WWF Raw

UPC: 752919520031

Platform: Xbox

Publisher: THQ, Inc.

Developer: Anchor Inc.

Category: Sports

Style(s): Wrestling

Synopsis: The WWF rumbles its way onto the Xbox in the first wrestling game for Microsoft's home console. Players can choose one of the existing stars of the WWF or create their own grappler to compete in one of three modes: Exhibition, Title Match, and King of the Ring. Each mode offers multiple wrestling formats varying in the number of athletes available in the ring. The roster of 60 characters includes managers as well as the women of the WWF. Exhibition options include a one-on-one Single Match, two-on-two Tag Team Match, two-on-two Tornado Match, three-man Triple-Threat, four-man Fatal 4-Way, four-man Battle Royal, and a Handicap Match, which pits one on two or one on three. Title Match has players battling each wrestler in succession until they win the championship. Six events include the WWF Championship, InterContinental, European, Hardcore, Light Heavyweight, and Women's. King of the Ring allows players to customize a tournament by selecting wrestlers, rules, and one of four match types: Single, Tag Tournament, Triple-Threat, and Fatal Four-Way. Players can also design their own wrestler from scratch, deciding on a name, nickname, gender, picture, voice, faction, and up to four wrestlers as the character's allies and/or enemies. Appearance options include skin color, hairstyle, face type, body type, and individual arm and leg clothing. Once they have decided on a created wrestler's look, players can further customize offensive and defensive strengths by assigning 28 points to specific categories. They can also modify a wrestler's entrance into the ring. Among the features players can customize are lights, fog, camera flash, pyrotechnics, TitanTron movies, and theme music. The final aspect of creating a wrestler involves selecting the types of moves he or she can perform in the ring. Players can then save their wrestlers to hard drive. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Package Contents: 36-page Instruction Manual

Controls: Joystick/Gamepad

The color manual doesn't feature wrestler biographies, but all of the modes are clearly explained in a list format. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Each wrestler is smooth, well-detailed, and realistically proportioned. While there is only one featured venue, and you cannot go backstage, the entrances feature lights, fireworks, fog effects, and TitanTron movies. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

First announced at the 2001 CES Expo by the unusual pairing of The Rock and Bill Gates, WWF Raw quickly became the flagship title for the Xbox and, for many anxious gamers, a reason to purchase the console when it came out later in the year. The photo-realistic graphics and a publisher with a proven track record for delivering successful wrestling titles seemed like the perfect ingredients for a blockbuster hit. Unfortunately, players couldn't smell what THQ was cookin' or they would have made a beeline to the exit. While WWF Raw is well done when it comes to presentation, with lifelike wrestlers, pyrotechnics, and full-motion video displayed in real-time on the TitanTron, the gameplay is lukewarm. Rather than go with the wrestling experts at AKI Corporation, who have made hit wrestling title after hit wrestling title on the Nintendo 64, THQ went with UFC developers Anchor Inc. The result offers some questionable action inside the ring, with the most interesting decision being to feature one large "voltage" meter that ebbs and flows with a wrestler's popularity. While this system better re-creates the seesaw-type matches found in the WWF, it becomes a chore to manage during play. Repeatedly striking an opponent with the same move causes the meter to go down for your wrestler and increase for the opponent, even if he or she is being beat senseless. So varying the moves works best, but receiving one single slap in between a powerful combination is the equivalent of letting a balloon go before tying it -- all momentum is lost with a single strike. Matches thus go on forever, and the computer opponent never seems to go down when he or she is supposed to. The controls are also less than perfect, with the simple act of picking up a weapon made extremely difficult unless you're standing in a specific spot, and some movements actually going through the opponent rather than at him or her. Trying to counter an attack is also hard to accomplish, as players must press both the X and A buttons simultaneously at the precise time. Wrestling games are traditionally more strategic due to the deliberately paced action, but there's no excuse for some of the sluggish responses after tapping a button or two when inside the ring. All of the wrestlers also feature the same basic moves, which consist of a series of strikes, a grapple, and the ability to perform different attacks while running, in a hold, or while the opponent is on the ground. Unfortunately, there's not much to distinguish each wrestler in the technique department -- while each has his or her own trademark move (such as The Rock's "Rock Bottom"), it can only be initiated once the voltage meter is completely filled and the opponent is dizzy -- not an easy combination. While the basic wrestling action is at times frustrating but passable, the game completely misses the mark when it comes to options and features. Missing in action are such mainstays as cage matches, traditional ladder matches, royal rumbles, and many other variants fans have come to expect in a wrestling title. There is no career mode, so players can't build up a wrestler's attributes over time or learn new moves. The Create Wrestler mode is fun, but with only 16 face types and limited clothing options, players won't be able to effectively re-create famous legends from yesteryear. WWF Raw is a big disappointment, primarily because the graphics are the best yet seen in the genre. The game is not without its share of interesting features, such as the ability to interrupt a star's entrance and then steal his or her accessories for use on a created wrestler, but time was obviously spent on making the presentation as realistic as possible. Along the way both the gameplay and options suffered, making WWF Raw one of the more appropriately titled games available on the Xbox. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

The Create Wrestler feature and modes of play are weak in comparison to past wrestling games. The ability to acquire over 100 weapons and accessories is nice, but not enough to keep it from an average score. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Each wrestler's theme music plays during the entrance, but there is no in-game commentary. Sound effects are bland. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

The game's limited amount of options and lengthy matches hurt the overall enjoyment. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

the game requires Joystick/Gamepad.