WCW Backstage Assault

"My thoughts on why its all backstaged..."

WCW Backstage Assualt is the conclusion to WCW MAYHEM. I thought MAYHEM was pretty good (at the time it came out). But WCW BA is nowhere near MAYHEM. EA took the backstage concept and made it the whole game. All matches are hardcore, with the exception of First Blood & Human Torch. Still, some of the wrestlers in WCW BA have never even been in a hardcore match such as all the women valets/wrestlers. But I believe I know why there is no ring.

WCW (at the time WCW BA was being made) was going through a ''time of change''. PPV's were getting new names & the TV sets were changed. I believe EA had no idea what to use for a ring. For example, if they put in a WCW SuperBrawl ring they would've had the wrong ring. It was WCW Superbrawl Revenge in 2001. WCW Souled Out became SIn & there last PPV was WCW GREED. Now, these were the first (and last) WCW PPVs with new names. EA probably had no idea what ring to put in the game, so they made it all backstage fighting.

The bad idea about this concept was that there was no ring, period. All the game is about is starting out in a backstage arena with trucks and unlocking more areas & wrestlers. Only 4 match types are in the game. Singles (1 on 1 hardcore), Human Torch, First Blood & Hardcore Gauntlet. Now I gave this game a 7/10 because I thought that the backstage areas were a vast improvement from MAYHEMs. You can pull things off the wall and put people thru tables. The ''entrances'' of the wrestlers are just a 15 sec movie (their entrance movie) that plays. This is where it gets bad. The wrestlers look like they all have the same face. The speed of the game is sloppy & some of the costumes are hideous. Now this game was not the best one to release for WCW's last, unless the WWF wants to make an InVasion game. But when you think about it, how many times did WCW actually have backstage brawls on TV. Not too many times. So EA bases this on Backstage areas? Well, I guess you could rent this game, see what you think. If you like it or you're just a die hard WCW fan, then buy WCW BA. If you don't like it, just leave on the store shelf.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/20/02, Updated 04/20/02