With the Gamecube on its proverbial last legs, we look to be in a similar situation to the one we faced with the Nintendo 64. When that console was losing the race, THQ gave us No Mercy, which is one of the main reasons that many gamers have held on to their N64. The old 45-minute plus multiplayer matches, outstanding AI and supreme levels of control have, for my money, never been bettered. So, I was hoping that WWE Day of Reckoning 2 would change that.
Many changes and new features are afoot in DoR2, including an absolutely sublime submissions system. When you lock a submission hold in, you must choose whether it is a rest hold, a pure submission move, a taunt, or an energy draining move. This is done by pushing the C-stick in one of the four directions indicated on screen. Your opponent must also do this to try and match your choice. If the downed man gets it right, then he’ll wriggle free and counter the hold. Put simply, this is without a doubt the most innovative introduction to the wrestling game genre since the N64 WCW games were released. On top of this, the new stamina system means that you won’t be able to just throw four hundred punches your opponent’s way and then expect to drop him with a belly-to-belly suplex across the ring. If your stamina is running low, you’ll not be able to do any moves as your character recovers. Again, this is a very nice introduction as it makes you think about what moves you’re attempting to pull off, and when.
Graphically, WWE Day of Reckoning 2 impresses as well. Smooth textures, very little slowdown and fluid animation are the order of the day here. The characters look amazing for a console that has supposedly already shown us its best, although there are some issues, such as the usual wrestling game glitches. One example of this would be when you try to jump into the ring from the top of a ladder placed outside the ring, easily clearing the ropes and landing right in the middle of the squared circle, on top of your opponent, only for the game to decide that you in fact didn’t make it and to dump you back outside of the ring again. But hey, the entire current crop of wrestling titles contain these sorts of problems, so it isn’t that Day of Reckoning 2 is the worst offender here.
The usual game modes are available in DoR2, from the multiplayer ladder matches I already mentioned, to the story mode. This story mode makes up the main bulk of the game, as you create a character and try to regain the prestigious WWE World Heavyweight Championship belt from those who conspired to steal it from you, and indeed those who are trying to keep it from you. Thankfully, there are no awful voiceovers or waste-of-time first-person modes to slow down the action in this mode, as the story pans out with simple cut scenes and subtitles. For the first time that I can remember, the storylines are actually interesting. Rather than being your standard ‘I can beat you!’, ‘No you can’t!’, ‘Prove it!’ style affairs, there are plots, double-crosses and choices to be made, which will keep you playing for a fair old while.
Early on in this story mode, I was setting up to be dismayed. The first three or four matches ‘ some of which were pitting my newly-created and somewhat under skilled character against the likes of Triple H and Kane ‘ were ridiculously easy. The entrances would play out, the grapplers would get ready, and I’d simply pound the living daylights out of my opponent with move after move, followed by a special finishing move, then a pin. They didn’t fight back, didn’t counter, didn’t block, didn’t'well, do much of anything really. I cranked the difficulty setting up as high as it could go, started the story mode again, and the same thing happened.
All but ready to damn the game to hell, I persevered and got beyond that fourth match. Suddenly, the AI turns it up a notch and I’m fighting in a few nailbiting matches that last a good quarter of an hour or more. This is more like it! When in a singles match, Shawn Michaels reverses my Chokeslam finisher by elbowing me in the gut, strikes up the band and hits me with the Sweet Chin Music before laying me down for the 1..2..3, I know that I’m in wrestling heaven. But the fall from those dizzying heights is all too sharp, and all too frequent.
The more common scenario sees you thrown into the ring against a supposedly unbeatable foe, only to find that their brain has fallen out whilst they were getting changed backstage. This detracts from the overall experience somewhat, as that big ‘First Blood’ match between you and Edge – that has been built up over the cut scenes played out before the last five matches – turns into an exercise in beating an incredibly dumb and slow AI opponent about the head with a steel chair, until you bust him wide open and the match ends. I want a challenge in EVERY match, not just a random few. I also want it to make sense. HBK in a singles match can beat me four times on the trot before I manage to knock him out with a sharp blast to the head with the ring bell whilst the ref is down, but Triple H can’t do it once.
When more often than not, the only thing the game can do to provide that challenge is put you against two or more opponents, something is sorely wrong. In multiplayer, this ‘ of course – doesn’t even come into the equation, and DoR2 is superb fun when you’re not playing against the Cube.
