[TheGame]

Page2:

In addition to this there is some flexibility in move possibilities, but it's certainly not as expansive as we would have liked to see. With only five basic front grapples, for instance, you just feel cheated out of what was possible. But, you're able to Irish whip your opponent into the ropes or turnbuckle by pressing A and Y simultaneously. This can be a bit clumsy, though, because the Y-button is also used to make your own character run. If you're not in the correct position, you'll usually end up running briefly into the direction you were attempting to throw your opponent. There are a few other control methods that require this kind of precision. For instance, if you want to flip your opponent over while they're lying on the ground, it requires you press X and A at the same time. This usually works with little effort. However, then you factor in the idea that to pick up weaponry you must press in the direction of the weapon and hit X and A simultaneously. If you're standing next to a wrestler, lying dazed on the ground, and a weapon at the same time your chances of picking up the weapon successfully take a turn for the worst. It takes some practice and you'll usually have to position yourself so the weapon is in between you and your opponent. For performing your signature moves you must use the double-button method, too. Most often it works, but there's always a little randomness where you merely grapple or strike when you didn't want too. These are the major issues you'll run into with the control.
Speaking of signature moves, we should note that all the grappler's specials are taken care of. Everything from the Stunner to The Worm to the Triple German Suplex is covered. Even for signature tag moves you'll see they're present. Even the 3-D is possible with the Dudley Boyz, though for some reason your opponent's facing the wrong way when it's performed. Along with all the trademark moves and personalities come flashy entrances. The WWF stars all have their official music and animations. The presentation could probably be considered better than Smackdown!, but not by much, and certainly not as slick as Raw's. Sadly, there is a huge problem with the former WCW stars like Booker T, Hogan, and the NWO theme as a whole. THQ purchased its license before the dissolution of the WCW, and apparently the music rights must not have been available because you won't find them in WrestleMania X8. It would be an understatement to say that seeing Ric Flair enter to totally fabricated music is lame. Granted, it doesn't interfere with the gameplay, but it hurts overall presentation -- something the WWE is all about.

Moving back to a discussion of the movies list, there are definitely other options to seek when it comes to laying the smack down. You have the ability to tie foes up in the ropes, set them up on the turnbuckles in multiple ways, and with tables or ladders tossed into the mix, you can be very creative. In regards to tables, you can actually set them up to slam or even suplex your opponent through. Equally, the announcer's tables can be fought on and smashed through. You also have the flexibility to set tables up in the corners of the rings so you can Irish whip into them, or even clothesline an opponent through. Oddly enough, weapons like tables will disappear after breaking, instead of, say, breaking in half so you can use them as a weapon.

When you start experimenting with weapons the problems with collision detection begin to rear their head. Before the bad news, we should mention that weapons like garbage cans and metal sheets see real-time damage, bending under the pressure of smacking against another's forehead. It's a nice effect, and eventually they will disappear. However weapons that stay around, ladders for instance, begin to behave very frenetically. Your wrestler may begin to shake or, more likely, the ladder will explode outward, even falling out of the ring even though you barely touched it. The problems with collision also show when you're pulling off moves. You'll see your opponents' heads and feet poking through parts of other wrestlers bodies, but fortunately the moves still work just fine. This much is visual, and not really a huge problem. What is a problem is when you perform an elbow drop with The Undertaker and find that due to Kurt Angle's size, it has no effect. Despite the elbow clearly connecting, Angle just doesn't react sometime. This is a specific combination of wrestlers, and it only happens a small percentage of the time -- but it still happens



It's things like this that really show X8's lack of polish in some areas. It's a rushed product without a doubt. We remember hearing about the ability to fight backstage. There's nothing like this present that we've seen. It would have certainly been handy for the Hardcore matches where you're tied down to fight within the confines of the arena. Additionally, you may remember hearing the certain initials DDP. Yes, one of our favorite WCW stars. Of course, this is one of those occasions where THQ would remind you that its initial projections for the superstar lineup wasn't final at that point, but we will definitely be missing pulling off the Diamond Cutter with the energetic star.