X-8 review

[Guest]

Well, the store where I placed my pre-order isn't getting the game in on June 13th anymore.. Nope, they got it in yesterday! So, I was playing most of the evening. The actual game is cool. I can get over the fact that there's only 5 front grapples, because there are a lot of other moves besides that. I can get over the "wrong theme song" issues. I can even get over the annoying AI when in Three Way Matches. But, there is abso-fuckin-lutely NO excuse for this game's CAW! What the fuck? THQ has countless other CAW's that Yukes could have borrowed from on this one.. but no, they come out looking worse than Acclaim when it comes to CAW's.  Now, I absolutely hate Acclaim's CAW engine, but at least Legends of Wrestling has a little freakin variety (except the one face thing)! I mean, come on.. just like in the first Smackdown game, you can't even select generic or "none" for Titantron video. That means your CAW either has to be nWo or come out to SOMEONE ELSE'S Titantron.. who's bright idea was this? They would have benefited to just add in a "WWF" logo titantron..

 

No excuse. None. Nada. They were working on this game for how long? Jesus, THQ, the game is fun and all, but for the next one - GO BACK TO AKI!!!

[Guest Just call me Dan]

I really can't understand why THQ would try and go for another developer or new engine for their games, or at least for their games on each system when their last one was such a success.  I'd be SO happy with this game if it were to use things ALREADY done and NOT NEEDED TO BE CHANGED.

 

CAW: All of the wrestler's in the game's attire, color changeable and labeled as that wrestler's gear.

All the wrestlers faces

If you don't put someone in the game because of roster space and they are in the WWE or were at press time, put some resembling attire/faces moves in there ( I.E. No Mercy's Raven)

(This should have been done for DDP, Lesnar, Guerrero)

Generic music and Titantron videos. How stupid is it to have to have someone come out with another wrestler's authentic music/video? Keyword: AUTHENTIC

 

Music: This is ridiculous. If you have it on TV, you should be able to put it in the game. Hardyz music is in EVERY other newer game, why not this one?

Booker and nWo's music not in the game? LAZINESS

 

Best feature ever: LOSING IT in No Mercy.  When you knocked them out or they took a sick bump, Losing It would be their status and theyd stay out a while. REALISM: It's what the strive for but totally miss

 

What did AKI do wrong except produce 4 best selling games? What the hell????

 

And NO DDP?!?!?!?! Fuck you!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

THQ should just update rosters and moves, enhance graphics and add newer features rather than trying to go overhaul with each game. Sheesh

[Guest KANE]

The problem is that AKI is no more...those guys all separated.

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

From what I am gathering, it appears the people who made this game are doing this for the first time, and let's not forget the fact that the Gamecube is a fairly new machine. I think you should cut these guys some slack and see what they come out with next year.

[Guest Sakura]

Why should I cut them slack when they charged $50 for a game that isn't finished? The title uses the exisiting Smackdown engine. There is no excuse to be missing so much stuff. I am sick of THQ and THQ marks saying "wait until the next game".

 

 

Anyway, the game is weak, but not awful like RAW. They do some stuff right, HIAC is awesome, but for everything they do right there's like 5 features they totally half ass. I like the slower SD engine with counters but only 5 grapple moves? I've had the game for a day and I'm already tired of the movesets for some characters. X9 will indeed be so much better, but that isn't helping me any now.

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

I am sick of THQ and THQ marks saying "wait until the next game".

 

That's good because I'm not a THQ mark and I'm telling you wait until the next game. There's nothing else you can do about it, so suck it up. You don't like this year's game? Wait until next year when the game isn't a first generation game. It could be worse, you could have bought Royal Rumble.

 

X9 will indeed be so much better, but that isn't helping me any now.

 

Whose problem is that?

[Guest]

I really can't understand why THQ would try and go for another developer or new engine for their games, or at least for their games on each system when their last one was such a success.  I'd be SO happy with this game if it were to use things ALREADY done and NOT NEEDED TO BE CHANGED.

All of your points.. I couldn't agree more!

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

There is no such thing as a perfect engine, and no one should really have their jaws poked out if THQ tries to make an engine that is better than what they were using. They had a successful formula with the AKI engine, but they went ahead and used a different formula when they made the Smackdown games. When you gamble, you lose sometimes and most of the time, you can't achieve greatness without gambling in some way.

[Guest]

Okay, I got X-8 today, not expecting perfection at all. First off the CAW is weak. I always had this idea that the next WWE game should have two discs. One for creating characters, belts, and all that. The other for the actual game. That would leave a lot of space and make the game better. The controls are fustrating at times but not hard to get use to. I perfer the N64 controls over these anyday but hey I will live. I wish the Career mode would of been more.... like an actual career mode. Reminded me of the old WCW games for n64 but hey that didn't bring me down. 5 grapples doesn't bother me all that much either. I must say my favorite thing about X-8 is HIAC. That was done beautifully, I only wish you could throw the opponents off the cell but hey no complaints here. The table match is still weak, its too hard to get up on the table and break them. Overall I like the game. The graphics are well done, entrances almost perfect except for the music and some of the facial expressions but no complaints. It could of been ALOT better but its still good for what it is. I expect alot better next time around though. Definetly rent it first, if only for the HIAC, then decide if you want to buy it.

 

***/*****   (3 out of 5 five stars)

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

Please elaborate on the HIAC match. If that's the redeeming factor of the game, I want to know more about it. I don't like the fact that people can't go for the ride off the top of it, but I guess it was kind of dumb to have people fall from that far up and jump back up anyway. I am disappointed by the omission of certain theme songs (Booker T's really), but then I guess I will live (possibly without the game).

[Guest Sakura]

Whose problem is that?

 

 

THQ's because sooner or later people will start to realize they push sub par games.

 

 

 

Please elaborate on the HIAC match.

 

 

It's full sized. You can fight outside all you want and even grap weapons from under the apron. Side panels don't break first time you touch them like SD, it now takes several whips to break them. Once you're up top you can throw them around and the panels turn darker to let you know when they will break. All of the middle panels can be broken. Breaking them looks a lot better than it did in SD. The whole thing is so much better because of the selling. The selling, while not as good as the Aki titles, is still a lot better than the SD series.

[Guest]

It looks like the money I WAS going to spend on buying X-8 will be spent on Bomberman Generations instead.

 

w00t, I like Bomberman more anyway.

[Guest Just call me Dan]

Someone please answer my questions:

 

1) Is DDP in the game?

 

2) If not, are his taunts, and like uniform in the CAW ( HBK's taunts are)

 

3) In the CAW, are all the wrestler's outfiits in the selectable uniforms, plus some originals ala No Mercy? Or are they in there but hard as hell to find and not all are in the menu ala Raw?

 

4) Blood?

[Guest Sakura]

1. No

 

2. don't use CAW.

 

3. don't use CAW.

 

4. No

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

Whose problem is that?

 

 

THQ's because sooner or later people will start to realize they push sub par games.

 

How many subpar games has THQ made, and how many good games has THQ made? FUrthermore, what other wrestling games are available in NOrth America right now, and what WWF games are available in North America?

[Guest 5_moves_of_doom]

How's the speed of the game? I'm asking because I liked No Mercy's methodically slow speed. Do the wrestlers just zoom up the ladder like in Smackdown 3? Or do they actually go slowly to give the others a chance to knock the damn thing down?

 

Edit: Also, can you just set some CPU's against eachother and watch a la No Mercy? And can you hold PPV's and they get rated a la Smackdown? Thanks.

[Guest Sakura]

How many subpar games has THQ made, and how many good games has THQ made?

 

Subpar:

WCW Nitro

WCW Thunder

WWF Smackdown

WWF Smackdown 2

WWF Smackdown: Just Bring It

WWF RAW

WWE Wrestlemania X8

 

Good:

WCW vs. The World

WCW vs. nWo: World Tour

WCW Revenge

WWF Wrestlemania 2000

WWF No Mercy

 

 

All the good titles are from Aki. The rest are rushed, incomplete titles. Yukes sucks.

 

 

 

FUrthermore, what other wrestling games are available in NOrth America right now

 

 

Acclaim's crap and Firepro.

 

 

[ii]and what WWF games are available in North America? [/i]

 

 

Sadly, none. THQ has the rights for like 6 more years too.

 

 

 

 

Speed is slower than SD but not as slow as NM.

 

They go up the ladder and cage faster, but still not as good as in NM.

 

I think you can do CPU vs. CPU, yes.

 

No, PPV mode is not in.

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

BTW, those were rhetorical questions. I know that THQ has the WWF license for a long time and I also know that there aren't many wrestling games being developed for use over here. Furthermore, I'm sure that there are more than a few people who will place the Smackdown games with the good games.

 

 

Your list might look something like this if you obviously didn't favor the AKI games. Also, the fact that you disliked the Yukes games so much gives me some reassurance in the non-AKI games.

 

Subpar:

WCW Nitro

WCW Thunder

WWF RAW

WWE Wrestlemania X8

WWF Royal Rumble

 

 

Good:

WCW vs. The World

WCW vs. nWo: World Tour

WCW Revenge

WWF Wrestlemania 2000

WWF No Mercy

WWF Smackdown

WWF Smackdown 2

WWF Smackdown: Just Bring It

 

Just about twice as many good games if you like the Smackdown games, and alot of people do.

[Guest Just call me Dan]

Well, I played it and I had a lot of fun with the game.  Id say it is a little above average because of the fact that it is FUN.

 

Analysis

 

Graphics: Nice in the ring, but some of the entrances aren's too smooth. Animations of moves are nice, and I really like how everyone is scaled, etc.  8/10

 

Characters: they are pretty well updated , but I really hate having only 2 costumes and that fact that they are not customizable at all. Everyone looks pretty good besides some guys faces looking a little weird.  I don't like the hair (Test's ponytail sticks straight out, Kurt's hair looks like a big block).

Attire is pretty well updated. 7/10

 

Sound: Absolutely horrid.  Music is very canned, lot of the songs are gone (nWo's and Hardyz aren't bad at all).  There is almost NO crowd heat, ever.  You can't really get a great feel to the match or get drwn in because it's like you're fighting in your backyard with 3 fans. Some of the sounds like the ballshot sounds are so pathetic and weak it makes me laugh.  Gameplay music takes away from the match too because it sounds like bad elevator music. Terrible, really takes away.  4/10

 

Controls:  I like the yukes engine, except for the fact that there are not so many grapples. Doesn't particularly bother me, the moves are good.  The gamecube controller gives a bit of a problem though, you;ll definetly need to play it for a little while to get the full feel for it.  Not too terribly bad. 6/10

 

Gameplay: CPU is rather hard, and if you put it on a hard difficulty after getting good at the game, you can have some edge of your seat stuff.  Cage and ladder matches or matches with handicaps will piss you off though, because the CPU is real cheap.  Pretty fun.  Multiplayer is great, and the Royal Rumble is hard as shit. I recommend you and a friend play it together because the computer has a tendency to gang up on you.  Most of the matches are pretty fun (HIAC especially). 7/10

 

Features:  The CAW is great for certain people, but just trying to find what you want for your own personal characters will leave you emptyhanded. I usually just make guys who are in the WWE but not in the game, or classic superstars like Foley of HBK. Not so bad for my tastes. Way underrated. 7/10

 

Overall worth:  I am a huge mark for nWo in games, because they are badass.  Austin is here (may never see him again) and I really enjoyed matching up Hurricane, Booker, RVD, Storm, nWo etc. against a lot of guys.  Its a challenging game with cool match types and a lot of belts to go after.  It isn't a story driven wrestler what-so-ever, but it's a great multiplayer game, the Roster is the best ever (But no DDP!!! What the fuck?!?!?! AAAARRRGGHHH) And will make you laugh and scream because it's so hard.  Most updated game to date and has my approval.  Not bad at all, but far from perfect.  8/10

 

Total Rating: 7/10

 

Thumbs slightly above the middle.  I'll buy it. Playing with Scott Hall sold me from day 1 though.  Go into it expecting crap, you'll come out OK.

[Guest KANE]

Yeah, after spending some time with the game, I've come around on it.  It's not a bad little purchase.  The worst aspect of the game is the poor sound.  The fake themes don't bug me a lot (Booker T's rip off theme is just about dead-on), and their CAW is inexcusable to not have "street clothes" to make you and your friends, but it's a fun game, nonetheless.

[Guest Big McLargeHuge]

Okay. I've played it and...it's not bad nor is it good. It's right in the middle. It basically IS Smackdown 3.5, with tweaked controls. It's okay. The HIAC is fun, but the controls limit the gameplay experience too much. 5 moves is nothing and after 3 matches I got bored performing the same moves. Fun, but limiting.

 

I recommend Legends of Wrestling. I was pleasantly surprised by this game. It's actually fun and has a very unique control scheme. Takes some getting used to but with time it's simple enough.

[Guest]

Maybe its because I didn't play it for long enough, but I'm pretty undecided on this game.  I can't tell whether it simply licks balls, or actually sucks cock.  One of the biggest problems with it was my own personal anticipation of this "great" game over the past year or so.  At least now I know how long it takes to make a shitty game.

 

Message to THQ:

All the wrestling games you have made that people have loved had the N64, AKI engine.  (WM2000, No Mercy, WCW vs NWO, etc)

All the wrestling games you have made that people have hated have had the Playstation, Yukes engine (Smackdown games)

So WHY THE FUCK DID YOU CHANGE THE NINTENDO GAMES TO HAVING THE PLAYSTATION ENGINE YOU COCKS?  YOU LITTLE COCKS!  BASTARDS!!!!!!!!

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

All the wrestling games you have made that people have hated have had the Playstation, Yukes engine (Smackdown games)

So WHY THE FUCK DID YOU CHANGE THE NINTENDO GAMES TO HAVING THE PLAYSTATION ENGINE YOU COCKS?  YOU LITTLE COCKS!  BASTARDS!!!!!!!!

 

All the wrestling games that you hated were made by Yukes. I happened to like Smackdown 1&2 and I had nothing against Smackdown: KYR except for the announcers.

 

I am assuming that they changed the Nintendo games because AKI had split up. The Yukes engine didn't receive all of the hate that you think it did. People were buying those games and I can't think of anyone who reviewed them giving them poor reviews. Perhaps the fact that they made a lot of money from the PS games is why they felt confident putting the game out.

[Guest]

The PS games sold more because the PS was a more popular system.  I refuse to believe that anyone over the age of five prefers the PS WWF games to the N64 WWF games.

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

I never said anyone preferred the PS games to the N64 games, I just said people didn't have as big of a problem with them as you make them out to have. Games have their flaws, but some people choose to overlook flaws of some games and point out the flaws of other games. There really hasn't been a game with a continual season mode except for Smackdown 1&2, but people overlook that. If you want to complain about the music and entrances in X8, you would have to overlook the fact that the music has sucked in all of the N64 games. As far as gameplay, let's look at the fact that the weapons would disappear when they hit the ground in every N64 game that preceded No Mercy. Let's also look at the excessive counters in the N64 games. What about the bug that made your saves get erased in No Mercy? That alone made my copy start to grow dust. We can go back and forth pointing out flaws, but it's not fair to point out the flaws in one game and ignore the flaws in another. People are allowed to like a game without your permission.

[Guest]

I never said anyone preferred the PS games to the N64 games, I just said people didn't have as big of a problem with them as you make them out to have. Games have their flaws, but some people choose to overlook flaws of some games and point out the flaws of other games. There really hasn't been a game with a continual season mode except for Smackdown 1&2, but people overlook that. If you want to complain about the music and entrances in X8, you would have to overlook the fact that the music has sucked in all of the N64 games. As far as gameplay, let's look at the fact that the weapons would disappear when they hit the ground in every N64 game that preceded No Mercy. Let's also look at the excessive counters in the N64 games. What about the bug that made your saves get erased in No Mercy? That alone made my copy start to grow dust. We can go back and forth pointing out flaws, but it's not fair to point out the flaws in one game and ignore the flaws in another. People are allowed to like a game without your permission.

I agree with you here.

 

Whereas, I wish X8 could've been better.. I don't understand why people are STILL crying about this. I mean, I got over all of this rather quickly. It's done. The game is out. It's not going to be recalled and changed to suit all of us No Mercy marks. Just don't buy it, or sell it, but most important of all: GET OVER IT! ;p

[Guest]

I mean, I got over all of this rather quickly. It's done. The game is out. It's not going to be recalled and changed to suit all of us No Mercy marks. Just don't buy it, or sell it, but most important of all: GET OVER IT! ;p

You have a very good point.  I'm just still all pissed because of how great the AKI games were, and how low they've sunk.