WWE WrestleMania 21

"I was so hyped, then I played the game"

Ok. So I first hear that Wrestlemania 21 was supposed to be released on April 19, 2005. I go to pick it up and I'm told it will be another two days. Because of this, I start to think that they are perfecting the game, but after playing, they must have missed a whole lot.

First, I always start WWE games with the create features. You are first to pick your name, weight, blah blah blah. The fist thing that will piss off many players is you CAN'T EVEN MAKE A WOMAN! There are only six women in the game and it will get sorta boring watching them wrestle over and over again. After you do all of that, you do the costume, entrance, and moves. Problem number 1: After you do the first part, you can't go back! You are stuck with the same name and other stuff. If you perfect it the first time, you will have no problem with that. Next, costumes. This is where problem 2 comes in, everything is a problem! Let me take you back to Day of Reckoning on the Gamecube. The creation feature is absolutely amazing. You could customize almost everything to make your perfect character. This game on the other hand is strictly limited. There aren't many selections of clothing, you can't make a funny big head, tiny body feature to perfection, you can't make his skin green, and, for all you martial arts fanboys and fangirls, you can't even go barefoot. Jimmy Snuka is barefoot, but they didn't even give the other characters a choice. Next, the moves. There aren't to many problems, unless you count an extremely limited selection of moves a problem. They did throw in a feature that only allows certain weight types certain moves which is kinda cool, but what if you want a super heavyweight with the ability to do a moonsault? Next, the entrances. Boy o boy. The music feature from other X-Box WWE games is back (custom music for entrance) which is awesome and all the bonus songs from Day of Reckoning is back and then some, but you can't even pick a real wrestlers song! What's the point of naming a character DeChavo if you can't even access Chavo Gurrero's music? Next, the titantron. You have every wrestler's one here so there isn't much of a problem. I just wish you could create your own. Then, there was the fireworks. Oh boy. No sound from them, barely an explosion, and, once again, limited choices! And if your saying right now "But there is much more to unlock", you are very wrong, but I will talk about that later. So I'm watching Kane's entrance and waiting for these huge mountains of fire when he brings his hand down. What do I get? Little lines of fire which couldn,t even scare a poodle! Now, there is a new feature which allows you to create a belt which is pretty cool. All in all, the creation mode doesn't even scratch the surface of games lik e Day of Reckoning and Smackdown vs. Raw.

Next, profiles and the Shopzone. You first start out with a level 1 out of 4 profile which, as you level up by completing tasks, will allow you to unlock more. There is a problem, though. Some tasks include putting your created belt on the line in battles over X-Box Live. The first problem is some gamers, such as myself, don't have X-Box live and with the X-Box 2 coming soon, we have no reason to. Also, there's the matter of the bug I've heard about that is holding up X-Box Live. So, without X-Box Live, you can't even unlock a fourth of what they have to offer. Which brings me to my problem with the shop. It might even take you weeks and weeks on end just to unlock a paddle as a weapon! Basically, everything is extremely expensive, even attributes for created characters. Because you usually get 2,000 to 3,000 from each match and a lot of things cost 125,000, you might just get bored fast. Also, you have to activate your profile before you do anything to get the money. I started story mode and noticed I got no money for any of my many matches. Anyway, many gamers don't care about this and only care about the gameplay...

The gameplay is what saves this game from the garbage bin. The controls are easy, there are many game modes, and it is satisfying to beat the living hell out of Trish with Kane. There are flaws though. I started the game on the easiest level and, even after I learned the controls, the A.I. is extremely annoying. All they want to do is get you on the ground so they can beat you in the cheapest way, countless submissions which you must suffer again and again. This brings me to another thing. The countering system is really annoying. Basically, a little circle appears under your health bar when you should counter with the left trigger for grapples and the right for strikes. Many things, though, barely give you a millisecond to counter. Going back to A.I., they are most notorious in my book in the Bra and Panties match and the Royal Rumble. Just this morning, I watched the A.I. do a match versus it self an d after an hour, there was nothing stripped yet! In Royal Rumbles, all they do is try to get you out of the ring. They constantly try when I have full health which just gets annoying. Overall, the gameplay is enjoyable.

Now for graphics. They aren't amazing, but they are pretty good. The hair doesn't stack up though. You constantly see long hair going through the owner's neck when he or she tilts his or her head back. There really isn't much else to say about the graphics.

Now for the best part, the Story Mode. The story is well written and is just like the show. My problem is if want a character who is always good or bad, you won't find that. You are constantly shifting from crowd favorite, to most hated being on the planet. I can't really make a big deal out of these problems. I'd say it might be the best story so far.

What about audio? The main focus of the WWE games is rock and rap, and there is plenty of that as entrance music and menu music. The impact sounds are a little weak, but good and the voice-overs aren't bad at all. The most annoying thing in the entire game is probably the commentary. You constantly find yourself wanting to just shut them off because they say the same things over and over again. The audio is good, though.

Now that I have covered every topic, I'm done, right? Wrong. There are glitches galore in this game. First and most notable, the replays. During replays, the game constantly moves slowly and you must either watch it or skip it, which if you wanted to see the replays lowers the fun of bragging to your friends if you beat them. Also, during gameplay, characters sometimes get stuck on midair and you have to wait a minute for them to come down. One of the most annoying glitches is complete stops. It usually happens during load screens and character creations. I find myself saving characters after one step. These are the big ones, but the small ones can be easily ignored.

Overall, I give the game an average 5 out of 10. I'm a big fan the WWE and it was kind of hard to admit that this game was just OK, but I can't ignore the glitches and annoying creation and shop features. I end this review with a question. Why the heck is this game called Wrestlemania 21 if the story mode ends with a match at Wrestlemania 20?

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 04/25/05