Maybe it's because I grew up in the 1980's but I always felt the 1980's and early 1990's WWF era was the best of the bunch. Once Hogan and The Warrior moved on and were replaced by Stone Cold and the Rock I lost interest in wrestling and moved on. I've always felt the earlier decade of wrestling was far superior, more creative and tasteful than anything the Attitude era brought.

I know exactly jack shit about wrestling. Can someone confirm to me that Alex didn't start having a stroke halfway through writing the third paragraph?

@vinsanityv22: I think the super cartoonish style of All-Stars made the stark difference less apparent. When you've got comically beefed up CM Punk in there against comically beefed up Steve Austin, it's not as apparent as when you look at them in a more (if not wholly) realistic environment. In this case, I see the current WWE guys, and I barely see characters, especially when compared directly to the Attitude roster.

Oh, and I loved All-Stars. Was super bummed when that studio shuttered.

I was totally going to gloss over this WWE release like I have for the past few years but after reading this I might give it a shot. The attitude era was my bread a butter growing up and wrestling really hasn't been the same since. Please keep writing these wonderful reviews!

Ever since THQ started tapping the WWE in-house video edit teams for video packages (like for WWE All Stars' Fantasy Warfare mode), the stories in these games have gotten much, much better...

Oh and Alex: "Of course, nearly all the current WWE superstars are on-hand as well. The most interesting thing to me about having the dual rosters is how striking the difference is between them. Looking at the Attitude era, you've got these insane, cartoonish personalities that evoke their larger-than-life personas. And while I love current guys like CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and Cody Rhodes, it's incredibly telling that the modern roster essentially blends into a blur of random dudes when held against the Attitude era roster. That's hardly THQ's fault, but it is something I found myself noticing more and more as I played." -- have some perspective brother! Things were even MORE cartoonish back before the Attitude era. Again, look to All-Stars. Pitting guys like modern day CM Punk versus Macho Man Randy Savage... or the Ultimate Warrior? It's INSANE. I actually LOVE the contrast between the Superstars of today and the larger-than-life characters of yesterday. THQ Smashing them together has resulted in some really cool games.

*sniff* Rest in peace, All Stars. You were the best wrestling game of all time.

I've been watching WWE wrestling for a long time but the last game that I played was on the PS2... Will definitely try this one!!!

This is really great to hear. I've been out of wrestling for a while, but maybe a decent game will help pull me back in, or at least let me have some fun reliving when wrestling was fucking awesome.

Agreed, I'd love to see a quick look of this, for sure.

i have 2 admit when i was watching wwf it was well better in like the 90s to the 2000s but now it is just so dier and terrible

@Skullking said:

Steve Blackman not being in the game kinda ruins it for me :(

There are plenty of perfect replica's of Steve Blackman made by users available to download from within the game.

Great review! Also, glad you're alive!

i'm glad that this turned out well. i won't be buying it, or at least not anytime soon because i've only really enjoyed these games when i played them with my friends, but it seems that they're not into it anymore. i still have fun playing these games by myself, but i never feel motivated to explore the majority of the game modes without anybody else to play with. i could not play a single online match in WWE 12 because it never worked. at least it works now, apparently but nothing really compares to playing locally with friends if the online modes in the previous games are any indication.

still, some of this stuff seems really cool. stuff like recreating the montreal screwjob seems like absolute madness, and i'd love to check it out before the next game shows up.

STONE COLD STONE COLD STONE COLD

I'll wait for it to go cheap in the new year I think

+10 for knowing who Earl Hebner is!

Or is that -10? As Arino says (paraphrasing), "I'm a terrible adult."

I used to watch wrastlin' all the time during the glory days. I think I must have grown up though.

I'm looking forward to trying this.

So Alex is still alive. Good review

looking forward to this getting it hopefully thursday if my pre-order comes early which usually happens with shopto! STONE COLD! Also, anyone know if there's gonna be a quick look of JR being killed by a car for an hour?

I remember seeing the roster that I was very happy to see so many classic wrestlers from years past, along with old-school versions of a bunch of current dudes.

Seems like THQ has realised current wrestling isn't up to the standard it was 10-20 years ago, and they're catering to that. Good on them. Perhaps I'll grab this when it's cheaper.

Even though I haven't watched wrestling in donkey years, I like the idea of exploring the attitude era (where I suspect, most of us watched wrestling) but I'm surprised by the score, from what I've read/seen it seems like a small step-up from WWE 12 which I enjoyed at times. That Attitude era mode sounds interesting, might pick this up when I can afford to.

Accouterments is a terrible word!

That said, I almost want to play this since last I vaguely cared about Wrestling was through the 90s.. but eh.

Steve Blackman not being in the game kinda ruins it for me :(

I sure hope this comes up later this week in Target's B2G1 free sale. Assassin's Creed III did, so fingers crossed.

I'm hoping this sells like gangbusters because that would mean we are one step closer to an obvious Monday Night Wars videogame

CM Punk has the Midas touch. Ditto Paul Heyman.

... Am I actually thinking about buying a wrestling game post-N64? Did I wake up in an alternate reality?

I haven't played a wrestling game since WWF No Mercy. I also haven't watched an episode of Raw or Smackdown since 99, 2000 so maybe this will be worth checking out.

Great review, Alex.

FEED.

ME.

MORE.

DLC.

i like the rock because he licks vaginas lol

@jimmyfenix said:

STONE COLD!! STONE COLD!! STONE COLD!!!!

I know you are some what making fun, but when I started the Stone Cold Story and he came running in to the Royal Rumble and JR started yelling that I grinned from ear to ear.

Great to see that they pulled a good one out of the hat this year.

As a wrestling fan, I have to say they are really aiming for the early years of the Attitude Era with this. Being a younger fan, my best memories clock in at very late '99 and into 2000 - when Stone Cold was marginalized and Triple H ascended to the top. Anyhow, looking forward to picking this up at some point.

@Undeadpool said:

@Oldirtybearon said:

@iceman228433 said:

Oh man they finally got it right I was just waiting to see if they fixed the dam servers and it sounds like they have so I am in. Great Review glad to see you enjoyed the game so much.

there haven`t been any dropped connections or server lag for the last six or seven months. That was an issue they fixed a few months into WWE12`s life.

@m0rdr3d said:

@TurboMan said:

@Nekrokreuz: All of the Dudley Boyz and Jeff Hardy are now in contract with TNA. I'm sure WWE has the rights to all their names and likenesses, but I doubt they want TNA guys in their current game...

But with the Create-A-Wrestler, you can download exact models of them that other people have made. Also there's tons of youtube channels that creates music with crowd noises so you can put their themes into the game...

Thanks so much for that info, seriously. I didn't know that and it'll probably mean I'm taking the plunge this year. I just hope the Create-A-Wrestler lets me make all the guys they've missed.

Ahahahahahaha, you have absolutely now idea how deep and in-depth the Create features are in these games. You`re going to shit bricks, son.

The Create-a-Wrestler stuff has basically ALWAYS had sort of "winking, nudging" parts to create wrestlers from other organizations. The Shark Boy stuff is some of my favorite to behold year to year on Youtube.

Yup, they always seem to cater to wrestling fans of all companies with CAW related stuff... I mean, they added the BRAINBUSTAAAAH this year

@MAJID said:

This is the first time in years that anyone has mentioned/thought of Steve Blackman. I wonder if he still calls himself The Lethal Weapon.

In today's wrestling fans mindset, Steve Blackman is a relic of the past. He might as well be on the same mythological level as Chuck Norris. Everybody seems to have fond memories of Steve Blackman, but we have no evidence of whether or not he ever actually existed. See: 1:50 in this video

I only just got WWE 12, but since it was used I don't get any user created content or online play. I'm thinking I might grab this for some Attitude era fun, and just to see the ridiculous CAWs people make.

This is the first time in years that anyone has mentioned/thought of Steve Blackman. I wonder if he still calls himself The Lethal Weapon.

@Oldirtybearon said:

@iceman228433 said:

Oh man they finally got it right I was just waiting to see if they fixed the dam servers and it sounds like they have so I am in. Great Review glad to see you enjoyed the game so much.

there haven`t been any dropped connections or server lag for the last six or seven months. That was an issue they fixed a few months into WWE12`s life.

@m0rdr3d said:

@TurboMan said:

@Nekrokreuz: All of the Dudley Boyz and Jeff Hardy are now in contract with TNA. I'm sure WWE has the rights to all their names and likenesses, but I doubt they want TNA guys in their current game...

But with the Create-A-Wrestler, you can download exact models of them that other people have made. Also there's tons of youtube channels that creates music with crowd noises so you can put their themes into the game...

Thanks so much for that info, seriously. I didn't know that and it'll probably mean I'm taking the plunge this year. I just hope the Create-A-Wrestler lets me make all the guys they've missed.

Ahahahahahaha, you have absolutely now idea how deep and in-depth the Create features are in these games. You`re going to shit bricks, son.

The Create-a-Wrestler stuff has basically ALWAYS had sort of "winking, nudging" parts to create wrestlers from other organizations. The Shark Boy stuff is some of my favorite to behold year to year on Youtube.

Good to see Yukes taking a step in the right direction. I'll be picking this up. My first wrestling game since 2007.

Also, that box art is pretty cool.

@iceman228433 said:

Oh man they finally got it right I was just waiting to see if they fixed the dam servers and it sounds like they have so I am in. Great Review glad to see you enjoyed the game so much.

there haven`t been any dropped connections or server lag for the last six or seven months. That was an issue they fixed a few months into WWE12`s life.

@m0rdr3d said:

@TurboMan said:

@Nekrokreuz: All of the Dudley Boyz and Jeff Hardy are now in contract with TNA. I'm sure WWE has the rights to all their names and likenesses, but I doubt they want TNA guys in their current game...

But with the Create-A-Wrestler, you can download exact models of them that other people have made. Also there's tons of youtube channels that creates music with crowd noises so you can put their themes into the game...

Thanks so much for that info, seriously. I didn't know that and it'll probably mean I'm taking the plunge this year. I just hope the Create-A-Wrestler lets me make all the guys they've missed.

Ahahahahahaha, you have absolutely now idea how deep and in-depth the Create features are in these games. You`re going to shit bricks, son.

@TurboMan said:

@Nekrokreuz: All of the Dudley Boyz and Jeff Hardy are now in contract with TNA. I'm sure WWE has the rights to all their names and likenesses, but I doubt they want TNA guys in their current game...

But with the Create-A-Wrestler, you can download exact models of them that other people have made. Also there's tons of youtube channels that creates music with crowd noises so you can put their themes into the game...

Thanks so much for that info, seriously. I didn't know that and it'll probably mean I'm taking the plunge this year. I just hope the Create-A-Wrestler lets me make all the guys they've missed.

How did Alex manage to complete this review with New York having no power what so-ever?

If I ever were to buy a wrestling game, a single player mode like this would surely get me to do it. Replaying actual matches with video thrown in sounds pretty sweet!

You could be from the future and you still wouldn't have saw this score coming.

Does this have a demo? I have not played a wrestling game since Smackdown 2.

STONE COLD!! STONE COLD!! STONE COLD!!!!

God dammit now I have to buy this game.

I knew this was going to be great! :-D Getting my copy in the post tomorrow - woot, woot!

@Winternet said:

I made a quick search for "Triple H's hair" on this page and got zero results. This review is lacking, Mr. Navarro.

I did the exact same thing and all it found was your comment. HOW CAN I MAKE A BUYING DECISION BASED ON THIS REVIEW!?!?

Flyin' Brian Pillman is in this??? SOLD!