Gaming Target - GameCube: WWE Crush Hour

Written by D'Marcus Beatty on July 07, 2003

Full Review: Layeth the Smackdown the running over way!

One can say that THQ's propensity to milk the WWE license has been less than ambitious on the GameCube. There's no doubting that the WWE WrestleMania series is the cornerstone of its line-up. However, in the wait for the next grappling installment, THQ has released a spin-off title, WWE Crush Hour, a refreshing and solid car combat title featuring plenty of bells and whistles and full license support. Sure, it's a niche, oddball genre, but developer Pacific Coast Power & Light is at the helm, and once again makes use of the wonderful middleware development medium, RenderWare.

Oddly enough, WWE Crush Hour packs a storyline. Apparently, WWE proprietor Vince McMahon controls every TV network on air. However, wrestling purists will know that this is in sharp contrast to recent decline in ratings and low PPV buy-rates. Naturally, he has decided to expand his WWE brand to every single genre of TV, and car combat being one of them.

The game features over 20 WWE superstars including fan favorites such as Brock Lesnar, Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, down to ambiguously gay tag teams like Billy and Chuck. WWE divas also came along for the ride. Each character sports a unique combat behemoth with tons of firepower of different sizes. From semis to sports cars, hotrods to monster trucks, characters also possess the expected wide variety of attributes. Big monsters like Kane and Undertaker pack a powerful punch, but tend to be slow, while cruiserweights such as Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit are lacking in damage but compensate with very quick power slides and overall speed. The developers have smartly crafted levels that exploit both advantages and disadvantages of speed and size for players. In some gameplay modes, speed is your best asset, while in pure combat based scenarios, a powerful, intrinsic arsenal is the way to go. For example, powerful rams into corners are used by the bigger vehicles. However, bigger vehicles are also bigger targets.

Not to skimp on the bare essentials, arenas and match types include Raw, Hell in the Cell, Hardcore, Running the Gauntlet, Cage Match, Bottom Line, Battle Royal, Ironman, Royal Rumble, Lumberjack, King of the Ring, Smackdown!, and Survivor Series. The match types feature stipulations, including last-man-standing, tag-team, holding the hardcore belt for 30 seconds, and more. There are even cage matches and a mode where you collect stars scattered within an area to gain points.

Character mannerisms are shown on the side with mugshots. After destroying your opponent, wrestlers will spew out a catchphrase. In addition, WWE's play-by-play commentator, Jim Ross, made the trip and likewise provides commentary in this game. Apart from some mildly clever dialogue lines and reiteration of gameplay fundamentals, what he has to say isn't very meaningful or useful, just icing on the relatively mundane cake. Sound effects don't go beyond your average game for the most part. Explosions sound perfectly adequate while motors are represented in full glory as usual.

Graphically speaking, WWE Crush Hour is rough around the edges, but overall maintains a solid visual appearance. Vehicular designs are passable. Characters like The Rock are visible due to the nature of his car Ц a convertible, while others like Brock Lesnar are obscured within their vehicle, and therefore do not appear. As players collect upgrades, the weapon will naturally be implanted on the vehicle. Otherwise, the game presents itself with officially licensed music, TitanTron videos, and a few lines of dialogue from each wrestler.

Multiplayer-wise, WWE Crush Hour offers up to four-player support in split-screen action. The frame-rate remains sufficient and action tends to heat up. All the same rules apply from the modes and fortunately the frame-rate keeps up with the frantic action. However, more artificial intelligence bots would have been certainly appreciated.

Controls are very accessible. The L shift power slides, R is for primary fire, A is used for acceleration, B is for braking, Y is for using your signature maneuver, X is for turbo boosts, and Z is for using projectile weapons. Power sliding plays an important role in this game, while searching for projectile weapons is essential for success, especially in higher difficulties. Like in most games, you can ram your opponent into a corner and get him/her stuck in a vulnerable position for the kill. It's a cheap tactic, but it works.

The game's obligatory season mode is played out in a time span of weeks. Basically, players assume the role of one character and go up the ranks in various match-ups of different types. The game's transition into harder match types and difficulties is spot-on.