"A good idea, but some flaws"

WCW Backstage Assault (To be referred to as BA from now on) seemed fun, and was in a few aspects, but it was missing and needs some stuff that older games have had.

Graphics: 6/10

A mixed bag. The arenas in BA are ****ing awesome, and almost the whole thing can be used in some way. You can pull phones, punching bags, urinals, mirrors and sinks, among other things off the wall to beat your opponent with. You can also pick up some things off the ground like 2x4s and pipes. That's nice, but the character models aren't. The faces are bland and generic. Some outfits hardly resemble what the wrestler wore. The collision detection isn't great either. You'll be flying through your opponent throughout the whole match. It's kind of annoying to me to punch my opponent and have my fist go through them.

Gameplay: 4/10

It's another mixed bag. It's ''season'' mode is a mode where you battle through a bunch of different people in different rooms. BA has an innovative use of no arenas and all backstage rooms like a locker room or a bathroom which you travel between by Irish whipping your opponent to the door, much like in No Mercy. I love the backstage arenas. But, the lack of modes is lethal. In exhibition, all there is is single, first blood (first to bleed loses) and human torch, where you must light your opponent on fire.

Sound: 5/10

Basic grunts, groans and thuds. There is some nice and clear entrance music, but it needs to be a bit longer. There's some nice zaps when you chuck your foe into electrical equipment, but other than that, it's middle of the line and nothing too special or worth noting.

Control: 3/10

Slow and unresponsive. There can be up to a gap of several seconds before it responds. It can be sometimes so slow that you may be stuck for a few seconds before your character will finally get up and move The normal stuff is below average but bearable.

Buy or Rent? Rent

Rent BA. It's a little odd, but I had fun, and so did several people I know. It's a good play. For about a week.

Final Thoughts

Try BA. It's worth a rental or a buy if you can find it for less than 10 bucks. I had fun with the backstage fighting and trying to use everything in as many different ways as I could think of.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 11/19/03