WWE Wrestlemania 21 - First pics

Looks pretty good, but that's nothing new to the current series of wrestling games, what matters is the features, matches, and ability to customize the wrestlers in the game. I'm getting of sick of THQ giving us certain outfits and crap for the wrestlers and not letting anyone alter them.
 
yeah I hope you can edit wrestlers, and I hope they bring back the custom soundtrack feature for this one. Xbox Live and Roster updates would be nice also...
 
I hope, Wrestlemania 21 will be a great wrestling game for the Xbox! I'm still waiting for a wrestling game that's worth owning...
 
[quote name='SEGA128DC']I hope, Wrestlemania 21 will be a great wrestling game for the Xbox! I'm still waiting for a wrestling game that's worth owning...[/quote]

Pro Wrestling for the NES is the only wrestling game worth owning.
 
Interesting. It does already look better contentwise than SDvR, but it comes down to gameplay. Give me a good amount of legends and analog control and I'll be happy. And online wouldn't hurt.
 
that looks good wish i had an xbox, I hate day of reckoning so much glad I got it for free at TRU sale, maybe ill buy here comes the pain.
 
Just read the interview. The pro reversal concept sounds like the grapple system from King of Colosseum, which is, IMO, the greatest wrestling game ever.

Here's hoping.,

myke.
 
Won't get fooled again - like the guy above, Raw 2 tricked me as well. Never again. I'll consider picking it up, but I'm waiting until just about every single mag/site has reviewed it before I make my decision. Glad they dropped the Raw engine/style, but it still has a way to go before it impresses me enough to buy it.

Raw 2 was utter crap, but the two things WM21 should definitely keep are custom soundtracks (with an in-game editor similar to NFL 2k5, hopefully), and the customizable entrances. The way you could set up your lights and pyro in dozens of patterns down to the freaking millisecond in Raw 2 was awesome.

Studio Gigante being behind it doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence, especially since apparently this is a new engine. Yeah, it'll probably look nice and purdy, but so did the previous Raw games...outside of the animation, anyway. That interview doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence either. I'm sure some of the vague and/or disappointing answers are just because there is still work to be done, but....I dunno. We'll see.

Some of the positives...I do like the way the reversal system sounds, as long as they actually deliver on it. Online play would be HUGE, I hope they manage to get that in.

I hope they don't fuck this up. I've been waiting for a decent wrestling game since Fire Pro D and Giant Gram 2000 on the Dreamcast.



And DAMN is the writing style of that magazine annoying...I'm assuming it's XBM since they bash Sony every other sentence and fellate the XBox at every opportunity.
 
that last man standing sidebar in one of the pics is horribe...how can they say that hctp countered day of reckonings every move??? wat the hell? and they are allready saying it will be better than smackdown vs raw
 
Anything not named Raw or Day of Reckoning is better than Smackdown. Smackdown is the best by default because everything else is so bad. I'd rather play the SNES version of Super Fire Pro with broken fingers than play Smackdown.
 
I like the Smackdown series, and I like Raw.. I loved Raw 2.. not so much on the wrestling (which isn't bad at all once you get used to it), but moreso for the updates.. example.. update stables and music to Evolution with WWE: The Music vol. 6..

I really, really wish that THQ would lose the license, EA would pick it up then pass it over to AKI, since AKI worked with EA on Def Jam. That would RULE. Then we'd see a multiconsole release utilizing each feature.. the Gamecube with the trademark no extra features.. the PS2 with the ability to use the eyetoy and map your own face.. the XBox with the same ability (since a webcam for XBox Live is on the way) and custom MP3's.. give it the No Mercy engine.. a rotating storyline (how hard is it to script a thousand or so storylines? Two months? A month to take 500 or so from real life and make up 500 more.. and a month to write the scripts to them).. make them interweaving or something.. and bam, cash cow right there. The rich would get richer.
 
Smackdown: HCTP has been the only half-decent game on this gen here in the states. It's sad that we can't get a really good grappler, if only the developers would listen to us. I guess that they really don't have to because they know that we'll keep buying the games.

DOR wasn't bad, it was just too stripped of features. The engine was really good, or at least I thought it was. It was like an improved No Mercy.
 
[quote name='SEGA128DC']I hope, Wrestlemania 21 will be a great wrestling game for the Xbox! I'm still waiting for a wrestling game that's worth owning...[/quote]

yea true smackdown vs raw IMO is way worse than HCTP. the voice overs sound so cheap in SVR and the online isnt good at all.
 
*MAJOR UPDATE*

Wrestlers
- 46 Wrestlers
- 35 WWE Superstars
- 6 Divas
- 5 Legends
- Wrestler Detail
- Bump-mapping: allows for cloth wrinkles, extra muscle definition, veins, hair fibers, etc.
- Pixel shaders: create various surface effects, including the specular highlight on leather, and the gloss of oily skin.
- Per-pixel lighting: helps to eliminate blockiness in the character models.
- Endomorph muscle flexing: allows for chests to expand wit breaths, biceps to bulge when flexed, calves to clench, etc.
- Endomorph facial deformation: allows for lip-synching, and the depiction of emotion on the wrestler faces.
- Hair and cloth physics: allows for a level of detail only possible on the Xbox product.

Animation Features
- First WWE product to feature a fully motion-captured animation set
- Per-character animation variation: allows for animations - to be scaled depending on the height/size of the wrestler, thus increasing the believability of each move.
- Adjustable Motion Playback speed: allows for a single animation to be made faster/slower for smaller/larger wrestlers.
- Full IK support: allows for punches to connect with multiple body parts, and for feet to stay planted at all times during movement.
- Interpolative animation system: allows for smooth blending between animations
- Custom hand animations: in-game and in cutscenes
- Custom facial animations: allows for an increased amount of emotion during matches and during cutscene character interaction
- Dynamic lighting effects (affecting players, crowd, and environment)
- Enhanced rope and turnbuckle physics
- Reactionary crowd: multiple levels of excitement and celebration.

Arenas
- 16 WWE Arenas
- 12 PPV
- Raw
- Smackdown
- Velocity
- Heat
- 5 Small Venues
- Industrial Basement
- Civic Center
- Gym
- Training Facility
- Wrestling Club
- Environment Details

Modes of Play
- Exhibition Mode
- Single
- Tag
- Handicap
- Triple Threat
- Fatal Fourway
- Battle Royal
- Royal Rumble
- Special Match Stipulations
- Table
- Ladder
- TLC
- Cage
- Hell in a Cell
- Last Man Standing
- Bra and Panties
- Career Mode
- Take your created superstar through his formulative stages in Velocity, all the way to becoming the WWE Champion at Wrestlemania XXI.
- As each challenge is successfully cleared, the player is given attribute points to improve their superstar's abilities, and cash to upgrade their superstar's appearance, entrance, and move set.
- Extensive use of cutscenes
- Full voiceover support (2x as many than SDvR)
- Online Mode
- 4 player support via Xbox Live
- Compete in most of the single player exhibition mode types (final list TBD)
- Defend your championship online to increase its prestige and value
- Live voicechat support allows for real-time taunting and jabbering
 
Other Features
- 4 different wrestler classes. Each class confers a unique movement style and grapple/attack preference.
- Weight detection system considers the size and stature of a wrestler when determining the outcome of any wrestler-versus-wrestler interaction (attack reactions, lift success rate, etc).
- Limb damage system: damage sustained by each limb is tracked throughout a match. Limbs which have sustained severe damage become more vulnerable to submission holds.
- Heat meter: tracks how favorably the crowd is responding to each wrestler. The greater the heat, the more momentum a wrestler has. Maximum heat allows a wrestler to pull off a finishing move. 6 different attributes per wrestler, each with a distinct effect on gameplay:
- Stamina: ability to sustain large amounts of damage
- Speed: rate of movement around the ring
- Strength: amount of damage inflicted per move
- Submission: ability to force an opponent to submit
- Countering: ability to counter an incoming move
- Charisma: ability to build up heat through taunting
- 4 grapple types available to each wrestler: quick, strong, specialty, and submission. Each type of grapple has its own selection of triggerable moves, which vary per wrestler.
- Support for all possible grapple states: against the turnbuckle, against the ropes, ladder, out-of-ring, etc.
- Every move in the game can be countered or reversed.
- Pro Reversal system: allows for skilled players to reverse a grapple move or finisher during the course of the move, granting a '2nd chance' to avoid a damaging attack.
- Superstar-specific mannerisms (attack preferences, taunts, and custom motions) bring life to each individual wrestling personality.

Customization Features
- Create a Superstar
- Massively expanded selection of customization options - body type/shape, costumes, and gear
- Gradual delivery of content: Created Superstars can be developed and improved via their progress through the game's career mode.
- Created Superstars can be brought online to fight against another player's creation.
- Create a Championship
- Users are given the opportunity to craft a Championship of their own design. They may specify the materials the championship is made of, the style of the faceplate and sideplates, plus any additional embellishments that make a championship stand out (I.e. precious gems attached to various points).
- Progressing through the single player game unlocks additional elements that can be purchased and attached to the belt, adding to its value.
- At any time, a championship can be defended locally on the user's machine, or it can be taken online and defended against all challengers.
- Successfully defending a championship adds to its value, which is tracked online for those championships that rank among the most prestigious.
 
46 Wrestlers.

Wow, WWE is really, through no fault of their own, having some major problems with the rosters this generation. 46, especially when considering the obligatory "women-in-the-game-i-never-use," which may be as high as 4 or even 5, is a very small number of wrestlers.

Also, I noticed the presence of Bra-and-Panties matches, but no Elimination Chamber. I would have loved to have been at that board meeting. I'll bet it ended with a flippant, "meh, whatever's cheapest."

I went back to play HCTP yesterday, and I found that I like it much better because of the roster. I was disappointed with SvR's online mode, so it has no substantial improvements for me.

I think it has 4 guys who weren't in HCTP, while HCTP has more 'classic' guys, like Steiner, Goldberg, Nash, Austin, etc. The rosters just don't compare.

myke.
 
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