WWE WrestleMania 21

"Just Stick To The Smackdown Games, At Least They Do It Right"

I've only had my Xbox for about 4 months, I have a PS2 too, so as far as Wrestling games go Ive only had the Smackdown series, I've own them all since no.1 on the PS1, and loved all of them, well maybe not there 3rd one but thats for another time. Having played Smackdown VS Raw to death Id thought id buy Wrestlemania 21, seeing as id not played RAW 1 & 2 and since Wrestlemania 21 was a great event (much better than 20 was). As a Xbox game and the whole custom soundtrack idea I was much looking forward to playing, just to let you all know after I write this im off to swap this for GTA:SA, which I know is amazing.

Graphics - 7/10

Like most reviews have said the only high point of the same. Wrestlers do look like there counterparts, with a few exceptions thought. The crowd is also good, but there only there to look at. The graphics look good in the cut scenes in career mode however.

Sound - 4/10

Now here comes the bad parts. The music in the game is good, and the idea for having your created superstar have any music off your Xbox hard drive is a good one. However I did buy the game on the thought that you could change the default wrestlers music, as I knew they'd be out of date. On playing the game I found this is not the case, nor can you actually have any of the default wrestlers music for your created superstar. There's an item in shot-zone called music some-thing-or-other, I bought it, but saw no difference in music selection. If anyone can tell me what it does please let me know. Also why do the wrestlers come out to poor versions of there music, yet it is available fully and correct when you buy there movie in shopzone. Examples are Christian coming out to some slow part of Waterproof blonde's song, Randy Orton's 'Burn in my light' without the word 'Hey' being mentioned when its complete on SD VS RAW, to name but 2. And why is a track from Need for speed Underground 2 in this game!! The weapons dont sound anything like the're supposed to be, and the commentary is unchanged from SD VS RAW.

Shopzone - 1/10

Completely pointless. Everything is way too expensive, you need to get to profile level 4 before you get anything good, and your give up long before then.

CAW - 2/10

And it gets better!! This is so limited its not funny. Compared to other WWE game your given the bare minimals as far as clothing goes, you can do up the face but thats about it. You have to have a short name, They still cant add something where Lillian or Tony say your weight (they could of easily as they included the town names) and you cant make women wrestlers, plus you can only use your CAW in career mode. And don't get me started on the attributes points system.

Career Mode - 6/10

Well at least they put some effort into this part. The story is well written, going from rookie to champ, but its the way career is put together is annoying. You have to win EVERY match, lose and you have to redo it till you do win, which makes it very pointless. There's no branching storyline unlike SD 4,5 and 6. The voiceovers are good, but why Triple H doesn't speak is just silly. It nice to see your CAW talk too, Although need the end he goes quiet. This was the mode I played the most just to see what happens next.

Gameplay - 4/10

The A.I. has one goal, win cheaply as possible. Basically if you get knocked down to the mat, put the pad down, go make a drink and come back and then try to get off the mat as the CPU will basically put submission after submission on you. Also in a fatal four-way, why does the CPU not switch characters and go for the same damn one everytime, even if you beat the crap out of them they wont turn to fight you, its so stupid. Also I won a match in career mode as my opponent was announced the winner! Ladder matches are just a waste of time, and there are so much restrictions on the matches than other games, you can only do 2 person Hell in a Cell, Ladder and TLC when you can do 4 players in other games. The characters most sluggish and the game has crashed on me before.

Overall - 3/10

In my opinion a wasted opportunity. They could of done so much with this but it seems THQ couldnt be bothered, and id never heard of Studio Gigante before this game,so I know to avoid there games now then. I just hope they release another Smackdown game soon to make up for this.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 06/20/05