WWE All Stars Review Roundup

Fans of ’80s pro-wrestling is receiving the gift of a lifetime because finally Randy Savage is back in a WWE game! WWE All Stars is a very different take on pro-wrestling gaming compared to THQ’s other WWE wrestler, Smackdown vs Raw. All Stars approaches gameplay with a much more arcade friendly vibe, but is the game different enough to warrant a purchase?

A mix of two wrestling generations, players get a choice between WWE Legends like Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Randy Savage vs current wrestlers like John Cena and CM Punk. WWE All Stars is more about appealing to those older games that Smackdown vs Raw has just alienated through a constant stream of iterations. The approach here is quick gameplay, vibrant graphics and well, the ’80s. We love the ’80s.

Graphics

“The colors are bright and beautiful, seeing stars like Rey Mysterio soar dozens of feet in the air made my friends and I scream in amazement, and I’d much rather see this revved up and ready Macho Man action figure spinning through the air than the “realistic” interpretation I’ve seen before. WWE All Stars has a great style.” [IGN]

“The hyper-extreme character design fits perfectly with the arcade-style over-the-top action; pull-off a signature move and the game whooshes into slo-mo mode, with glowing lines tracing every motion as characters are thrown high into the air only to crash down with a ring-shaking seismic jolt. These moves are fun to watch and easy to perform; a simple double-button press will start your opponent’s chain of pain.” [1UP]

Gameplay

“Carefully timed shoulder-button taps will reverse holds, and it’s even possible to reverse the reversals if timed properly. For every move that can be reversed, a reasonably large icon appears near your wrestler’s HUD to let you know when in the animation the reversal can be performed.” [Dtoid]

“The reliance on reversals to add texture and depth soon becomes an over-reliance, and it would have been nice to see visual prompts to learn reversal timing woven explicitly into the animations. The current system throws up a prompt that makes you look elsewhere onscreen, and it seems to pop up a split second too late to be useful anyway.” [EuroGamer]

Replay Value

“For $60, wrestling game fans expect deep rosters and a variety of match types, while fighting fans hope for an assortment of modes with great replay value. Unfortunately, WWE All Stars isn’t able to provide enough of either to propel the enjoyable combat to the top rung of championship-caliber fighting games.” [GamePro]

WWE All Stars looks to jive towards more of a fighter game than a wrestling simulator. What’s your take? Are you buying a pro-wrestling fighting game?

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