Gaming Target - Xbox: Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This At Home!

Written by Gavin Wright on March 03, 2003

First Impressions: Ruthless aggression, huh? Hah, the superstars of the WWE have nothing on these guys.

There is only one thing in this world that is as annoying as telemarketers, taxes, and a "News Bulletin" interrupting your favorite show: Monopolies. There's no other way to say it, monopolies suck. It's monopolies that make you pay $3.00 for a cup of coffee (Starbucks), $50.00 for a computer program (Microsoft), or $20.00 for a music CD that probably cost eight cents to make (the entire CD industry). A new player in the monopoly business is the WWE, who after buying out WCW and the ECW, is the sole provider of professional wrestling. That means that THQ also has a monopoly, as being the sole holder of the WWE license means that they are now the only publisher able to provide interactive wrestling entertainment for the masses...or so we thought.

If humans are good at one thing it's finding a way around ANYTHING, and EA Big, Eidos, and Bandai have done just that with the announcements of their upcoming wrestling games Def Jam Vendetta (EA Big), Ultimate Muscle (Bandai), and Backyard Wrestling (Eidos). All three of the games feature very different takes on wrestling, as Def Jam Vendetta is more rap music oriented than other wrestling games, Ultimate Muscle features tons of anime elements, and Backyard Wrestling, based on the videos of the same name, has ten times more violence than anything that the WWE could ever churn out. Though Def Jam Vendetta and Ultimate Muscle are very worthy of a Gaming Target preview as well, the game that will be previewed today is Backyard Wrestling.

If you don't know what the backyard wrestling movies are, just stay up late some night and watch TNN, Comedy Central, or any other similar channel and you'll likely see the commercials for the Backyard Wrestling movies. In the commercials, you would see flaming tables, baseball bats, barbed wire covered bricks, and fold-up chairs all used as weapons as insane backyard wrestlers beat each other to a bloody pulp. It's sick, it's crude, and it sells (no surprise there, we are the nation that made the show Jackass a success).

Another thing you'll notice if you're a Backyard Wrestling connoisseur is that the Backyard Wrestling fights take place in a variety of locations. This comes off as a great opportunity to the Backyard Wrestling developers Paradox (the makers of the super violent cancelled game Thrill Kill, and the recent disappointment X-Men: Next Generation). Instead of being restrained to a ring setting, like in the WWE games, Paradox now can make totally original and lavish levels however they choose.

Because of this, Backyard Wrestling's gameplay is more accustomed to environment interaction then other games in its genre. Much like War of the Monsters everything in Backyard Wrestling's levels can be used as a weapon. Unlike War of the Monsters however, you will be able to do a lot more with the weapons than just smack people with them. For example, say you find a trashcan lying about the level. Well, you could smack your opponent with it, or you could put it over his head, rendering him helpless when you start pummeling him with a spike-covered baseball bat. When you've hurt him enough with the baseball bat, you can then drop the bat and throw your opponent into a car's trunk until it opens up, where a tire iron lays that you can use to beat up your opponent further.

Beyond just beating up your opponent with objects, you can also use gravity to your advantage with the game's comprehensive three-step height engine. It goes like this: If you jump off a table, you can do a somewhat powerful leg drop. But, if you climb higher, you'll do something a little more devastating than a leg drop when you jump off and press the same button. Climb even higher however, say to like the top of a house or something, and your move will be truly crushing.

When you're not using weapons or elevation to your advantage though there is a good hand-to-hand fighting system as well. Your wrestler can grapple, punch, and kick just like in any other wrestling game. These small-time attacks are helpful, and are carefully balanced so that each wrestler's punches and kicks are no more devastating than any other wrestler offered in the game. Each wrestler is given 9-12 moves that can be used in the game. When asked if more moves would be added before the game's release, Paradox said that they weren't sure.

In an interesting move by developer Paradox, Backyard Wrestling features no defensive blocking moves whatsoever. Instead, the game chooses to follow the theory "a good offense is a strong defense" by allowing you to counter moves with moves of your own. As such, you can grapple your opponents while they are punching you (if your timing is on the mark), and smacking a guy with a heavy object will stop his grapple attempt midcourse. This pick-the-right-moment system is a serious improvement over the button-mashing ways of THQ's wrestling games, and is a welcome change to the interactive wrestling norm. However, Paradox is still considering adding defensive moves, so this counter system may be less important in the grand scheme of things when the game ships.

Though the levels in the game aren't complete yet, one environment has been shown to the press. Set in a rich kid's backyard, the level starts you out fighting in a backyard where a band is playing in the background. If you break through a side gate in this level, you will come to an area where there's an empty pool and a Jacuzzi filled with skimpy bikini wearing women (thank you God). Also, screenshots of the game reveal a very beat down looking house, complete with boarded up windows, dead grass, and a wide array of junk lying in the background that could be used as a weapon. Hopefully before the games release Paradox will be able to implement many more levels like this, as the few bits and pieces we've seen of the environments so far look very promising.

Like any other fighting before it, Backyard Wrestling features many bars and meters to insure a well-balanced match. The game will feature ways to manage your health levels, although it remains to be seen if that will be done with a meter on the top of the screen or just judging by your fighter's appearance. Also, Paradox has chosen to ditch the traditional Stamina and Adrenaline bars, so your fighter will be able to fight at his best from the beginning of the game instead of waiting for a adrenaline bar to fill up. Paradox has also installed a system that they call the "pops and jeers" system in which the crowd will cheer for you if your moves are varied, giving you more momentum while fighting, but will boo you and eventually throw objects at you if you continue to use the same move over and over again.

Of course, this fighting system has to be channeled into some modes. Though the game will feature the basic multiplayer modes and such, the real change here from normal wrestling games is that in the career mode, in addition to simple one-on-one fights in the levels, you will also have to do a number of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater like goals. Though the nature of these goals has yet to be revealed, Paradox has said that the purpose of the goals is to teach players how to use the environment they are in wisely and max out their fighting skills.

Another thing that hasn't been set yet is how many virtual grapplers will be available in the game (although the number the developers are shooting for is over 30). A few have been mentioned so far, including Josh Prohibition, M-Dogg 20, The Masked Horndog, Mad Man Pondo and El Drunko (all stars of the Backyard Wrestling movies) and other celebrities associated with Backyard Wrestling, including Sabu of the now extinct ECW, all the band members in the cuss-happy rap group Insane Clown Posse, and some wrestlers from Insane Clown Posse's own wrestling organization, Juggalo Champions*** Wrestling.

The graphics in the game are slightly above average thus far. The character models aren't very detailed, but thanks to the game's good animation, the low-polygon count rarely becomes a problem. Where Backyard Wrestling's graphics really excel is in the field of body deterioration. Using a system that measures 17 parts of the wrestler's body in 3 levels of damage, Backyard Wrestling looks brutal. Simply put, with interactive wrestlers that can bleed from the mouth like a geyser, scrape their knuckles to the bone, and get cuts on their body that drip blood like a waterfall, Backyard Wrestling is definitely not for the faint of heart.

The game doesn't feature much in the way of music so far, although that is supposed to change by the game's release. According to Paradox, Backyard Wrestling will feature tons of licensed music from a wide variety of genres. So far though, the only music present in the game's demos is certain songs from the Insane Clown Posse, which are sure to not please everybody (myself included).