in previous wrestling games like Wrestlemania X8 or Wrestlemania XIX. Nothing annoyed me more in WMXIX when you throw a guy off the Hell In A Cell Cage and he gets up two seconds later. That's just lame. Now with the good comes the bad. One of the bad things about this game is it is fairly difficult to counter compared to other wrestling games. Reversing finishers is very rare and copying someone else's finisher and succeeding in pulling it off is also rare. The countering system is good, but it can get very frustrating when you can't seem to counter any moves. Also, this game has a tendency to lag, especially when there are four wrestlers on the screen at once. This takes away a bit of the fun factor when playing the game.

Match Types/Roster/Create-A-Wrestler- 8.5/10 This game has many of the match types that will keep you coming back for more. You can do Hell In A Cell, Ladder Matches, Cage matches, Ironman matches, Bra and Panties matches and the new Last Man Standing Match. You can do single matches, tag matches, triple threat and fatal four way. There is also the awesome Royal Rumble where you can customize the order of the superstars who will enter the ring. Basically, you can do any match you want except for the Elimination Chamber (Damnit Yukes! Put it in and quit being so lazy) and four or three way elimination matches. Too bad, because they would be very fun. The roster is awesome. They have everyone who is anybody in the wrestling business. Want to play as today's best superstars? No problem, play as Triple H, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels or Kurt Angle. Want to play as legends? Can do that as well. Just pick Bret "Hitman" Hart, Hulk Hogan, Mankind, The Rock or "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Want to play as divas? You can do that as well. Play as Trish Stratus, Stacy Keibler, Torrie Wilson and yes, even Christy Hemme (despite the fact that see has no talent whatsoever). I should also mention that they have added a ton of new wrestlers in this game such as Eugene, Gene Snitsky, Carlito, Muhammad Hassan and a bunch of others. Create-A-Wrestler is as in-depth as ever this time and is probably the best one out there on the 'Cube. The only problem with the CAW is the insanely long loading time. It takes up to 20 seconds just to add something as simple as a hat or change the hair style. Kind of sad, really.

Story Mode 6/10- Hmmm.....Good, but could be way better. The story is good in the fact that it incorportates all of todays biggest superstars and General Managers, but it is still very linear and simple. This year, the story is a direct sequel to the original Day of Reckoning. Basically the World Heavyweight Title has been stolen and you are accussed of stealing it, because you were supposed to fight Triple H for it at Wrestlemania. The story is also somewhat cheesy and not really believable because I honestly think WWE would not sabotage themselves and make the World Heavyweight Title missing just for their storylines. The story does offer some small choices such as who you will fight and the match types, but that is really about it. Yukes is heading in the right direction with the story mode, but they could make some improvements to make the experience more enjoyable.

Replayability- 9/10 If you have a couple of buddies who are as passionate about wrestling as you probably are, then you will love this game. You could spend hour upon hour just having matches against your friends. Unfortunately for me, most of my friends aren't really into this genre.

Overall- 9/10 Wow, this is an amazing game. I highly recommend buying it if you are a wrestling fan, like myself. If your a more casual follower of WWE, rent first. Seriously though, this game beats No Mercy and should be the new wrestling game which is always mentioned among the great wrestling games ever.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/26/05