ECW Anarchy Rulz
Reviewed by Greatest One
ECW Hardcore Revolution was a pretty good game, if you
didn't know about ECW's style or played WWF Attitude. It was
very similar to Attitude in almost all aspects and therefore
didn't have much of the over the top action that ECW
presents. Anarchy Rulz was supposed to be a game that would
deliver just that. Did it happen?
Anarchy Rulz does have a lot of modes that when you first
hear about get you really excited. Inferno matches and table
matches got me interseted. There are also other modes like a
dumpster match and a backlot match. You would think that
these modes would provide some outrageous action.
Unfortunately that doesn't happen. The matches are basically
the same with slight twists. In the inferno match you
wrestle your opponent as you normally would until one
wrestler hits the fire. In the table match you have to drive
your opponent through tables. But, the rest of the match is
still the same. It just doesn't feel like ECW.
Thats because the game still plays like Warzone and Attitude
and Hardcore revolution. You have to execute button
combinations to pull off moves. This slows down the action
and ruins the overall feel of the game. This system was good
for Attitude and Warzone, but doesn't fit an ECW game. An
ECW game needs a much faster system, something like
Smackdown's.
One thing Acclaim is known for is delivering maybe the best
create-a-wrestler modes. This doesn't change here as the CAW
mode has been made even better. You can create almost any
one you want to. And since the move list contains most of
the moves available in Attitude, you can create your
favorite WWF superstars too.
Overall, there are a bunch of other modes and a fair number
of wrestlers to keep you interested, but it still doesn't
really feel like an ECW game.
Graphics: 8.
The graphics are similar to Hardcore Revolution's . The
characters look realistic and the crowd models have been
improved too. There are still problems of slowdown however.
Sound: 7.
The sound effects are pretty good and there is more theme
music than Hardcore revolution. Some of the themes sound
strange though, but they are still pretty good.
Gameplay: 4.
I liked the button combinations system for Warzone and
Attitude. But it is too slow for ECW. Even thought the moves
are easier to pull off, they are still way too slowly done.
Replay Value: 6.
A long career mode and lots of gimmick matches will be
interesting, but they tend to get boring very quickly.
Overall: 6 out of 10
Anarchy Rulz is a step in the right direction. Acclaim had
the right idea when it added the new modes. If only they
change the fighting system now.
