SvR 2011 is downright horrible. Please guys at PWX, bring us Pro Wrestling X Uprising and bring all of us wrestling game enthusiasts hope once again!!! :)
Well 2010 wasn`t a bad game but 2011 the only thing going for it really is the physics and they are even not so stable. Also you can no longer put a wrestler through an announcers table which is a big minus for me. I missed giving a guy a standing RKO on the announcer`s table breaking it.
I am not entirely supportive of the decision to reverse the grappling tiers. Whilst it is sensible for certain weak moves to be performed from a resthold, it seems odd to be forced to apply a facelock prior to performing less technical throws. Of course, the same could be said of strong moves also, as was the issue with last year's game. (Next year, I hope they allow for both quick and chain grapples in each of the two tiers, so that chain wrestling is only used when it needs to be. Imagine the system of the earliest SmackDown games, only modified to include a shoulder button modifier for performing headlocks and armwrenches.)
By comparing videos of the last two games, I've also noticed that 2011 seems to suffer from a somewhat unenthusiastic and monotonous crowd sound. They don't appear to react to in-ring action very acutely.
I actually just had 2011 shipped to me via Gamefly yesterday. I didn't even get into it yet after I saw that I had to pay to unlock everything (Or play through most of it in the way THEY want me too), so I turned it off for a few days until I can afford the Fan Axxess purchase...
Now I may just hold off entirely and give the game a better testing...it also didn't help the game that I found out I didn't get the Bret Hart Edition, and he will not be available via the Fan Axxess....his inclusion was one of the reasons I bothered to get the game at all...and I was looking for how to unlock him when I ran across the deal that he was a pre-order bonus or some such horse crap.
WWE Universe mode and the creation tools are brilliant. However I cannot get any play out of it because the most important thing, gameplay, is terrible.
I can't even blame THQ. When there are plenty of WWE fanboys giving the game rave reviews why should they bother improving it? I even read some idiots review who said the game played like a simulation. Surely he couldn't have been playing the same game as me?
What I don't get about THQ is that they add loads of customisation and non-core-gameplay modes into the game each year (mostly of which are pretty good). Why can't they up-date/change the god awful gameplay which hasn't changed for the better in god knows how many yearly editions.
I don't know if any of you guys played it but I actually enjoyed the gameplay in the TNA Impact game. It was only let down by the massive lack of moves and the pin kick out controls.
I'm still pissed off about how your customs don't look like they fit with the defaults. This has been a problem since SmackDown TWO, when they first introduced the "individual piece by individual piece" system (as an ALTERNATE to their original CAW system of just using pre-fabbed pieces, no less), and while the pieces have gotten more detailed and the texturing gets "higher res" (if you ever take the time and effort to rip the resources of any given PS2 SD game for instance, the textures are MAYBE 256x256, if not smaller), but the outcome still looks and plays like a you're trying to dress up a Ken doll and fit it into a scenario involving the large-sized GI Joes (not the 3/4/5-inchers).
Damn, I miss No Mercy and VPW2 for that (and I might even go back to playing them this weekend as a result). Hell, I should even work on actually trying to understand King of Colosseum 2 so I can work with THAT game's system quicker. Yeesh.
On a related note, I played The Pro Wrestling and The Pro Wrestling 2, and while they're just the non-branded Japanese versions of SD1 and SD2 (respectively), at least the defaults are made from CAW parts so your own CAWs can step in the ring with them and not look out-of-place.
Again, yeesh. It's been 11 years, THQ. You've had all this time to FIX the base models of the CAW system so that your created superstar actually looks like they'd fit in with the defaults, and all we still end up with is claw-handed samurai with mohawks PAINTED with hair on them...WITH NO GORRAM ULTIMO DRAGON CHESTPIECE. HE WAS IN YOUR GORRAM GAME BEFORE AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T INCLUDED IT??
I forgot to add--Legends Of WrestleMania includes 4 different types of vests (AND Macho Man's WM7 fringe jacket and his pre-WM5 cape, but no mid-torso chestpiece like Ultimo? EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE HAD HIS TIGHTS FOR AT LEAST 4 WHOLE GAMES before regulating the outfit textures)
AND WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO LEGIT KNEE-HIGH BOOTS??
fullMETAL, is The Pro Wrestling 2 a worthy game? You see, I find the original incarnation of the SmackDown grappling system appealing, though I have little inclination to play SmackDown itself. TPW2 could provide an alternative means of experiencing the engine.
If you don't mind Japanese-language menu texts and off-brand default wrestlers, The Pro Wrestling 2 makes for a very enjoyable alternative to SmackDown 2 (which is already awesome on its own). If you already HAVE SmackDown 2, you don't need TPW2, since SD2 is pretty deep itself.
Toukon Retsuden 3 is a little slower paced. Simply put, it's the SmackDown PS1 engine with the AKI N64 graphics (closer to VPW1/World Tour than Revenge/WM2k/VPW2 or No Mercy). More roughly put, it's the game (minus the comparatively barebones-looking edit mode) that PWX was originally trying to become. The edit mode has a robust move selection and even logic controls, but the actual physical creation leaves MUCH to be desired. Also, (your mileage may vary) you have to build your created wrestler up enough to earn points to purchase and assign new/better moves (the moves share the point distribution with Parameters and Skills). Also, no entrances, but everybody in the game has 1-minute cuts of their entrance theme...AS MATCH BGM when the default match BGMs fade out. Solid, but slow-paced action reminiscent of the best parts of VPW1/World Tour's gameplay combined with the best parts of SmackDown 2's gameplay. Highly recommended.
And would you believe I actually recommend SvR 2010 for the Nintendo DS?
Dude, I played the hell out of SvR 2010 for DS! The core gameplay was less than perfect but I still felt compelled to complete the career mode and had enough fun doing it to keep going.