WWE Legends of Wrestlemania (PS3)

...with 38 of the greatest WWE Legends to have ever graced a Wrestlemania ring. I should point out that this list of Superstars that includes such greats as Hulk Hogan, Roadwarriors, Andre the Giant (and finally) Ultimate Warrior does have some omissions. It’s not known as yet whether DLC will be available for this game and fill some of these gaps such as Paul Orndorff, Demolition and Owen Hart (Maybe with the release of the Macho Man Randy Savage DVD, ...
...these will be unfamiliar to WWE fans and though the range is less than what the previous Smackdown had it’s doubtful that you will find anyone saying ‘Oh they missed out!’

Legend Killer is your typical gauntlet-style set up where you take one created superstar (or one ported over from your Smackdown game-more on that in a moment) through ten consecutive Legends in a row with only one life bar. This is a difficult mode as there are no ... more

Legends of Wrestlemania

I have been asking for this game for years. Every time THQ/WWE released a game I would say ‘When are they going to just release a Legends game?’ Finally after years of whining, they have granted my wish and I now have that game in my hands in the form of Legends of Wrestlemania.

Now, there are some of you who are thinking two things. One: Is it as good as Smackdown? and Two: Is it better than Legends of Wrestling. Thankfully the answer to both questions is, to quote Stone Cold ‘Oh Hell Yeah!’

Legends of Wrestlemania is filled with 38 of the greatest WWE Legends to have ever graced a Wrestlemania ring. I should point out that this list of Superstars that includes such greats as Hulk Hogan, Roadwarriors, Andre the Giant (and finally) Ultimate Warrior does have some omissions. It’s not known as yet whether DLC will be available for this game and fill some of these gaps such as Paul Orndorff, Demolition and Owen Hart (Maybe with the release of the Macho Man Randy Savage DVD, WWE will include him too). The best way to play in my opinion is to get yourself a list of all the available Wrestlemania or matches in general that could be recreated and work your way through them. There are literally hundreds of past matches that can be recreated from the 1992 Summerslam Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog match or Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair at… well, take your pick really did they ever put on a bad match? I do kind of wish that for those who didn’t know the entire card of Wrestlemania V or who’s only knowledge of wrestling was John Cena and Batista were given some more information or maybe the matches that could be recreated though this might me being too greedy. Of course the problem with this is that once you start to do this you suddenly realise how many omissions have been made. No Macho Man Randy Savage means that you can’t recreate any matches from Ricky Steamboat at Mania and really I’d give my first born child to recreate their match at Wrestlemania III. Also, no Dynamite Kid means that you can’t play as the British Bulldogs. As I say, hopefully DLC will make this right.

The game itself is split into three sections Exhibition, Legend Killer and Wrestlemania Tour.

Exhibition is the same as every Smacdown game; you can set up any match and play either against the computer or against up to five other players. There are eleven match types available, Cage, Ladder, Hell in a Cell and Tag matches are all represented. None of these will be unfamiliar to WWE fans and though the range is less than what the previous Smackdown had it’s doubtful that you will find anyone saying ‘Oh they missed out!’

Legend Killer is your typical gauntlet-style set up where you take one created superstar (or one ported over from your Smackdown game-more on that in a moment) through ten consecutive Legends in a row with only one life bar. This is a difficult mode as there are no save points and though if you do lose a match you can replay, if you give up altogether you must start from the beginning again. There are six of them to fight through and so you don’t have to worry that you’ll be fighting the same people in each one. It’s funny how in the bad old days, THQ would have considered this mode suitable for the entire game instead of just an alternative mode. How times have changed!

Wrestlemania Tour consists of three separate modes: Relive, Rewrite and Redefine. Each contains seven matches recreating the match of a Wrestlemania. Though I wish that they had included one from each event for each mode, this is a good start and maybe DLC will also include add-on matches or setups. Before I get onto the modes themselves, it should be noted that the created video promos for all of these are phenomenal and worth the price of the game alone. These little five minute vignettes, explain just why the match is taking lace such as Bobby Heenan making fun of Big Bossman’s ‘momma’ to setup the Bossman/Mr Perfect match at Wrestlemania VII or the attack on Jake Roberts by Honkytonk Man to set up theirs at Wrestlemania III.

Relive, as the title suggests, allows you to relive some of the most memorable matches, for example the infamous Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant match from Wrestlemania III. Rewrite allows you to change the outcome of the match from what happened in real life, such as playing as Bret Hart against Shawn Michaels in their critically acclaimed (though in my opinion highly overrated) Iron Man match from Wrestlemania XII and this time having Bret Hart win. Redefine is an interesting mode, as it presents you with a ‘what if’ scenario for the matches. For example, would the outcome of Rick Rude vs. Jimmy Snuka at Wrestlemania VI been any different if it had been a Steel Cage Match. The best thing about this mode, is that unlike the other two (in which you could only play as one specific Legend) you have a choice of playing as either. Though I did like this mode I thought that more could have been made of it, as you could have easily have had the stipulation change each time you play it. Maybe one time have it in a Cage and then the next time it is a Submission Match.

Within each match there are a number of objectives for you to complete to gain points and achieve a medal. These medals unlock new costumes for the other Legends and unfortunately nothing else, which is a bit lacklustre when you consider what you have to go through in some to achieve it. These tasks range from simple things like hitting the first punch, performing taunts or finishers up to fairly complicated tasks such as performing environmental style grapples that mimic the action in the real match. For example within the Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin match at Wrestlemania 13, you must grapple Austin against the turnbuckle which will enable Bret to put Austin in a figure-four around the ring post. Though some are great to watch, a lot are annoying and how you achieve them will depend on how well you master the new controls.

Yes, THQ obviously didn’t read my last review of Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 in which I praised the controls, as they once again felt the need to tinker with them. No longer are grapples or strikes controlled with the Analogue sticks, instead they are used (as they should) for movement and targeting. Grapples, Strikes, Action and Blocking have now been returned to the function buttons and that’s it. No more pressing the select button to regain stamina, no more using the shoulder buttons for blocks and reversals. The controls have been simplified, paired down to the point that they almost resemble the original PSOne Smackdown controls. However, with this loss has resulted in the introduction of Chain Grapples. ‘What are Chain Grapples?’ Well, I’ll tell you. As you progress and cause damage to your opponent you power up a Momentum bar. Each time it reaches the maximum it increases you to the next level of the Three Chain Levels. Once you are at Level Two, you can perform more powerful grapples and attacks and once you reach Level Three you can perform your Finisher. However, as the name suggests Chain Grapples are no just one move, they are three moves interwoven with cutscenes, during which you must quickly press the specific function button when it appears on the screen to continue the chain. If you press the wrong button or are not quick enough, the move is reversed; however you can reverse this reversal in the third part of the chain and not have so much damage done to you. Easy right? Well, it obviously sounds a lot more complicated when it’s written down, but this is an easy technique to pick up and once you get the hang of it, you will be busting out these three move combos like you were trained in the Dungeon by Stu Hart himself.

There are only two big issues I have with the controls and they are its effect on Irish Whips and Finishers. When you throw your opponent into a rope for an Irish Whip which is usually met with a grapple or attack of some kind you are simply not given enough time to respond. Unless you have instincts of a Jedi or lucky enough to have your thumb on that button, these will more than likely end up with you on the end of a clothesline. With Finishers the problem is that unlike previous games in which they were one move, these have now been incorporated with the Chain gimmick and so it means that to actually achieve a Finisher, after going through all the effort to build up the Momentum, you then have to complete the Chain or it won’t happen. Of course the upside to this is that if you are losing and your opponent does hit you with a Finisher, you do have a chance to reverse this, so I guess this all depends again on how good you get at Chains.

The look of this game has been described as ‘cartoony’ by some, but for me I really like the way these characters all look. The era these Legends have come from is the ‘gimmick’ era, where we had them dressed as Elvis (Honkytonk Man), a Ugandan Headhunter (Kamala), Sumo Champion (Yokozuna) and masks and face paint aplenty (Roadwarriors or Ultimate Warrior). This was before the ‘attitude’ era ushered in by Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, who have obviously been included because of the sheer phenomenal success and impact they both had. However, it is true when compared to the previous Smackdown the characters have lost a bit of their realism and this is never more demonstrated when you pit a 2009 character against a Legends of Wrestlemania character. Yes in a masterstroke if you have a save game from Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 on your PS3 you are able to import the entire roster and also any wrestlers you have created. What this does is increase the longevity of this game by double as now you can play all the ‘Dream Matches’ that could never happen in real life, such as Dusty Rhodes wrestling his son Cody Rhodes or Hulk Hogan vs. John Cena.

To back this up and make the illusion complete, as WWE owns all the music, we are presented with perfect recreations of all the old entrance themes. I don’t care how many times I hear it, when the Ultimate Warrior’s music hits the blood starts pumping and I’m ready to go. Oddly, someone must have worked overtime on the commentary as rather than just copy and paste my comments from last year I found this time it was rather enjoyable. It’s true it will never ever synch up properly and will always be hampered by stilted sentences and broken up comments, but this time it feels a lot more fluid with the action. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler actually add something to the gameplay instead of making me find out how to switch this off as usual.

The longevity of Legends of Wrestlemania will really depend on your curiosity; stubbornness and how many people you know who have picked up the controls enough to want to play. It should be noted that the online mode for this game is excellent (again, as always, I guess this depends on your connection) as I found playing online a great experience, with all modes and characters available to play you can never use the excuse ‘I’ve got no one to play’ when talking about the multiplayer aspect of the game. The main modes are a few days worth of play and it will take you a while before you are able to collect all the medals or complete all the Legend Killers. However, as all the medals unlock are different costumes you may not bother with trying to achieve this at all. Unlike Smackdown where I have no real desire to play as more than a few of the immense roster, there is a curiosity factor attached to everyone in this game. How many of us have honestly played through the last Smackdown (or the one before, for that matter) with everyone and sat through their entrances? I know I haven’t and I’m WWE obsessed. With this game, I actually want to play as everyone, from Animal to Yokozuna…even Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake and I hated those guys!

Legends of Wrestlemania is not a perfect game, not by any stretch. It certainly won’t keep you at your console for more than a few weeks and it’s certainly no Smackdown beater. However, it is a fun game to play and a great nostalgia kick or history lesson for wrestling fans. For me, after three awful Legends of Wrestling games, after many Smackdown games including only a few Legends and not the ones I wanted, after wasting time on creating Divas when they should be spending it creating the Ultimate Warrior, after completing Smackdown in a few weeks and then having nothing to do for the rest of the year, finally I have something to fill the gap until the next WWE game and that’s the bottom line because this reviewer said so!
 

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