Grade: B+
Quantum theorists have struggled with the sport of professional wrestling for far too long. The beautiful intermingling of forces in the testosterone-induced soap opera have confounded and amazed audiences, but the newest entry to the wrestling game Hall of Fame, WWE All Stars, will help to solve the world's quantitative physics quandaries.
Featuring 30 of the greatest trademarked names to ever step into the ring, All Stars knows exactly how to bring the pain.
Cosmic forces collide as the legendary luchador Rey Mysterio will be able to finally fight an '80s Sergeant Slaughter, and comedic combatants such as "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Sheamus the Celtic Warrior can finally determine who is worth their weight in Slim Jims.
All of these phenomenal fights will be placed within the realms of a near-perfect combination of classic wrestling controls and an over-the-top fighting game combo system. Combinations are strung together effortlessly as Stone Cold's furious mallets of fists form a Zen-like trance leading up to his famous seven-letter move all within a few simple button presses.
This iteration of the wrestling franchise is truly the "Andre the Giant" of its peers. Modes like Path of Champions and Create-A-Superstar add a generous amount of hours to a genre that often relies too heavily upon its exhibition mode.
The exaggerated action takes center stage as 619s knock wrestlers across arenas and Slaughter's Cobra Clutch decimates the bulky opposition. The cartoonish, muscularly endowed gladiators feed into this high-octane experience, purposely showering the sport in a completely ludicrous light.
The downside to incorporating a fighting-based health system into the purely pin-based previous system is that matches can be severely shortened for the most skilled and, adversely, unskilled of opponents.
The AI of the game takes full advantage of the health system, but generally lacks the ability to fight better. The countering system the game implements is simplistic yet brutal, as reversals literally shift the momentum of a match every other move. On its harder settings, countering becomes essential to becoming the king of the spring-loaded ring.
Voice acting is yet another area where the game's superstars shine. Contributing to the ambience that the game provides are the voices of the "Macho Man," the ever disturbing Paul Bearer, and the original Hulkamaniac. The voices are the true-to-life legends. Similarly, the addition of footage from old wrestling matches continue to inspire and awe its onlookers before the player begins each and every Fantasy Warfare melee, a match that pits the old champions against their "Edgier" carbon copies.
As with any of wrestling's ventures into the electronic realm, it's one best shared among friends, which WWE All Stars certainly provides with plenty of events to go around. Local and multiplayer options are available, but at this juncture in the gaming generation, these are almost expected. While nothing in the game definitively exceeds its predecessors, it does provide an ample reservoir for the lore of the wrestling world to draw upon.
The game represents another high point in the chronological chart of outstanding wrestling games, though the common denominator in this hyper-saturated genre is the appeal of the leather mat. Without the love of the full-throttle, decidedly confusing, yet relatively simplistic sport, this game is nothing more than an antiquated attempt to resurrect personas of yore.
At its current price, it is hardly worth the full purchase, but for an evening in rocking out to "Real American" and "Sexy Boy," WWE All Stars provides the ideal video game complement.
Email: arts@ubspectrum.com
