An excellent game, with a few problems keeping it from the top
All but two of the wrestlers entrances are perfect. Chris Masters entrance has the timing off, and I don't know what they were thinking with Batista's. Everyone else is right on.
The voice acting was well done. Not every one of the characters put their hearts into their performances, but most of them did. Hearing Eddie Guerrerro's voice acting as Eddie used to almost brought a tear to my eye.
Most of the wrestlers around during the making of the game are in it, but a couple are missing. Matt Hardy and Victoria, to name two. The wrestlers Sylvan and Rob Conway were apparently caught in mid-character switch. They have the look of when they were tag team partners, but have their current entrances. As something of a legendary wrap for this game, there are a few wrestlers that will never be featured in any future WWE games(barring unforeseen circumstances). Eddie Guerrerro, who died in late 2005. Christian, who left for greener pastures in the TNA wrestling organisation. And Christy Hemme, who was released in late 2005.
The number and variety of moves makes for a great time if you're interested in customising the WWE characters, or creating your own wrestler. Wrestler creation is easy, and detailed. You can do almost anything, and I've had no problem making wrestlers not featured in the game. Nor did I have a problem making a wrestler who looked like me. There aren't quite as many options as I might like, but it does a perfectly acceptable job. Creating entrances isn't as refined as it could be, but it is adequate, and better than many wrestling games have been. There are a huge number of match types, from the new Casket/Buried Alive match(kind of a hybrid combination of the two) and Fulfill your Fantasy(Bra & Panties match, in effect), to the standard singles and tag matches.
The graphics for the series just keep getting better and better. This game probably exemplifies the limit of what Yukes can do with the PS2. Good thing the PS3 is on it's way. All of the wrestlers look as they should, and are easily recognisable.
A few gameplay tweaks were made since the last game in the series. At first I thought they may detract from the game, but I was wrong. Having a stamina bar that runs down as you do various moves seemed like it would just slow the game down to me, but it actually just makes it more realistic. You may find yourself spending 3-4 seconds here and there recovering your stamina, but it isn't bad. And should it annoy you enough, you can always turn it off.
Once you've created a profile, the game saves your records. Very cool. You can see how many times you've defeated a certain wrestler, or see how many times you've successfully won the Royal Rumble.
My only real problems with the game are as follows.
Screwing up Batista's entrance is unforgivable, as he was the Heavyweight Champion at the time. And they didn't just mis-time it, they massacred it. Chris Master's entrance is a bit less of an annoyance as it's just a mis-timing. And I can see how it would be hard to time it right. But it still could have been done properly. If you can get every other wrestlers entrances right, there's little excuse for leaving 2 unfinished.
There is something of a bug in Hell In A Cell matches. It won't show up often, but it will every now and then should you play it enough. You can actually manage to get thrown through the Cell onto the outside, without anyone kicking the door open. You'll have to kick the door open to get back into the match.
Missing characters should have been added. There were a few names of the time that should have been put in the game. It would also have been nice to see a few more lengends than there were.
The target lock needs to be refined somewhat. All too often you'll want to lock on to one target, and keep locking onto another one. The only match you're likely to lose as a result is the ladder match, but it can cause annoyance during other matches as well.
Three Hulk Hogans. Three. Wtf? One I can understand. Ok, you want NWO as well? Fine. Two. Last game had two Kanes and two Undertakers, so I guess it's acceptable. But three? Yeesh. Hogan is the single most overrated semi-superstar in WWF/WWE history. Why the fans cheer him is beyond me. And having three of him in this game is insulting. I'd rather have seen them put Michael Cole in the game as a wrestler than a third Hogan. *Sigh*
I suppose I should also mention having to have a PSP and the PSP version of the game to unlock Jake the Snake. I just tracked down a friend with a PSP and rented the game for it, but it's milkage as far as I'm concerned.
The Diva's have been relegated to exclusive competition. You can't put them into any match you'd like anymore. Maybe this was for a lower ESRB rating, but I find it detrimental. The WWE put's women and men together every now and then, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to do the same in the game. Also, created Diva's aren't even able to get into the Fulfill your Fantasy match. I have to ask why? They are girls are they not?
With that said, it's a solid game and lots of fun. Multiplayer is great, and so is the season mode. General Manager mode is also good, though many will likely find it too complicated and or difficult to get into.