WWF Raw Is War for Xbox

Raw is War, a definite rental at best.

I have long been a fan of wrestling games, especially those produced by THQ, with the exception of maybe Royal Ruble which was a bit rushed. So I had been watching this game, along with SMACKDOWN 3: JUST BRING IT, for a while. Well SMACKDOWN 3 eventually came out back in October or November I believe, and thus I purchased it. However, to my disappointment, the game turned out to be less than my expectations hoped it would be, and therefore my longing for a solid wrestling title was not yet fulfilled.

Then on February 12th, the X-box came out with their long awaited RAW IS WAR. I popped it in and I cried, ok well I didn?t cry but I was not exactly elated with joy either. This game was also short of expectations, and even more so than SMACKDOWN 3 had been.

Allow me to explain?..

Let?s start with graphics shall we? Great. Well actually not so great, considering the graphical quality. Sure the people are smooth, a little too smooth but that?s not a complaint, and shiny and what not, but the flaws out weigh the good by much. First off half the people walk as if they had just took a dump in their pants, which is not the way they walk in real life. Second off half the character models are horrible. SMACKDOWN 3?s facial realizations were ten times better than those on the X-box. I have yet to find anyone, save maybe Undertaker, Rikishi, and Rock, that actually look like their superstar counterparts they are trying to portray.

The game sure is flashy, but that proves nothing without substance, and it is greatly lacking there. Another thing I found annoying, which is not exactly a game flaw but rather a personal preference of mine, is the way the camera handles when moves are performed. It is ridiculous that every time there is a grapple the camera must zoom around and go into a motion blurred cut scene. It gets extremely frustrating and is very distracting. I doubt I will be the only person with this complaint

What about the entrances, are they good? Yep, if you can get past the funny way they all walk and the not so realistic face scans. Each person does their signature taunts, and everything else they are known for. The music played is also very satisfying, sounding great, and the ring announcer does a great job.

As for the Game Play well it is pretty bad, the existence of a career mode would have made it so much better. I was ticked by no Career mode and instead the reverting back to the way WCW NWO Revenge worked, giving you title matches and working your way up a ladder. Career mode would have been so much nicer.

There also is a lack of match modes, not giving you any signature matches save handicap triple threat, fatal four way, and battle royal. Talk about limited.

As for the fighting style, it is much like no Mercy and its predecessors, hitting and grappling with button combinations. The only complaint here would be that camera hindrance I talked about before, which I feel butchers the game.

One cool thing is the double replay feature, looking exactly as it does on WWF television, a nice inclusion, but it does not save the game.

The best thing about the game is the controls, even on the horrible pad the controls work to perfection. There are absolutely no complaints here.

And just another thing that bothered me was that, the fans are, in essence 2d, and sometimes during the match the camera moves back behind the fans and your image is blocked by a fans sign. I found that to be a major flaw considering it happens at least once in each match.

Ratings
Graphics- 6.5
Sound- 8
Game Play- 4
Controls -9

Overall, not an average- 5