Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Legends of Wrestling II

Written by Adam Woolcott on February 20, 2003

Full Review: Check it out, Rowdy Roddy Piper before the hip replacement!

Last year, former WWF and ECW license holders Acclaim sat without a direction for their lagging wrestling games. Without a big time wrestling promotion to back, Acclaim went the legends route, nabbing a true legend in Hulk Hogan and paying him to promote their first legends game, Legends of Wrestling. While LOW received so-so reviews across the board, I thought it was a solid, but a bit rough, wrestling game that was deeper and more interesting than the disappointing WWF Smackdown: Just Bring It. Despite the average reviews, Acclaim went forward with a sequel to LOW, in the form of Legends of Wrestling 2. The improvements were simple Ц get more legends, get more match types, tweak the game engine to run faster and build upon the ISP system from the original. The result is a wrestling game that is just as solid as before, but many of the enhancements are strange and take way much of the authentic old-time wrestling feel.

Legends of Wrestling 2 features nearly 70 different legends, both living and dead (and probably guys who are dead, but their bodies ain't figured it out yet). All the names from the original LOW game return, so you can kick ass with Hulk Hogan, Bret УHitmanФ Hart, Jerry УThe KingФ Lawler, and Bam Bam Bigelow, along with some new additions like Rowdy Roddy Piper, Bruno Sammartino, Andre The Giant, Sid Vicious (Sid Justice, Sycho Sid from WWF), and even the late Owen Hart. Also, some current stars made their way into this game despite being in the WWE Ц Eddie Guerrero and УBig Poppa PumpФ Scott Steiner. For the wacky wrestling fans, infamous Inter-Gender Champion, the late Andy Kaufman is also included in all his glory. Many of these wrestlers are available from the outset, but a lot of them are only unlockable while playing the career modes multiple times.

The Create-A-Legend mode is back, and returns to the classic Acclaim quality in this category. WWF War Zone and Attitude were blessed with outstanding CAW modes, but the CAL mode in Legends was horrible and shallow. Now, you can create just about any legend you want, or even a current star that you think belongs in this group. A Create mode should be in every wrestling game, for it helps make the game stand out from the crowd (yeah, I'm referring to Def Jam Vendetta).

LOW 2 also features even more match types than before Ц instead of basic singles and tag team matches, LOW 2 has 6 and 8 man tag matches, a steel cage match, and the old-school tradition, the battle royal (also known as Уeasy way for bad wrestlers to not be in the ring long, but entertain the fans who don't careФ match). All these match types come up during the main single player mode, and naturally 1 player exhibition and multiplayer fights will let you pick from these matches.

Before we get too into the gameplay, the one really neat, non-gameplay related feature in Legends of Wrestling 2 are the hours worth of DVD footage of wrestler interviews. These interviews are given out of character, so you get to see the real people behind the wrestlers. You can listen to former WWF star Ted DiBiase tell the tale of how he was given the gimmick of УThe Million Dollar ManФ, or listen to guys like Hulk Hogan tell of how he broke into wrestling all those years ago. For old-school wrestling fans, or wrestling fans hoping to brush up on their history, this comprehensive feature is almost worth the $50 by itself.

Unfortunately, this isn't a DVD, this is a PlayStation 2 game, and so the actual video game part has to be discussed. The main single player mode is the career mode. Once you pick your wrestler, you have to pick a region to start in (east, west, southwest, midwest, southeast), like the original LOW. The twist is, now you have and actual storyline to follow, and even get to pick on what you want that story to be about. For instance, I started in the east/northeast territory (otherwise known as Vince McMahon land), and picked a story about missing undercard wrestlers. When you start, you meet the promoter, who's some fat-face mobster guy, telling you to not lose any matches, because some of these undercard wrestlers have been pulling off upsets and they suddenly vanish afterwards (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, bang, bang). From there you start the matches against a bunch of bums and work your way up to big competition and a crack at the territory title.

How you progress is directly related to how you perform in the wrestling ring, so the story and the gameplay intertwine quite well. When you start the matches, you'll have to pull off various crowd pleasers to boost your popularity level and get a title shot. If you do too much bad stuff like repeating moves, your level goes down, so watch it. A lot of it is based upon LOW 2's biggest feature, the ISP system. Basically, the ISP system is an engine that lets you chain moves together for one big move Ц for instance, you can combine a power bomb with a pinning combination if you hit the right button fast enough. Stringing enough of these together is the best way to move up in the rankings, and as such is quite important in the long-run. It's not easy to get the timing down right away, but after a while you'll get it and you'll be like Chris Benoit and his multiple suplexes in no time.

Like the first LOW, the movesets are somewhat limited, but given how few moves were really used in the old wrestling eras, it fits. The silly thing is, Acclaim used many of the current-era moves for these guys, which are way out of place. Why guys like Superstar Billy Graham have The Pedigree as a finishing move is completely wacky. And there's a lot of emphasis on high-flying moves, despite the fact that guys like Hogan never left their feet in the ring. Admittedly, if they used moves from the old-school, the most extreme move you'd see is either the DDT or a bodyslam, and many guys using the sleeperhold as a finishing move. In this case, the sleeperhold might be this game.

The best improvement to the gameplay engine itself is easily the speed of it. Last year's game was somewhat slow and plodding, but this year, the engine has been sped up and the game plays much more fluidly. This really pumps up the enjoyment of the game, since pulling off moves is always easy (but the ISP is tough, as it should be really), and the action can get quite intense in some of the larger fights. While the wrestlers themselves aren't really any faster than they should be, Legends of Wrestling 2 runs at a much nicer flow and pace. It adds a lot of enjoyment to the game if the LOW series is your kind of game.

The computer AI presents a good challenge Ц they don't reverse every move, but you get a tough fight every time, and you even sometimes lose a match or 2 here and there. It's definitely not an easy road to the championships, but it's well worth it to unlock all the extra DVD footage and wrestlers.

Like the engine itself, the visuals of Legends of Wrestling 2 have been tweaked into something much better looking, fast, and fluid. The cartoony caricatures of legends have returned, molding these old guys into the stars they were in their primes. Hulk Hogan still has most of his hair, Jerry Lawler looks more like a wrestler and less of a dirty old man, and Roddy Piper has 2 working, authentic hips to wrestle on. They all look great, if not realistic, and look just as good in motion, with animations that blend right in seamlessly. It's a little strange to see super-muscled guys out there looking like that, but it still looks pretty good Ц and none of the wrestlers look like they had a pole shoved up their asses when they walk.

Other details like fully animated arenas and fans look great, and are modeled to feel similar to many of the old-time arenas where wrestling was held at in the old days. Many are very small (like, a basketball gym), and a few are huge (the big arena in the northeast), but all look really nice.

Finally, all the wrestlers have their own entrances, which are a bit weak like the first time Ц you walk down the aisle, do your taunt, and get in the ring. But it's there Ц and it's not like they had fancy video walls and fireworks in the old days anyway.

The sounds of LOW 2 mostly are unchanged from before Ц there's no talking by the wrestlers nor are there announcers calling the action. However, former WCW ring announcer Dave Penzer does voice-overs for the wrestler introductions, which is a nice, realistic touch. Wrestlers actually come down to the ring with either their old, real theme music (such as Hogan coming out to his old WCW theme), or a respectable facsimile of it. In this case, the game maintains an authentic old-time feel.

However, the strangest thing in LOW 2 is some of the music that plays in-game. In particular, Saliva (who is seemingly on every WWE pay-per-view and every damn video game lately) has their song УSuperstarФ playing almost constantly in the game, from the game introduction to most of the matches. Admittedly the song fits the game, but still feels way out of place. Most of the band members of Saliva weren't even born when these guys were in their primes!