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WWE All-Stars
THQ are the
definitive creators of wrestling games, however over the years, their
wrestling games have become a little stagnant. That's not to say that
their games are bad, on the contrary, they have been excellent but every
now and then, you need to shake things up and this is where WWE All
Stars comes into fray.
Reminiscent of WWE Legends of Wrestlemania,
WWE
All Stars gives what old school wrestling fans want, an all-star line-up
of classic wrestlers from the ages. From the enormous Andrew the Giant
to the extraverted Mr. Perfect or modern legend, The Rock, WWE All Stars is a great walk down
memory lane as you battle this stellar line-up against each other.
Still
not convinced? WWE All Stars also features Bret Hart, John Cena and
Macho Man Randy Savage as well but best of
all, the gaming mechanics are quite decent and whether you're a new
comer to the series or a veteran THQ Wrestling fan, the control system
works great on the PS3 DualShock controller with all this over the top
wrestling fun.
In terms of gaming modes, WWE All Stars has quite a few different modes
of play to keep even the most fussiest of gamers pleased. From both
local and online multiplayer fun to traditional exhibition matched and
my favourite, Fantasy Warfare that allows you to wrestle legends against
legend, whether old school or modern superstar.
There is also a Champion mode that allows
you to pick your own wrestler and fight them through a variety of
challenges in order to unlock some rather cool content. With that said,
the game offers four different types of wrestlers that include Acrobat,
Big Man, Brawler and Grappler, each with their pros and cons. Needless
to say, there's quite a bit of replay value here.
In terms of controls, even though WWE All Stars can be played as a button masher, this will
only go so far. The key to victory in WWE All Stars is learning the
various combo moves for your wrestlers that can sometimes mean the
difference between winning and losing. But what I enjoyed about the combo moves were the
outrageous nature of them that seem quite over the top and flamboyant,
just like the 80's wrestling that I grew up watching.
Throw in old school running attacks or
various grapples and you could be mistaken in thinking that you are watching a re-run
from the golden age of wrestling. All the basics are still included in
the game from pile driving to body slams plus signature moves that are
sometimes a little tricky to pull off, depending on which wrestler you
are controlling. Of course all this old school fun couldn't have
happened without the amazing graphics.
Graphically, WWE All Stars is boasts some great wrestling eye candy on the PS3
that include realistic virtual counterparts of these classic and modern
superstar wrestlers. Another highlight of the graphics are the
introduction videos for the wrestlers that mimic their outrageous
introductions perfectly.
Even though most wrestlers looks a little too
beefcake due to the squarish polygons that make up the characters, the texture details look quite realistic
and when you see Andre the Giant, he actually looks like this man. Best of all, the wrestlers move
with this human-like grace in the game which once again mimic their real-world
counterparts, especially with their signature manoeuvres.
Add in some
great stadiums with decent crowd effects, video monitors and some
realistic lighting and WWE All Stars is easily one of the better
wrestling games in this department. To compliment the graphics, the
developers have included the original theme songs of the stars and other extravagant
sounds of the ring to make it a truly holistic wrestling experience for
the gamer. Even the voice acting and commentary is quite professionally
done, although quite clichéd in a wrestling sense. Definitely a good job
THQ San Diego!
We could happily recommend this game to those who have been away from
the THQ wrestling series for a few releases now or to those that loved
the classic WWE franchise. With great gaming mechanics and controls that
range from newbie to gaming veteran plus some exceptional graphics, WWE
All Stars has some great replay value with some awesome fun to be had
online as you make your way up the leaderboards.
It may be over the top
but what wrestling series isn't? |
