WWE All Stars E3 Impressions

The Smackdown franchise is the best wrestling has to offer, and has been for years. Many have complained that it has taken a too realistic approach within the series. Well this may be the reason behind THQ’s move to make the WWE All Stars title. The game will have a much more arcade style to it. The question is how does it hold up in action?

During our hands on we were in an exhibition match with The Rock and John Cena. The game still has a while till it comes out, so it was an early build. But what we saw was the basic premise of the title. A wrestling game that is a lot of fun, and doesn’t take itself to seriously. THQ seemed to be going for this, and they are achieving what they set out to do.

As stated, the game has more of an arcade style to it than the Smackdown series. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though. Those that don’t enjoy the realism that Smackdown has started to turn to will definitely like All Stars. The characters much larger and feature over the top moves. Players can match up legends such as The Rock to current wrestlers like John Cena, so that they can see the matches that were never able to happen. It is essentially up to the player with whatever they would like to see match wise.

With the moves being over the top a lot of focus went into the impact of things. This adds to the over the top feel. When someone actually kicks their opponent off of the ropes players can actually see the impact. When a body slam occurs impact is seen. Every move within the game allows for this.

All the wrestling moves that one has come to expect in a game were in there: striking, Irish whips, grappling etc. So the game is definitely not lacking moves wise, definitely no worries there. Reversals are another thing that are in the game. They can easily turn the tide in this high paced title. Special finishers for characters are of course there to deliver the finishing blow to win the match for your character.

One thing that was lacking was the lack of a Create A Wrestler in the game. When asking someone at THQ, they said that there would not be this feature in the title, but there will be DLC. The game will be retail based, no word if there will be a PSN version as well.

Multiplayer will be both offline and online, but the full details of online haven’t been disclosed as of yet. This is the same for the rosters. They seem to be going for an old school vs. new school feel. But the roster is supposedly going to have a wide array of superstars to choose from.

This game is meant to be a fast paced title, there is no slow down whatsoever. Stringing together combos is a lot of fun and especially if you do it quickly enough to the point of juggling your opponent in the air. Be sure to check out WWE All Stars when it releases, which is rumored to be during early 2011.

TRENDING