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"RAW 2 first impressions..."

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This thread has been linked to the game 'WWE Raw 2'.
Wed 08/10/03 at 16:30
Regular
Posts: 10,489
Slow, unresponsive and boring. It feels like a chore to play and it makes me glad that I have a PS2 with Smackdown 4 and the possibility of Smackdown 5. It actually feels slower than the first despite what reviews say. Graphically its gorgeous, one of the most stunning games to date, fantastic character models and a real life like feel to them.

*Struggles to compliment the game outside of the visuals*

I am completely with Sav on this one, its utter guff to be honest and I am glad its just a rental as I would be kicking myself having paid £30 for this! A few problems I have encountered so far:

1. Turned Xbox on to receive damaged disc error despite it being completely free of anything. Did it two more times and it finally worked.

2. Setting up Table to put opponent through is streesful and completely disatisfying. Tried and tried to put opponent through using Rock Bottom and when I lined it up and did it the table didn't break. The only let down with the tables in Smackdown is that you can only put them through it with 4 moves and the opponent has to be on the table, I was under the impression that in RAW 2 you could do any move and so far I have managed to put them through using a boring fishermans suplex.

*YAWN*

3. Trying to get tables etc from under the ring is a nightmare, you press the white button and nothing happens. Keep trying and within 5 minutes you might have some luck.

4. Trying to get weapons, tables etc into the ring from the outside. Once again an absolute nightmare. Pressing black makes him drop it and even though the guides say you need to be in the middle of the ring it still doesn't work.

5. Shockingly slow game engine, very unresponsive and very annoying.

6. Poor layout of controls, whoever laid the control shceme out should be shot.

There are more problems with the game than I have noted down but I will list them as they arrive. So far absolutley gutted.

Avoid!
Thu 09/10/03 at 21:09
Regular
Posts: 10,489
I'm not going over the top at all. The game is gorgeous to look at but dreadful to play. Any game with gameplay that is so slow and boring deserves to be slated. Hedfix seems to think really slow gameplay is realistic and tactical which is hilarious. The characters punch and perform grapples at a pace so slow that its laughable. This coupled with the infinite amount of glitches and things aren't looking good.

Hell its nothing to do with the modes, options, audio or visual side of the game. Thats what too many have come to rely on where as the great Nintendo have always put gameplay first and everything else second. In this case the gameplay was a complete after thought and its clear it was the last thing they actually thought about.

We all moan about Fifa and how fancy presentation, decent licence and nice eye candy don't make up for a bad playing experience well the same has to be said for RAW 2. Hedfix has gone over the top defending it like you would defend a child. Everything I have read so far says it was trying to achieve the No Mercy style of play but has ultimately failed. If I want to play a 5-6 year old wrestling game I would buy a 64 again. I don't want that though, I want the promises of what RAW 2 planned to deliver along with a completely gutted and revamped game engine which is responsive yet still tactical.

If thats too much to ask (despite everyone screaming for it for this one) then the RAW series can slowly continue down a path similar to that of the Fifa games. Slow gameplay can not be called tactical, the response, control layout and overall pace of the game needs a complete overhaul.
Thu 09/10/03 at 21:01
Regular
"Far Beyond Metal"
Posts: 5,748
I got the game Monday and I'll have to say...

...I'm impressed! It's a decent game although it does have it's problems. If you're a big fan of wrestling games, like myself, you're sure to like it.

The Hell in a Cell matches are great. Total mayhem in a 6 man one! There's nothing more satisfying than chokeslamming a defenceless victim off the top of the cell straight through the announce table! :D

I'm quite surprised at the bad comments about it. Alastair is certainly going overboard saying that its a "nightmare game". I could find much much worse on all 3 consoles for you. As Hedfix said, play No Mercy and it will set you up nicely for getting the most out of RAW 2.

Although not the best of wrestling games, I could hardly call RAW 2 a disappointment. I think it's a good game although I would have liked to see a few more match types and a more storylined season mode. Also, the AI could be greatly improved. No Mercy is still the king of wrestling games for me. It's a shame I no longer own an N64... :-( :-D

I'd advise any wrestling game fan to buy this game. Don't expect to be blown away by the greatness, but it will be worth your while... :)
Thu 09/10/03 at 20:27
Regular
Posts: 10,489
Played it for another couple of hours tonight and I am seriously disgusted with the gameplay. I have given it plenty of time (despite the fact that the speed is dreadful) and every time I play it something worse happens to an already shocking engine. Here is my latest problem:

Playing Goldberg as Stone Cold I threw a table into the ring and began to pound Goldberg with a load of moves (which incidently didn't keep him to the floor in an unrealistic manor) before throwing him out of the ring on the north side. I set up the table near the middle and waited for him to get up (didn't take long despite him taking a massive beating). As he climbed into the ring both characters froze for a second or two which was the first bug that I ran into. Straight after this I went to pick up the table and surprise surprise it wouldn't let me. My character was actually running through the table. Tried to climb onto the table and nothing happened so I tried slamming him through the table and nothing happened.

Fantastic stuff! Trapped in a nightmare game in what supposedly is meant to be the most fun match.

Utter ballax!
Thu 09/10/03 at 20:18
Regular
"ATAT Supremo"
Posts: 6,238
I know no doubt that plenty of people on here are bored with my negative rantings about this game, but the reason I've been slating it so much is because its turned out to be such a bloody disgrace, let alone a disappointment.

When done right, a wrestling game can be right up there with the best titles. The Smackdown series definatly comes closest to being the most complete wrestling game with its various modes etc. I didn't buy the first RAW after a friend of mine jumped in early and spent 50 quid on an import version. I played it and thought it was a load of crud.
But at the same time, there were little bits about it that made me think that if things were thought out more carefully and changes were made, this series would have the potential to be THE best wrestling game money can buy - particularly with it using the XBox to do things with areas such as the create a wrestler mode that other consoles just wouldn't really be able to pull off.

With the build up to RAW 2, it was looking like this was going to be the game that blew Smackdown out of the water. Me and my friends love a good wrestling game and they were just as eager for RAW 2 to arrive. I even saw some pretty positive reviews on the game, so I was still looking forward to it. When I played it though, I felt like I must have been playing a different game to these reviewers. Some of you have said you like the slow pace because its strategic. No its not, its just sluggish. Strategy for me in a wrestling game is to have a game plan and focus on particular areas of the opponents body.
Wether you're working on an opponent to get the pin or softening up their legs before slapping on a figure 4 leg lock - thats strategy, not having half an hour to decide that you're gonna take a guys leg out from under him with a leg sweep when you finally get up off the ground.

Sometimes it gets so frustrating, I just end up wishing I could walk into the developers and throw a shedload of ideas at them because the games they come out with scream "I have no clue what I'm doing with this".
I mean if they wanted to add even deeper strategy to wrestling games, then maybe they could have the wrestler's weight affecting matches. Afterall, you're not gonna see too many cruiserweight wrestlers pick up a 500lb man and throw him around like hes as light as a bag of sweets.
This would bring game plans into matches a lot more. Maybe wrestlers of a half decent weight area could lift the big guys, but take a little damage for it. Of course the big wrestlers would be slower, so it would be a matter of using your faster pace, etc to beat them. Imagine how good royal rumble matches could become if it helps to gang up in order to get the huge wrestlers out. Of course there could still be ways of eliminating them on your own, but essentially, the royal rumble is about endurance (and luck of the draw), so if you have to think about what you're doing, it makes for a better match.

Other than that, the Smackdown series is doing a good job of improving each time and looking at the quality of that series to RAW, it certainly seems like RAW is some cack side project thats just thrown on the shelf to take advantage of poor XBox owning suckers like myself who just want to play an excellent wrestling game on the XBox. Theres no denying that the XBox is the most powerful of the 3 consoles, so why not use that to an advantage rather than just tarting up some nice graphics.
The graphics and entrance tweaking, etc - top notch, the rest of the game - back to the drawing board lads - big time.
Thu 09/10/03 at 18:45
Regular
"Remember me?"
Posts: 6,124
Bazzman™ wrote:
> Well to be honest.. you don't like anything. You think bo selecta,
> lee evans and numerous other amazing things are crap. So go back and
> play "Spiderman" with your brother.

*

Lee Evans IS crap. And I don't recall ever saying Bo Selecta was crap, seeing as I've never even watched it.
Thu 09/10/03 at 10:40
Regular
"8==="
Posts: 33,481
Yeah I think it may be EA being sneaky. They will probably add a few matches for the next game and a few more for the next.

If they can get away with it, but with the new competition springing up it doesn't look like they can.

Wresling games're getting competitive again so it looks like we should be getting some more good ones.

Backyard Wrestling could be good as could AKI's Muscle Men wrestling game.

So there's 3 independent wrestling games going up against THQ's big three.

Should be interesting.
Thu 09/10/03 at 10:32
Regular
Posts: 4,279
I agree. The worst fault for DJV is that they have no weapons and very few match types.
Thu 09/10/03 at 10:13
Regular
"8==="
Posts: 33,481
I like Def Jam Vendetta but I swapped it off for 4 games because I bought it for the multiplayer. The multiplayer was severely lacking although otherwise it was a very good game.

If the sequel has a wider range of multiplayer matches/is 2-4 player in the main game then I will be getting it.
Thu 09/10/03 at 09:56
Regular
Posts: 4,279
I just want to say to Alistair. I agree with Hedfix being the fact that Smackdown is one of the most unrealistic wrestling games ever. I'd also say that people who don't like wrestling in general find Smackdown better as it simulates a fast paced beat 'em up but with more advanced features. I may be wrong on this, but I also hate the way you can only perform strong grapple moves when the oponent is groggy.

As far as No Mercy is concerned, it does seem a little slow at first but after a couple of hours it feels right at home. IMO, the best wrestling engine to date is that of Def Jam Vendetta.
Thu 09/10/03 at 08:45
Regular
"8==="
Posts: 33,481
I don't actually care about reviews.

I own the game. I like it. Finito.

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