A while ago, we were commenting on the lack of variety in the wrestling game genre. You had your official WWE licences from THQ, and that was about it. Now though, Eidos, EA and Acclaim are collectively throwing us a bone in the form of Backyard Wrestling, the Def Jam series and Legends of Wrestling respectively. Showdown, this latest version of the latter title, promises a lot of good things. More than 70 of professional wrestling’s greatest characters, a new ‘Classic Match’ mode, an all new ‘Career’ mode and a slew of new match types head up the mooted improvements, although Kendo Nagasaki is nowhere to be seen.
Its such a shame then, that whilst the play options on offer are more than generous, Acclaim have mis-timed their elbow drop when it comes to gameplay. When performing a move, the on-screen characters can seemingly defy the laws of physics and merge into each other. On top of this, there are times when you’ll pull off a move that is all too close to the ropes and you’ll find that your opponent has flown out of the ring and hit the floor, but is still going through the motions of you pulling off the initial move, as is your character. Space is not an issue in Showdown and despite how messy this looks, it could have been forgiven where it not for the fact that it happens on every other move that you attempt. Surprisingly, some moves manage to look simply stunning. Tying your opponent up on the ropes and then using the old-fashioned clothesline to topple them outside of the ring for example, has never looked better. Unfortunately this is the exception rather than the rule.
The arenas and characters themselves look solid and are generally well done, but the interaction between wrestler and environment most certainly isn’t. Add this to the dumb-as-paint AI who, even on the hardest level, will pretty much stand there and let you pull off any move you choose, and you have a game that dropkicks itself out of the running for the championship before the final bell has been rung. However, the ‘momentum’ meter that features in the game reflects the action well and can really have an effect on the outcome of the match.
As for the new additions, the ‘Classic Match’ mode that I mentioned is fairly impressive, with classic bouts between the legends being recreated for you to play in an attempt to change the course of history. Didn’t like the fact that Ultimate Warrior won the career match against Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage at Wrestlemania VII back in 1991′ Take over as Savage halfway through the match and see what you can do to fight back. Fun indeed, and with the inclusion of the hilarious Andy Kauffman feud with Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler, a good deal of fun is to be had, even if the matches are far from taxing and can be completed at the first attempt every time.
An interesting take on the career mode has been brought into play here, with your choice of wrestler (or created wrestler) being thrown into an ‘era-based’ competition. You start in the 70’s and have to defeat five fighters from that era, before moving onto the 80’s to do the same and then finally, onto the 90’s to take on five new legends. There is no real challenge to the mode and the storylines repeat fairly frequently (even over the course of just fifteen matches) and really begin to annoy.
So I suppose that what saves Showdown: Legends of Wrestling from being a complete shambles is the multiplayer mode. Getting a few likeminded friends around to play some classic matches or to hammer it out in a ladder match or two can be great fun, but once you’ve run through the single player mode in less than a couple of hours or so, there is little to keep you coming back. In fact, I would go as far as to say that in single player, the game feels like a bit of a chore to complete, especially since the AI (or lack of) means that there is pretty much no challenge to speak of.
So Showdown: Legends of Wrestling should be considered mainly for multiplayer matchups, but hardcore fans of professional wrestling will probably still be better off with WWE Smackdown: Here Comes The Pain or even a copy of No Mercy for the trusty N64. This game could have been so much better than it is, but I didn’t think it would ever turn out as distinctly average as it has.
