WWE Raw 2

"The long awaited: WWE RAW 2 or the seconded comming: WWE FLAW 2"

WWE Raw 2 has been one of my most anticipated wrestling games ever. I am a fan of the AKI wrestling games and I have been playing them since WCW vs. NWO world tour. I have played many wrestling games fore it is one of my favorite genres and I beliave I know a good wrestling game when I play one. After the huge dissapointment which was WWF Raw I was pretty angry with wrestling games today, I thought all hope was lost until I found out about some of the things that were suppose to be in Raw 2. Here is what I thougt.

When I first started up this game I thought that my wishes had fallen on deaf ears because essintially it looked very simmilar to WWF Raw and to tell you the truth it was. There are differnces however, many of the animations have been fixed to look smoother and more natural. Also the horrendous reversal system has been redone to a simpiler but far more enjoyable fashion. I can't tell you how annoying it was in Raw 1 when I went to perform a move on one of my friends and he would know what I was trying to do so he would just push that button and blam, instant counter. Thank god they fixed that. As bad as I thought the gameplay was in the original Raw, I am really begining to see that it wasn't as awful as I had originally thought, just some things like the countering system and animation brought it down.

This is all not to say the gameplay is great, really it is simply ok. Nothing to scream about but it isn't good just exceptible. Some things I don't like are certaing things you can do in this game like hit people when they are in the middle of a move (Although it is good for saves, it just really meesed thing up in matches were multiple wrestlers are in the ring at once) Also the way the wrestlers sell some attacks is kind of messed up. Sometimes they go hurling through the air with one punch but more times than not this looks good and fits in with the match.

The CPU AI is not to great. When I first started playing the game I had it on easy and was getting my but kicked but then I got used to the slow pace of the game and now I am playing on hard and have not seemed to have any difficulty beating the AI yet. Thats too bad about the AI but this can be overlooked if you have friends. By the way the pacing in this game is S..L..O..W especially at first but once you get used to it it doesn't seem bad.

The Create a Wrestler feature in here is one of the greatest I have seen. I like more than any other because it has the simplicity of No Mercy but almost the depth of Smackdown. I like making CAW's in games but I don't like dealing with the individual shades of color and noses and all of that stuff, just give me some pre set faces and colors and I will still make a great CAW. But for you people who like all of that detail Raw offers a bit of that. One of the biggest problems I have with most wrestling game caw's (And I know all of you brothers out there have had the same problem) is finding hair that fits a black CAW. It is so frustrating when I am trying to create my guy and then I get to the hair and they got what, a afro and..... maybe 1 or 2 fades. Man they need to start putting some more types of hair in these games, if your creative enough you won't have much of a problem but it sucks to see your CAW who is black come out to the ring and him just not look right because he has short Straight hair. Usually there is at least one fade or something so I am thankful for that but otherwise beware. (Guess I will just have to wait for Def Jam vendetta 2 they got to have some decent hair in there.)

Im sure you have all heard about Create an Entrance and all of that so I won't go into detail on those. Just know that you can rip music, time pyro, and create your own titantron, just know that this mode it tite! Also the match modes are pretty good. Nothing special, the only bad thing is the ladder match and that is only because once you go to grab the title it is very hard to get down.

Lastly I am going to talk about the season mode. To me this is the reason to buy the game, I love it. If you really think about it, it is very simple. Nothing really groundbreaking but the presentation of the whole thing and interactive-ness make it a very fun mode. Basically you are just a wrestler who wrestles and is trying to get to the top. You can do lots of things in between matches and they effect friendships and rivalries. This mode is very fun and it can be up to four players at once.

Well this has been a long write up and a long day so I am going to close on this. WWE Raw 2 is a fun game if your just wanting to have some wrestling game fun. If you loved the first one.... ok liked the first one....thought the first one was decent? Fine! Came into contact with the first one in any way shape or form you should like this one even more. If your all about gameplay you might want to stay away from this. I am actually surprised by how much I am enjoying it although in most areas it is below my expectations. For what it is it's still a solid wrestling game wich could use some improvemnt but is still enjoyable. That is why I am going to smackdown this game with a solid 7/10.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/18/03