WWE All Stars

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List Price: $39.99
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I'm an old school wrestling fan. I was pre-teen during Hulkamania and had lost touch with wrestling until the late 90's during the Rock/Stone Cold era. Since their retirement, I haven't watched much at all. WWF All Stars (it's always going to be WWF for me) reminded my of the arcade cabinets back in the late 80's and doesn't dissapoint in delivering and awesome arcade experience.

"Path of Champions" mode is a simple 10 match story mode with 3 different versions. In theory, you can play all three modes with one character and unlock 3 costumes (among other things). "Fantasy Warfare" challenges are awesome. Not so much for the matches, but the video mash ups that pit a legend against a current performer. Watching these videos, even if just for the nostalgia are really great. There is also online, that I haven't really got into and local multiplayer for up to 4 people that is very fun.

The graphics are cartoony, in fact better animated than the cartoon show back in the 80's. It's definately a comic book approach and it animates and runs flawlessly. This is a total arcade brawler with absurd moves and stunts. It's a great looking game for sure.

The mechanics are surprisingly deep, but easy to pick up. There are reversals and counter reversals that frankly, I could never pull off in other wrestling games, but are simpler here. There are two attack and two grapple buttons. Once you've grappled, you can hit any face button to perform a move. Super moves are easily executed (and blocked if timed poorly) and finishers are also simple to pull off (and also easily blocked). Button smashing will get things done, but there are a lot of moves that can be accomplished depending on your class type or postioning in the ring. It really feels like an arcade style fighter with wrestling characters, easy to play, difficult to master.

There are some negatives. There is no video library in extras to watch the videos you've unlocked in Fantasy Warfare, which is dissapointing. The create a wrestler feature is okay, but not great. There is no story or career mode, so even after you create a character, there's really no reason to use him except against friends or online opponents. And even then, you're just assigning a move set. There is no XP or points spent in different catagories. Just "brawler" with HHH's move set and the Rock's finisher. There are also a lot of recent WWF stars missing (due to contracts with other brands no doubt). It would have been nice to see Rick Flair in his prime, Kurt Angle, some of the ECW guys that have all drifted to TNA recently. Even still, the roster is awesome and the DLC character list is deep (hopefully not too expensive).

From a technical standpoint. Get ready for a lot of load times. When you boot up, the game "caches memory" for 3-5 minutes. You're then treated to a loading screen for another 1-2 minutes. If you back out from the main menu to the total screen, you inexplicably get the loading screen for 1-2 minutes again. On path of champions, it loads to start, you get a cut scene, loads again, you get ring entrances and loads again into the match. Terrible. An install option would have been nice to streamline some of that. Fortunately matches are 5+ minutes most of the time, so once you're in game, you play for a while.

There are a lot of characters that all have varying move sets (some are repeated) and it will take a bit of time to unlock everything. At the same time, like any fighter, unless you are going to play with friends and online a lot, the replay is limited. Even with those issues, it is still a terrific game if you're not a hardcore wrestling GAME fanatic and are just looking for a pick up and play brawler that takes you down Nostalgia Lane.

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Alright, let me get right to it.

The Good:

-The gameplay in this title is absolutely top-notch

-The graphics/animation style adds a unique and fresh flair to the game itself.

-The different type of modes available to be played are very entertaining and should keep one entertained for many many hours.

-The amount of superstars/legends available on the roster are absolutely incredible. Finally, they get it right with the addition of Ricky Steamboat and "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

The Bad:

-Controls. Now don't get me wrong, the controls are actually a lot better than they have been in other titles like Smackdown vs. Raw and Legends of Wrestlemania, however some of the moves are still a little bit tricky to "pull off." Yet with a bit of practice and timing, it will become easier.

-Sometimes the load times can be a bit repetitive. They aren't necessarily lengthy, its just you will endure several load times before being able to play an actual match.

-Now I know I mentioned this as one of the game's strengths, but it is also a weakness. The roster. Yes, the amount of wrestlers available is top-notch and very well put together, however there are some notable absences (that have been included in past games) like Ric Flair, The Iron Sheik, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, Yokozuna, need I go on? I'm only mentioning this cause I know for some out there, this might be an issue. However as far as I'm concerned, both the quantity and quality if characters available is remarkable.

I haven't been able to play all of the modes yet (as the game just came out today), however I will edit my review once I do and breakdown each mode individually. However, as far as I can tell thus far, this video game is absolutely fantastic, and is definitely a BLAST!

Fun: 5/5

Graphics: 5/5

Sound: 4/5

Controls: 3/5

Replayablility: 5/5

Conclusion: Buy this game (or at the very least, rent it and give it a try)!

:)

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Gameplay is definatly more like Wrestlemania the Arcade Game, or Legends of Wrestlemania with a lot more gameplay, but the combo's, chain reversals, and graphics are awesome. The controls do take some getting used to, but having a lot of fun playing and should be a great game against other players. Lot less options compared to Smackdown vs Raw, but the matchups are a lot more exciting. Now there are a few superstars who make less sense, like Kofi and Drew in this game, however, look at how many mid carders are "legends" and you'll see they would fit right in. But then you take Rowdy Roddy Piper against Drew, that does make sense. The Create a Superstar is less detailed than Smackdown vs Raw, but some options were corny, so it's fine. I would say rent it before you buy it, because it may not appeal to everyone, but it is definatly more than just an arcade version of the game, you can kick out of pins, you can break up pins, and KO's from finishers make for some extra depth.

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I'm an old school wrestling fan. I was watching wrestling when WWF was around along with Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Macho Man etc. This game reminds me a lot of the wrestling arcade game i used to play in the 1990's.....forget the name though.

Yeah, the graphics are a bit on the cartoon side, but i find it refreshing. It is exagerated but well done. It is a great looking game with with awesome moves and supermoves. The animation runs flawlessly except maybe the 2 seconds immediately after you win a match where it seems to freeze. I am unsure if it was done on purpose or if there is supposed to be a 2 seconds lags after you win the match like a freeze moment. Nevertheless, it does not affect the gameplay in anyway.

As for the game itself, there is modes like "Path of Champions" (10 match story mode) with 3 different versions, "Fantasy Warfare" (15 challenges Superstars VS Legends) which is pretty awesome. There is alot of matchup you can use like Tornado Tag Team, Elimination matches, Cage matches, 3 free for all, 4 free for all, etc. There is enough to keep you busy for a while.

The mechanics of the game are suberbs in my opinion. No more 2 minutes long grapple to end up seeing a move from one of the wrestler. The game is really fast pace and it is awesome. There are reversals and counter reversals and it is all up to proper timing to make it work for you. Not too hard to understand and use. Super moves and finishers are very simple to pull off and depending on your class type or postioning in the ring you will execute a particular super move or your finisher. The Super moves and finishers are best seen when it is 1 vs 1 as the camera angle is closer to the wrestler. The screen turns blueish for Supermoves and Yellowish for Finishers. They are awesome.

Negatives for me are as mentionned by another reviewer that there is no video library in extras to watch the videos you've unlocked in Fantasy Warfare. Would have been nice. I find The create a wrestler feature is okay. Would have been nice to have some Extras finishers and Super moves just for created characters, but for that, we only have the wrestler entrance which contains 6x customs entrances. All the rest belong to existing wrestler of the games. I am OK with the roster altough i could have used more Legends and less actual Superstars. I don't really know who some of those guys are...John Morrison, Kofi, Shameus...etc. I could have used Earthquake, Brutus Beefcake, Rick Rude, Razor Ramon, etc. maybe DLC

The only really annoying part i have with the game is the "caches memory" which happens for 3-5 minutes and seems to need to get done everytime you have played another game in your PS3 than WWE All Stars. However, once it is loaded, it is not a problem.

Overall, i still think this is the best wrestling game out there. I hope DLC will bring us new characters (we already know of Ted Dibiase, Honky Tonk man, Legion of Doom), new arenas, new modes (royal rumble, normal tag team, maybe more options for Create A Wrestler). AND HOPEFULLY, it will not be too expensive.

Greatest Wrestling game out there.

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Probably the most fun you will get out of a wrestling game. For those that liked the old Wrestlemania Arcade game that was on the consoles and actual arcade cabinets, this will deserve a look due to both games over the top gameplay.

Pros:

-Some of our favorite characters from the past are in here.

-Nice animations for the signature moves and finishers..although, very exaggerated. But that is part of the appeal to some degree

-When you can nail your finishers, it is very satisfying

-Easy to pick up and controls are easy learn for the most part.

-Different modes/ways to play

Cons:

-Would have swapped out some of the choices of wrestlers they put in.

-Would have liked more arenas.

-The intros are short and kinda meh.

-Some of the wrestlers have moves that they were not even known for.

-The character models are beyond exaggerated and often very similar to one another. There should have been a better contrast in model sizes, even with the roided out buff look.

-The reversal system can be quite tricky to pull off sometimes. Timing is very critical and if you rely on button mashing the trigger buttons to pull this off, you will get owned each time. The confusion alot of people have is that they are hitting the trigger button(s) when the icon shows on the screen, whereas, that simply means you inputed it too late. Therefore, this requires studying the movements of your opponent in order to pull it off.

Overall, its a decent rental. Id rent before buying to see if you can handle the reversal system as that would be a sticking point in terms of replayability.