WWE Wrestlemania X8

Among the multiplayer madness infested within this game resides clumsy controls, a frustrating single player mode, and a few incorrect intro themes. But among those flaws resides a mistake so minor it really doesn't even matter; except to a serious wrestling fan.

Graphics/ Presentation

Presentation is a huge part of wrestling today and Wrestlemania X8 is chock full of wrestlers (somewhere around 46 I think), signature moves, and some pretty darn cool introductions. But fans of the previous wrestling games from THQ will be slightly disappointed. The grappling system has turned for the worse. Instead of pressing 'A' to grapple the either 'A' or a direction or 'B' and a direction, you press 'A' and a direction to pull off a grapple move. This severely shortens the amounts of moves possible, which cuts down on the realistic appearance of the game. But as far as graphics go, X8 isn't that bad. Most of the characters faces look very similar to their real life counterpart. Oh...and for you that wanted to know...Triple H's face no longer looks like an old hag. Back to the main topic. The hit detection could take some work. Once in a while a characters body (limb) will pass through another wrestler.

Gameplay

Like I stated earlier the controls aren't nearly up to par w/ THQ's other accomplishments. It is much more difficult to pull off a special move, requiring you to press 'A' and 'B' simultaneously that often results in a standard punch. I have come close to loosing a match because of this. Match difficulty is sometimes inconsistent at the "Painful" difficulty. While not exactly noticeable, it is a huge pain when the A.I. whoops you once then you return the favor respectably. Also in Fatal Four-way matches the com. players will gang up on you and follow you around until they finally attack each other. Also if one com. attempts to pin another com. the third com. will not break it up if he is kicking your butt. Even if he's in the ring he still will not interrupt the pin count. Anyway, main options include: Exhibition, Path of a Champion, Battle for the Belts, and Create a Superstar. Match modes are: Normal, Tag, Triple Threat, Fatal Four-way, Battle Royal, and Royal Rumble. Match types consist of: Hardcore, Cage, Hell in a Cell, Ladder, Table, TLC, and Ironman.

Multiplayer

This is where the real fun lies. In hell in the cell you can slam your opponent out of the cage ( after slamming them in to it three times), then climb the cage w/ them and slam them through the middle( the top of the cage, one square, takes three hits before collapsing). Putting people through tables is also really awesome. It's too bad that after the table breaks it disappears. It would have been nice to pick up one half of it and beat down your opponent w/ it. Ladders are fun to mess w/ too.

Replay Value

The multiplayer really saves this game from flopping. Although there are nearly 50 belts that you can win in battle for the belts, you don't really get anything for it. Except for pride and the ability to show them off to your friends. Oh... and there are six secret characters and two secret arenas. There could have been more. But the only reason this game got my valued play time is because of the multiplayer TLC and Hell in a Cell matches.

Rating: Cool!