ECW Hardcore Revolution

"Extremely fun, but is this Attitude in disguise?"

Due to the releases of the Smackdown! games for the PSX, i decided to go out one day and purchase ECW Hardcore Revolution. I was a little impressed, but this game is just like WWF Attitude but with ECW superstars. Here's my review.

The graphics are okay. The superstars don't like that good, but they aren't that bad either. Rob Van Dam, Raven, Rhino and all of your favorite ECW superstars all look kind of realistic, each with their ECW attires. The crowd look okay, i wouldn't say it will bother you too much, but they're not great. I kind of like the graphics, for a PSX wrestling game they're normally not that good, but i was a little impressed.

Onto the audio. The commentary is done by Joey Styles and Vince McMahon, it's quite good, but not that great. Some quotes are pretty bad, and are really repeative. There is sound effects for your weapons, which is quite neat. So if you smash someone on the head with your bat, it will make a ''thud'' noise. The entrance themes are not that good, some are okay, but some are plain poor and boring. They're not all the official themes, like the Smackdown! games, they're just basic clips of music.

The gameplay is average. The career mode is quite good, it will last quite long and take up your time. There is tons of modes to play on, with such modes as handicap, lumberjack and loads more fun modes. It will keep you playing for quite some time, and you will have fun playing with friends on ECW: HR.

The controls are okay, you can produce better and more effective moves by pressing more buttons, it's like the Tekken games. If you do something basic like a suplex by pressing something like Circle + Right on the D-Pad, it will be less effective. I like doing moves off the turnbuckle with Rob Van Dam, as you can produce some great moves such as the 5* Frog Splash, etc.

Once you complete the career mode then you can play again, with different superstars or your CAW. There is tons of stuff to do in ECW: HR, you won't really get bored of it. It's hard to win matches are the hard difficulty, so it will keep you entertained. Find out if you can become the most Extreme wrestler ever, well not quite. It never really gets boring, if you're bored with other games, just put in ECW Hardcore Revolution.

Buy or Rent you ask? I would buy, as you can buy it cheap now. When it was first released i would of said rent it, as you may be disappointed if you liked the Smackdown! games.

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Although not better than the Smackdown! games in my opinion, it's still a good game, and for die-hard ECW fans you will enjoy it and you will like the blast from the past on ECW: HR. It's pretty much WWF Attitude, but with ECW superstars. ECW: HR is still a really fun game though, and you will enjoy it.
Score: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/22/02, Updated 12/22/02