ECW Hardcore Revolution

"Am I playing this game on Dreamcast? It sure seems like it..."

ECW Hardcore Revolution is just like WWF Attitude. Both games came out for numerous systems, both have a sucky fighting engine, and both havee a ton of options. Before I bought Dreamcast, I bought WWF Attitude for Playstation. I loved it and I beat the whole game. Then I bought my Dreamcast and got WWF Attitude for it. Then I got ECW Hardcore Revolution for both systems and I'm kind of disappointed. ECW Hardcore Revolution has a ton of options but a crappy fighting engine.

First off, the graphics are just like WWF Attitude's. There are four different places where you can fight but they make no difference to the game. There is a steel cage but with no ropes. There is a barb wire match, but that doesn't change the overall gameplay. The Create-A-Wrestler mode is probably the best part of ECW Hardcore Revolution but it reminds me of WWF Attitude. The graphics in this game are pretty much like the Dreamcast version but a little worse. When the wrestlers walk through the ropes they actually kind of walk through the ropes. Other than that, the graphics in this game are pretty good.

Second, the gameplay is boring. ECW Hardcore Revolution runs off the same game engine as WWF Attitude. While, ECW Hardcore Revolution may be a little faster, it is pretty much the same thing. The Create-A-Wrestler is great but it reminds me of WWF Attitude. There are many different kinds of matches including barb wire, steel cage, 2 on 1, and more. The barb wire match has to be the dumbest thing ever. I was hoping that your opponent would actually bleed if he hit the barb wire but he just falls down. There are a lot of wrestlers and a career mode that is exactly like WWF Attitude.

Third, the control is decent. While it's easy to move your guy around the ring, pulling off moves are hard. To beat someone, you have to actually pull of combos. The bad thing about that is when you first buy this game, you will get beat because you don't know any moves. Also, the controls make the game unrealistic. I found myself pulling off suplexes, body slams, and hip tosses all through the game. Grapple moves are hard to pull off, and are frustrated.

Finally, the sound in ECW Hardcore Revolution is good. In Create-A-Wrestler you can choose different music for your wrestler. The announcer, Joey Styles, is a bit quiet though. Unlike WWF Attitude, ECW Hardcore Revolution only has one announcer so you won't get a lot of dialogue.

In my opinion there are a lot of better wrestling games out there. (Wrestlemania 2000, Smackdown, Attitude) If you are a ECW fan and really want to play a game with ECW wrestlers in it, make sure you pick up this game. If you already own WWF Attitude then I wouldn't recommend this game at all. It is exactly like Attitude but worse because you have to play with ECW wrestlers other than WWF wrestlers.

Overall Rating- 6.0
Graphics- 6.5
Sound- 7.1
Control- 6.4
Fresh Factor- 2.3
Game Life- 6.1

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/09/01, Updated 07/09/01