"ECWWF Hardcore Attitude"

After Acclaim lost its license for the WWF game series, ECW jumped at the chance to swoop in and have their own brand of EXTREME wrestling captured in the video game world. In theory, ECW: Hardcore Revolutionshould have been the most groundbreaking pro-wrestling video game ever seen. I mean, here was Acclaim's chance to break away from the WWF's sterilized gaming product and encompass everything about ECW's brand of wrestling: lots of bloodshed and violence, crazy stunts not even cable would have the cojones to broadcast, nudity, use of barbed wire during matches and men being powerbombed through tables set ablaze. Unfortunately, you get a carbon copy of the WWF: Attitude blueprint, only with ECW wrestlers put in the WWF's rosters place. Not that is particularly bad. Acclaim's WWF series was revolutionary in its time and still hailed as classics. But that's exactly what brings this game down. It's the WWF series rehashed.

That being said, in its own right ECW:HR is a good game. The number of wrestlers is quite good, having federation staples like Raven, Taz, Tommy Dream and of course, Mr. Monday Night Rob! Van! Dam! There is even the late Louis Spicolli who passed away shortly before this game hit stores.

Controls are pretty tight. There are three basic commands: punch, kick and grapple. After you grapple, your wrestler has access to multiple moves in his/her arsenal. If you're a beginner at the game, or have a hard time remember the combonations to any particular move, the pause screen has a handy menu for you to check out all the moves possible from your current position whether it's grappling, standing over or behind your opponent, on the top rope, etc.

Unfortunately, there's only one real addition to the game from Attitude: the dreaded barbed wire match. Sure it's fun to throw your opponents into the jagged edges surrounding the ring ropes but with how much more that could have been added, it's like we're getting the short end of the stick.

Also, somehow someway, Acclaim managed to screw up the AI and collision detection. While it was quite good in previous games, there's no excuse as to why it seems to have taken a step backward now. For example, in the same exact cage match, I clotheslined my opponent from behind and he fell FORWARD. Later on, I nailed him with my finisher in the middle of the ring and proceded to climb the cage. In all wrestling games, the players move like old ladies on the freeway: too damn slow. But in most other wrestling games, if the AI opponent has gotten up, usually they will try to stop you from escaping.

I wasn't a fan of ECW when it was a federation, but always enjoyed its innovation and style. What's most tragic about this game is that it did nothing to shed positive light on the legacy of the pluckiest league in wrestling history. Sad, indeed.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 07/20/05