Game Review: WWE All Stars

Laying the Smack Down a bit differently.

Professional wrestling doesn't really yield many games. Since WWF SmackDown (2000) on the original PlayStation, WWF/E has been the only contender in the genre with it's relatively popular offerings from THQ and Yukes, in recent years known as the WWE SmackDown! vs RAW franchise. However, WWE are trying something different with a new IP, WWE All Stars.

All Stars- available for PS3, Wii and Xbox 360- features all of your favourite WWE Superstars such as John Cena, Randy Orton, CM Punk and The Miz, and pits them against a fine selection of Legends, such as The Rock, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and "The Macho Man" Randy Savage, but depicted in a cartoony fashion. The grapplers essentially look like action figures, with exaggerated bodies and more vibrantly-coloured attires.

Graphically the game looks great, pulling off the stylized, cartoony look very well. Everything is very bright and colourful, it looks stunning in HD, and is generally pleasing to the eye. The menu screens are as simple as they should be, with the style of the game evident throughout. In terms of presentation, one particularly neat touch is the use of video packages made specifically for the "Fantasy Warfare" game mode, where they pit one wrestler from each generation (past or present) against each other in a 'what-if' sort of showdown. They are incredibly well done, and at times better than some of the ones you actually get in real WWE programming.

Where All Stars really stands out for me, however, is in the gameplay. This is where it differs from it's traditional big brother, SmackDown! vs RAW. For a start, All Stars goes back to using the good ol' face buttons for all of the strikes and grapples- there's a weak and a strong strike, and likewise for grapples. Running is still done with the right trigger (R2) on the PS3, which kind of sucks, but I can deal with that if it means I don't have to punch, kick or grab people with the shoulder buttons instead. The animations are over-the-top and exaggerated, to go with the cartoony style. My particular favourite is getting an "Acrobat"-type wrestler (so basically a high flyer) like Macho Man or Rey Mysterio and spring-boarding them all around the ring.

What All Stars is in principle is a fun, arcade-style beat 'em up, and in that respect, most people could pick this up and play it. I can see it being particular fun with a bunch of mates playing together in the same room (which I've yet to do). However, the wrestling engine starts becoming a problem when you have to counter. There's one shoulder button to block strikes and another for grapples, and it's not exactly intuitive, unless you know wrestling and/or have played wrestling games before. Sure, it comes up on the screen telling you what to press to counter, but you basically needed to have pressed it a split-second before, by which time, you've been pounded into the mat. I've played nearly every WWF/E wrestling game since SmackDown! in 2000 and I'm only just getting the hang of this. It's not really noticeable on at first glance, but beneath the surface is actually a pretty deep wrestling mechanic, involving precisely-timed, chained counters.

There aren't too many many match types, but enough for a game which I would consider experimental in its premise. You can play one-one-one, Tornado Tag Team, Triple Threat, Fatal Four-Way, Cage match and Extreme Rules, with variations in stipulations and the number of participations for some of these. The game modes are pretty much repetitive, with Fantasy Warfare requiring you to fight x amount of wrestlers in a row to unlock other wrestlers, arenas or attires- the same as the Path of Champions mode, minus the cut-scenes with the barely-there voice acting. There is also the ever-present online mode.

WWE All Stars is great fun, and a breath of fresh air for the wrestling game genre. Sure, it doesn't get everything right- it could do with a bit more variation in terms of its game modes, and perhaps some tutorials to demonstrate the finer aspects of the gameplay to novices. But, its the first of its kind, and hopefully we see a refined sequel in years to come.