WWE WrestleMania 21

"Great wrestling game, still leaves some room for improvement though"

Alright, ill admit, at first when I heard of the game I instantly wanted to hate it (XBOX+Wrestling, triggered bad memories, and $100 wasted dollars on RAW1 and RAW2)..but I soon began looking into this game, and realizing that it could be quite good. Anyway lets get to the review.
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Sound>
7/10-The sound in WMXXI is good, but could be better, the songs they use are mostly the exact same as the ones in Day of Wreckoning, and Smackdown! VS RAW, but the XBOX has the custom sound track option which really opens the door for CAWS not having to have non-fitting themes or share themes with others. (NOTE: it has been said in some cases that some songs dont play when you use them as a custom theme: it plays when your assinging it to your CAW in edit mode, but doesnt play when the CAW actually enters into a match. I have experienced this with a song, but tried it again with a different song and it worked fine). It should also be noted theirs an option to turn the sound off, which is a godsend after hearing those same songs over & over again.

Game play
8/10- This is definatley going to be where I get the most criticism, because the Game play is hit or miss..I really liked it and thought it blended DOR and SD!vsRAW's gameplay together really well..my only gripe is that sometimes it seems like you only have a few strikes and a few grapple moves for each grapple-type..this game also introduces the HEAT meter, which when it is full you execute your special move (you can have special moves) by pressing A+B.

Story-Mode
6.5/10- This years game doesnt have a season-mode, but instead a story mode that takes after DORs more than Smackdown! as your have to use your CAW, and work your way up through the WWE, proving your self again and again..my big gripe is that I dont like making CAWS (mainly because I suck at doing so) and Id like a season where you could take an actual superstar through the story. Maybe next year have 2 story options (CAW Story and WWE Superstar Story modes)

GRAPHICS
9/10- this is where the game truly excels, being on the most powerful console, it was always assumed it would have the best graphics of the wrestling games released this year..the characters look realistic, the environments are nice, my only problem here is small, and probably not valid, but it is that the crowd could still use some work (even though who really cares as long as they atleast attempt to make the crowd more than cardboard cut outs) but other then that, the Graphics for this are absolutely awesome.

OVERALL SUMMARY..Personally I think this game is the best out of the 3 games released this year, and if it had a SDvsRaw like story mode it would be the best Next Gen. wrestling game...if your a wrestling fan, have an XBOX, then this is a must have, as its the best game of its genre for the XBOX. Props should be given to Studio Gigante for their good job on their first WWE game.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/02/05