WWE Legends of Wrestlemania

[Johnny Latino Heat]

Oh fuck, I could do the fist-pump walk everytime I go to the back to get a console! And only do deal prices if people will be my friend!

Alas, seeing hot girl at work as Sunny negates any appeal the '05 edition had over the originals.

You do know we'll be expecting pics, right?

[Cactus Drags]

You do know that you can whack off to any dirty skank on the net and not my friends, right?

[Johnny Latino Heat]

Where's the fun in that?

[Toe]

That is from IGN.com.

[tristy]

From Gamespy:

One would be hard pressed to find a pop culture subject able to spur the liveliest of conversations as quickly as pro wrestling stars from the past. Soon a nostalgic discussion can turn into a verbal version of "can you top this," with fans reminiscing over characters like the Iron Sheik, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, recalling names and matches from years past that shaped the childhoods of millions of fans throughout the 1980's and '90's. Where were the biggest stories of pro wrestling shaped, the brightest stars made? WrestleMania. Considering all that untapped wrestling nostalgia, along with an organization like the WWE that keeps tremendous records of everything that has ever been televised, THQ hopes to build on the success of their Smackdown vs. Raw franchise with the upcoming WWE Legends of WrestleMania, which looks to be a new game with old stars.

THQ gave us demo of the game that included four of the biggest stars in WWE/WWF history: Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. There will be several other wrestlers from years past, but THQ's lips were sealed regarding who else might be on the game's roster. The key to WWE Legends is the recreation of classic WrestleMania matches, and the demo started with Hogan and the Giant's Heavyweight Championship match from WM 3. The presentation started with what looks to be the game's strong point: actual footage from WWE archives. The entertaining presentation began with the buildup to the match, where a nearly-crying Hogan told Andre about how "The Eighth Wonder of the World" was the Hulkster's hero and the reason he got into wrestling, before the Giant said in the way only he can, "I'm here for one reason, to challenge you to the championship on WrestleMania." That confrontation was followed by several highlights of their epic match, which of course was won by Hogan.

The footage is a great touch; it's almost like a shortened version of a WrestleMania DVD with a game attached. The actual bouts that the game aims to recreate look to be a vital part of WWE Legends as well, as a focus of the game will be the Relive, Rewrite and Redefine features. In Relive, the player has to complete objectives to relive favorite WrestleMania moments (such as "Daze the Giant" or "Hogan escapes" from the Hogan/Giant match described above). In Rewrite, the player takes on the role of the loser in a classic match and tries to reverse the outcome. Redefine is where the player can change all types of things about a match that already occurred, such as where it takes place, what type of match it is and if managers are involved.

Managers were a much bigger part of the action back in the day, and WWE Legends gives players the opportunity to become reacquainted with guys like Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Although they're totally controlled by AI, managers like "The Brain" will help you out in certain situations. For example, if your opponent is Irish-whipped into a corner, your manager will grab your opponent and slam his face into the turn buckle.

Other touches from the Eighties are noticeable during pre-match introductions. As we watched Hogan stroll out of the tunnel to his theme song, "Real American," the fans go crazy. No big shock, since this is definitely a crowd from the past -- mullets and pastel-colored clothing everywhere. As Hogan and Giant face off in the ring, one can tell THQ definitely enhanced the physical properties of both wrestlers. Hogan looks like he's been cycling through the most powerful 'roids known to man, along with a good deal of Rogaine. Andre isn't just huge, he's also cut, with nearly the same definition in the game as a real-life Triple H. According to the developer we spoke with, WWE Legends is going for more of an "Action Figure" type look when it came to the wrestlers, which means that body fat percentages go down and healthy hair follicle count goes up, apparently.

We haven't spoken about the actual gameplay yet, mostly because it's rather simple. The only controls used in WWE Legends are the left analog stick for direction and the four face buttons for striking, grappling, blocking/reversing and miscellaneous action. No right stick, no triggers, no D-pad. THQ is trying to attract fans that have watched pro wrestling for decades, and are hoping a more arcade-style experience will excite those who are intimidated by modern wrestling games or have never really played games at all. The result is a sort of rock/paper/scissors experience, where strikes beat grabs, reversals beat strikes, and grabs beat blocks and reversals. Often a button will pop up on the center of the screen, and whoever taps it first will win the encounter, which can build your momentum.

Momentum is measured in red at the top of the screen, along with a yellow health meter. As your health gets low, getting pinned gets much easier. The game will flash if you need to kick out of a certain situation, and you can do it either by mashing the face buttons or holding onto one of the buttons until the meter goes all the way around in a circle.

When it came to the matches we played (between different permutations of the four wrestlers mentioned above), there wasn't a whole lot in the way of actual wrestling going on. However, that could have been in part due to the fact that while Hulkster, Andre, Rock and Stone Cold are all iconic figures, none of them were known for any high-flying acrobatics. Each wrestler also got up extremely quickly from some brutal punches, kicks and slams, although we were told that was a bug that would be fixed before the game's release.

In all, WWE Legends seems to be designed for old school wrestling fans who want to relive the days of watching wrestling while listening to Jim Ross, Jerry "the King" Lawler and Howard Finkel. It doesn't look to include the most revolutionary gameplay features around, but that doesn't seem to be the point. While there are legions of fans who play Smackdown vs. Raw annually, many of those young players know Hogan only as the host of "American Gladiators," or thanks to his somewhat lackluster comebacks this decade. But there are plenty of fans who still look back fondly at the days when both wrestling and videogames were simpler. THQ hopes that when those fans hang out with each other and start competing over how many old wrestlers and matches they can recall, they'll also pop in a copy of WWE Legends of WrestleMania and battle in the ring.

Aaaand the first gameplay video.

I stole all of this from DVD-VR.

[Mr.iMPACT!]

There's two games I'd like for my birthday in May....this is one of them(The other being UFC 2009 Unleashed). I'm glad that LOD are in there as they are my favourite Tag Team of all time. Deffinately will be playing mainly as these along with Mr.Perfect. I'm also looking to pick up all three Acklaim LOW games if anyone is willing to sell them.

[zero]

I'm concerned this game will be TOO arcadey and play like the first Smackdown game.

[Adam Ryland]

There's also an IGN preview here.

I was looking forward to the game a lot, but from reading the previews so far I've got a really bad feeling that this is going to be a "classic THQ" game where they've focused so hard on presentation that they've forgotten to actually include decent gameplay. (The bit where they mentioned managers getting involved and ramming a wrestler's head into the turnbuckle sounds like exactly the sort of dumb decision they've done in past Smackdown games - something that probably sounded cool in a development meeting, but doesn't actually happen in reality.)

I think it's telling that IGN were not exactly enthusiastic about it - due to their relationship with THQ, and judging from how they've responded to previous Smackdown games, it has to be a pretty poor game for them not to be being super-positive about it.

[Katsuya]

I can't be the only one thinking of iMPACT when this gameplay was mentioned?

[oldskool]

Its selling point is obviously the wrestlers they could never put into a Smackdown game as opposed to a game that doesn't play like junk. It's not so much a wrestling game as it is a fighting game with WWE legends, apparently.

[Maxx]

Apparently Ultimate Warrior is in the game, thats reason enough to buy it

[Jam]

Yea Warrior and Piper were seen in the advert for the game shown at the Royal Rumble

[AnnIQ Edison]

It sounded from that quoted review that you could only wrestle within the "iconic" matches of wrestlemania. Does that mean you could only have Hogan v Andre or Rock v Austin?

[cmb211087]

No, as it has been confirmed for a while that you can bring your svr 09 wrestlers over and say fight HHH vs Hogan etc

[-A-]

Even if you don't have SvR you can still mix and match with the Legends. It's only in a couple of specific modes that you're recreating specific Wrestlemania matches.

[Johnny Latino Heat]

Part 1 of the roster reveal can be seen here.

I have to say, I'm getting pumped up for the game. I love the old-school arenas.

[-A-]

For those who don't want to/can't watch the video, here's the list so far:

Hulk Hogan

André the Giant

The Ultimate Warrior

Roddy Piper

Shawn Michaels

Bret Hart

Bobby Heenan

The Iron Sheik

Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake

Big John Studd

Junkyard Dog

Bam Bam Bigelow

Sgt. Slaughter

"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes.

[JoeMimic]

I've always wanted Big John Studd in a game and my second favorite on this list is vintage HBK. The faces are all very well done too.

[zero]

I dunno, the whole thing looks like a rush job to me. I love the concept, but something about the game just looks off to me. Can't quite put my finger on it yet, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

[Jam]

Spoiler: Click here to view

Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Bam Bam Bigelow, Shawn Michaels, Big John Studd, Dusty Rhodes, The Iron Sheik, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, The Junkyard Dog, Sgt. Slaughter, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Jimmy Hart, Legion of Doom, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Ultimate Warrior, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, The British Bulldog, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Mr. Fuji

I think thats the updated list