Legends of Wrestling II

"A fitting tribute to the true greats of wrestling"

So, after a years wait LOW 2 (Legends of Wrestling 2) finally comes over to the UK in all its radiant glory even though it was out in the US 4 months prior to the UK release. The wait seemed like a life time – especially in the last months when the US had it, but still it was worth the wait, especially as the European version has 4 exclusive wrestlers: Big Daddy Shirley Crabtree, Mick Mcmanus, Giant Haystacks and Kendo Nagasaki.

Developed and Published by Acclaim the old school grappler has come under much criticism and scrutiny, most of which is totally untrue, unfair and ignorant. Its prequel, LOW 1 was deemed to be average, and a bit of a wasted opportunity. It lacked the modes and options of it’s rival SmackDown 3: Know Your Role but it did have one thing going for it: a chance to play with some of the true legends of wrestling and take a fond look back at wrestling yesteryear.

This year it is competing with SmackDown: Shut Your Mouth, and although it doesn’t quite have the amount of glamour, glits and options I feel it has better gameplay is a haven for true wrestling fans and legends who shaped the business, without them there would be no WWE today. It also has blood! (Unlike SmackDown).

LOW 2 has many more matches this time round, has a much improved career and a better roster although without RVD, it does contain current WWE superstars ‘Big Poppa Pump’ Scott Steiner, Eddie Guerrero and like last year the Hulkster Hulk Hogan and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler are also in. (Check out www.acclaim.com for all the roster details and more!).

Each wrestler now has 4 costumes, can climb to the top and has a much improved entrance with licensed music. Entrances are static (like SmackDown) and have a small movie clip, which is really very poor and very short. Some entrances like Hulk Hogan’s is very well done and some, like Sabu’s are rushed. In addition the crowed all looks the same, is badly animated, and are far too sparse. They’re all 2-D which is fine except for the bad lack in detail. They look like something from a Mega Drive cartage, which is far from next generation and is unacceptable. The ring announce sounds great (and by static I mean you can’t control any part of it like you could in LOW 1 you just sit back and watch).

Luckily the crowd doesn’t spoil the game (except for occasionally getting stuck in front of the camera). Overall the entrances are a step in the right direction but the crowd isn’t. In tag matches the camera takes a bit of getting used to a it is a far shot, showing the entire ring, but this isn’t a major problem at all and can be quite useful.

As mentioned LOW 2 has many more matches: Singles, Cage, Ladder, 3 and 4 Way Tag Dance, 4, 6, 8 Man Tag, 3 and 4 way Dance and varying sized Battle Royals (Royal Rumble). There are no DQ’s and TKO, blood and elimination can be turned on or off at the options menu. It’s a real shame the table matches were taken out (they probably had too many glitches) and it’s a shame there are no tag matches inside a cage or in a ladder match situation.

There are also Tag, Singles and Tag Belt tournaments with varying sizes (much like the King of the Ring tournament).

The career mode is much improved and has story lines and promoters who run your region. The same popularity scheme is used with more ways to gain and loose popularity e.g.: reversals/counters will gain popularity whilst repetitive moves will loose popularity. After your 100% popular you will receive a Heavyweight and/or Tag Belts title shot depending on your story line. Win those and go on to the next region. It is here that you can face Big John Stud in a Body Slam match too! I won’t spoil any more.

When you win a belt or match in exhibition mode you are awarded a certain amount of green coins in which to gamble and then spend in the shop. Many believe this to be stupid and a waste of time, but I think it’s a superb idea – because you play for more than just pride in exhibition mode.

To gamble for a more valuable red or green coin you must buy a square with green coins. Then press the square button just as a cursor bounces on the square you bought. When you have enough you can buy (and thus unlock) concept art, career endings, abilities, wrestlers, managers, promoters etc. Also included in the game are interviews with some of the roster and information on all of their career endings, which old school fans will really appreciate, and others will find them interesting too.

The gameplay is similar to last year with all the linking moves and reversals being executed in the same manor and the ISP system is still the same. But luckily the game doesn’t play as sluggishly as it is quicker, for example to grapple, go to head between legs ISP and hit a piledriver. The create mode hasn’t really been improved and it harder to use which is a shame but it’s all there and with perseverance it can be reasonable.

Gameplay: 9
Similar to last year’s instalment, just not as sluggish and with more matches this is fun to play and will last longer. The reversal and linking system also makes for a more interesting grapple.

Graphics: 7
Vast improvement on last year’s wrestlers, and everything looks more defined. The crowd looks butt ugly but just ignore them! (The usual exaggerated graphics are used by the way, like in LOW 1.)

Life Span: 8
Will certainly last until next years LOW 3 but with so much to unlock and the long career it will last for longer.

Sound: 8
Brilliant music score from the likes of Saliva. The usual weapon noises and grunts and groans are average.

Box, Disk and Manual Art: 3/5
Reasonable pictures of legends on disk and box, manual could have had a quick reference guide. {Doesn’t contribute to final score}.

OVERALL: 9/10
Superb game that is better than the original and better then its SackDown rival. Definitely worth a purchase – quickly

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/21/03, Updated 04/15/03