WWE Raw 2 - Review

Added October 2nd, 2003 by Final Sniper

Introduction:

For the past few years, each system has each had its own exclusive wrestling title from the WWE. For the PS2, it's the Smackdown series. Always delivering quality. For the Nintendo fans, it's the Wrestlemania series. A fairly good portrayal of sports entertainment. And for Microsoft's Xbox, there is the Raw series. The first Raw, had many of us salivating over it's extremely well done graphics, many thought the gameplay would be as good as the graphics. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. The first Raw was a huge disappointment, with probably the worst gameplay and story mode in any wrestling game. Raw 2 brought new hope to Xbox wrestling fans, and Anchor has certainly delivered an above average game to life. Anchor has now given Xbox wrestling fans a game actually worth using their time to play, and it is certainly well worth it. And so, the wait for a good wrestling game on the Xbox ended...One and a half years of waiting. 1 and a half years of agonizing play of Raw 1. One and a half years of rumors of Raw 2. Was it all worth it? Did Raw 2 flop? Does it live up to its hype? Yes and more so.

Gameplay:

A season mode is now available as well, and though it sports some big ideas that aren’t in other wrestling games, there isn’t necessarily an actual “story” to carry you through it though. The season mode will undoubtedly be one of my favorite aspects of this game far down the road. Before every Raw or Smackdown! show you’re shown the matches taking place that night and during any match can choose multiple actions to perform. You can surprise attack someone in the locker room, set traps for other wrestlers, or interfere in matches taking place. All of these actions though are basically hit or miss occasions. For instance sometimes if you attempt to interfere in a match security will stop you in your tracks, or if you surprise attack someone and get beaten up instead, you’ll lose popularity as well as some of your stamina for whatever match you’re assigned to that evening. The season mode has great freedom to it no doubt; I just would’ve liked to see more of an actual story going on throughout the backstage intermissions. The core season mechanics are done well measuring your popularity by your actions and your victories. I think if more options are added and it is expanded well this open ended season will become the natural successor to SD and No Mercy style season modes.The fighting mechanic have really changed to a point where you feel like you are having a wrestling match. The wrestlers counter and do their moves on you if you are not careful. The referees are a pain but mimic their counterparts nicely too. And there are so many matches to choose from, like TLC, Hell in a Cell, the list goes on. As far as the A.I. is concerned, just like the original “Raw” it still stinks. It’s not as dumb as the first, but they’re still brain-dead in a lot of areas. You can still hit your partners while throwing punches towards foes, a “friendly-hits” option would’ve been greatly appreciated. Not only that but just like any other wrestling game your partners still occasionally ends up pulling off tag moves against you rather than the enemy. Perhaps one of the best new features is the “Create-a-wrestler mode”. First of all the created players just look great, also the clothing options are by more down to earth. Anchor has pretty much done away with any kind of ridiculous article of clothing that they know people are never going to use. The attire also looks more like clothes here, rather than the “glued on appearance” that a lot of other wrestling games have; baggy pants actually look like baggy pants, jackets look like jackets, ect. ect. On top of that “Raw 2” also has a really in depth “create-a-intro” option that lets you customize like mad, from lighting, to pyro and even the ability to burn your own intro music which is a very cool feature.

Graphics:

Superb models. I love how Anchor created the wrestlers. They really showcased their knowledge of Xbox technology well. The shiny bodies in the entrances are not as annoying as some believe. I think they add a good touch especially since it is just in the entrances. 14 stadiums are included and from the few I have seen they are recreated masterfully. One minor gripe here is the crowds. The front of the crowds is full of action and looks amazing. However past that point the rest of the arena is so dull as to the point that it attracts your attention and you can't help but notice it. Animation as I mentioned earlier isn't perfect. Some moves look slightly off but with some additional tweaking they should be good next time. At least robotic walking is gone. Hair doesn't move which seems like such a minor detail but it is noticeable if you have played SD or WM. Overall I think graphic wise Anchor did a good job improving on a already solid graphics engine. Let's hope in the future HDTV/wide screen support is added in. Hyper realistic lighting and pyro effects to use during your entrances for your famed superstar, as well as the dynamic lighting and glow effects during the intros. There was some slight slow down on a few entrances (i.e.: Chris Jericho) and when the Hell in a Cell is filled with seven men, but overall, anchor did a great job overall in the graphics department of this game.

Audio:

A part that can be improved in the game is the sound effects. Now some of them sound fine like when you smack someone with a chair or slam an opponent onto the mat with a finisher; but there’s just such a sparse amount of sound effects period, all the wrestlers grunt alike, and every mode you pull off has the same sound. Not only that but the referee’s while only in it a very short time sound just terrible, there’s also no commentary. Aside from custom soundtracks for your CAS, the games sound isn't that good. It's not that there's a mediocre soundtrack that plays while you wrestle (instead of the option to listen to your own music while playing), because sounds like hitting the mat or grunting are done fairly well. It's that no one besides the referee or announcer talk. This has probably been mentioned in other reviews, and personally it's a major problem which takes away from the games atmosphere, thus hurting it. Say you're playing season mode, and your Eric Bishoff is announcing a match for you. Instead of either seeing a bit of text, which has him explaining things, or him actually SAYING the things that need to be heard, you see him talking. While he talks, mediocre game music plays and it's over. You find out once it's done whoever you're facing. It's not as annoying as it becomes later on, as you dive deeper and deeper into the season mode, trying to do things you need to do. The fact no one ever says a thing makes the cut scenes look dull after a while, and it saddens me that such a simple thing as either having text or having them speak it was left out.

Controls:

This is the most improved area by far. The combat system is very much like No Mercy. There is a nice grapple system that while a little on the slow side is easy to use and fun on top of it. Some of the control features are tricky to get the hang of, better documentation could have helped but sadly THQ just didn’t seem to care. Although the controls take a while to learn, they are great when you get used to them. The one thing people usually don't remember is to climb a ladder, which is Black. That's about the only thing worth noting on controls for this game.

Replay:

Some will love the season mode and others will call it a huge letdown. Still it does add quite some time to the replayability and with all the other intense modes like HIAC and Table matches you won't get tired of this game easily. Still it's far more fun with friends. The replay value of the game is solely based upon how many friends you have that want to play RAW 2 with you. Once you complete a couple years of the Season mode that only leaves multi player and create-a-wrestler to keep you interested. So if you have 3 other friends that want to play then chances are the replay value of the game will be very high, but if you're going at it solo you will probably become bored after a few Seasons.

Summary:

Still room for improvement but a great job by Anchor to create a true contender in the wrestling video game scene. Add a point if you are a hardcore wrestling fan for that will make this game unbelievable!Since this is Anchor's second chance on Xbox hardware, I'd say they did a really great job on this mysterious title. If you are a wrestling fan or enjoy wrestling games and have an Xbox, this game is worth buying but if not, then don't bother with it, or maybe rent it. It all depends on the opinion of each gamer.