WWE WrestleMania 21

"Yet Another Mediocre Xbox WWE Game..."

Introduction: When I heard about Wrestlemania 21 being released, I was excited. WWF Raw and WWE Raw 2 for the Xbox were both pretty bad games, but from the looks of it, THQ had finally got wrestling on the Xbox right. Although this could be a good game, it's terrible glitches make it a chore to play through.

Graphics (9 out of 10): The graphics in this game are the most detailed to hit any WWE wrestling game thus far released. The superstars look just like their real life counterparts (see HBK, Angle, etc) and the arenas look alright (although most are pretty dark). The ring introductions look pretty impressive, and the cutscenes look realistic. I'm going to have to give this a 9 in graphics, because the graphics truly impressed me.

Sound (8 out of 10): The music in this game rocks. They take all of the music from Smackdown vs. Raw (good rock tunes from bands such as Breaking Benjamin and a little rap thrown in the mix), and add a few new ones (such as the Black Eyed Peas and Papa Roach's "Anxiety"). The generic in-game music is alright, but can get a little tedious. The voiceovers sound good, but i personally prefer wrestling games NOT to have voice-overs. Good sound overall.

Control (5 out of 10): It seems like THQ was aiming for a somewhat clunky version of the controls in the newer Smackdown games (WWE Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain, and Smackdown vs. Raw). You have your 4 styles of grapples (quick, strong, submission, and signature), but instead of being assigned to a different direction on the d-pad and one universal grapple button, you have to tap a, hold a, tap b, and hold b, respectively, to access the 4 grapples. Oftentimes the controller will not function as it should, and you won't be able to do your alternate front special grapple (if you have two assigned to the front) on an opponent. The controls probably would have been good, if they could have just used a little more sense in designing them.

Gameplay (4 out of 10): This is where the game's fun starts to die. The Career mode is pretty lackluster. Similar to Day of Reckoning's, you must be a CAW, and the career mode is linear (you must win every single match). However, WMXIX does nothing to add to the replayability...in DOR, you could atleast go to Raw or SD, which provided for 2 playthroughs, but in WMXIX you always start on Smackdown. Speaking of CAWs, the CAW mode is pretty weak. It has a POOR selection of attires. The game features a shopping mode to unlock stuff. The items are way too expensive (You earn about 3,000 per match, and most superstars cost about 300,000). The matches can be fun sometimes, but are plagued by slowdown, especially with the post match stuff (replays, etc). You can't even really view them. Overall, the gameplay is pretty weak, due to the slowdown glitches, expensive unlockables, poor CAW mode, and bad Season Mode.

Replayability (7 out of 10): All wrestling games have a decent replayability value, due to making fun matches and playing on multiplayer. The only reason you'll be playing this game for awhile though, is because it takes so long to unlock stuff if you don't wanna cheat.

Rent or Buy: I would say rent first. If your impressed, buy it, but don't rent expecting a game much better than Raw 2.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/18/05