WWE All Stars : The Wrestling Game Comeback

All Stars is the bright refreshing change for the wrestling game genre which for many years has become well… stagnant with the Smackdown vs. Raw series which has clearly seen better days and is in desperate need for some kind of a reboot of the franchise. All Stars goes for a fresh approach in the style its trying to create with Legends vs. current WWE Superstars which opens up a plethora of dream matches like The Rock vs. Cena, Triple H vs. The Ultimate Warrior, Andre the Giant vs. the Big Show and more.

THQ’s new San Diego studio are the team behind the new All Stars game, the studio was bought when Midway closed its doors and since then people have been wondering just what have they been working on since then for THQ as there last game was a wrestling game. This is not the teams first try at a wrestling game they worked on the 2009 TNA iMPACT which I found to be at its core a great game with a lot of great improvements and innovations for the genre, the game just lacked content which could be linked to a lack of budget, but the game showed great of potential for the future.

Bret Hart teaching Cena a move or two

Anyone who has seen or played the TNA game will notice some similarities such as some animations are carried over and the game is using the same engine which was the best thing about the iMPACT game and now they are working with THQ with a bigger budget I believe great things can be expected from this title and everything that has been shown so far makes me believe that statement even more.

Rather than going into the direction of a simulation based game which SVR has covered All Stars tries to capture the over the top nature of the sport and matching that with fun responsive gameplay which at its route is fun, even if it takes some liberties with the material.
The wrestlers themselves kind of look like mini hulks waging war in the ring which for guys like Triple H who is a larger than life character it just helps boost it up making the game visually more interesting now mix with that 60 frames per second super slick animations and the game looks gorgeous in motion it seems like it is as fun to watch as it would to play.

As mentioned this is not a simulation and is aimed at more of an arcade approach with a tag line which has been thrown around at a couple of interview which is ‘easy to pick up hard to master’ this refers to the control scheme but also the likes of the combo system in which multiple moves can be linked together from a Samoan drop into a torture rack, also the reversal system in which every move has a reversal and every reversal has a reversal which is kind of crazy when you think about it and the possibilities it has for completive matches online and locally.

Hollywood Hogan in action

With all these Legends and current WWE Superstars there had to be some kind of challenge mode or dream matches and there is exactly that which is called Fantasy Warfare, now not to much has been revealed about this mode but from what has been announced we can expect video packages showcasing each wrestler one example would be Cena vs. Hulk Hogan.

WWE All Stars has a late March release, I really hope the game is successful as this seems exactly what the genre needs a bit of fun injected back into it. THQ have announced a demo is expected to be released sometime before the game hits store shelves but no date has been given just yet keep a look out on their website for daily updates http://www.wweallstars.com/

All Stars looks to have the right qualties to be a great game we just have to wait to find out, a review will be up following the game, look out for that and more in the coming weeks.