The EG Readers' Game Tasting Society

WWE WrestleMania XIX (Cube)

by Tom Scholes

Wrestlemania XIX is THQs follow-up to last year's abysmal WrestleMania X8, which was such a poor game, when I bought it for £4.99 I took it back the next day. So to be honest, I wasn't expecting a huge amount out of this year's effort. Thankfully I have been proved to be at least partly wrong.

You see, the wrestling part of this game is actually very good. It runs at just about the right pace, with plenty of moves available and a good control scheme not dissimilar to the old Acclaim/AKI N64 wrestling games like No Mercy. The roster available is quite small compared to RAW 2 and the new SmackDown! game, but is reasonably up to date, with a masked Kane the only real hiccup.

As far as matches go, the now standard selection of modes are available. Present and correct are single, tag, handicap, Royal Rumble, table, TLC, Ironman and Hell In The Cell. Each different match has customisable rules, so it's a half decent selection which will keep those multiplayer sessions going. The graphics are nice too, with an almost cartoon look to the wrestlers and no signs of slow down and good animation. The sound is of a good quality too with wrestler themes present and correct and the crowd chanting at the wrestlers.

Where this game falls flat on its proverbial arse though is it's version of a story mode, called Revenge. The idea is the wrestler of your selection has just been fired and wants revenge on Vince McMahon. His daughter Stephanie offers you a chance to get what you want through a series of missions involving fighting in parking lots, harbours and construction yards. The problem is, it just doesn't work properly. Some of the missions are just ridiculously stupid and I have cursed many times at the game as I fail to make the jump between moving chains that mysteriously hang from the ceiling of a parking lot. Money earned from these missions though can be spent in the Shopzone to purchase new Create-A-Wrestler parts and animations along with weapons and attribute points.

Speaking of Create-A-Wrestler, it's a pretty standard CAW mode until you come to edit the wrestler entrances at which point you get to create your very own entrance with lighting, pyrotechnics, and camera angles of your choice. It's actually strangely satisfying to see your wrestler come to the ring with their very own routine.