WWF Attitude (PlayStation)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars Excellent
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 8.1 (4.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Jeff Gerstmann
• Reviewed on: 08/04/1999
• Updated on: 05/05/2000
• Released on: 07/31/1999
• Originally published on GameSpot: WWF Attitude (PlayStation) Review

It's been a little over a year since Acclaim released WWF War Zone. In my review of the PlayStation version of War Zone, I called it "a package that is completely unmatched in both gameplay and in atmosphere." Now, a little over a year later, Acclaim has polished up its wrestling engine and added a few bells, some whistles, and a bevy of modes, releasing it as WWF Attitude. The important question most of you are asking is an obvious one: "I loved War Zone. Is Attitude worth getting?" In the end, it all depends on how you look at the game.

The most obvious improvement to the game is the roster, which has been updated with the times to reflect the ever-changing faces of the World Wrestling Federation. That's not to say that the rosters are current, though. Much like War Zone, and well, most other licensed wrestling games, a few wrestlers have changed gimmicks since the game's development began. Of course, with development cycles as long as they are these days, you really can't fault Acclaim for this one bit. So the Headbangers are still in the game, as is Sable, and Triple H enters the ring to the original D-Generation X music, complete with X-shaped fireworks.

Speaking of ring entrances, they've come a long, long way since War Zone. Now you get to see the full ring intro from the game engine's perspective, complete with the real music, from Steve Austin's slow swagger to the ring to Ken Shamrock punching himself in the head. Once the wrestlers have all made it to the ring, they'll each bust off a little non sequitur before the match starts, like "DTA! Don't trust anyone!" or Kane mumbling something through his little voice-box thing. It would have been nice to see some end-of-match taunts, similar to the beginning-of-match speech, but instead the winning wrestler stands in the middle of the ring and lamely goes through his taunt animation over and over again. It would have been even nicer to see a few more FMV clips in the game, specifically clips of the wrestlers talking trash about each other to various announcers. A rendered announce table at ringside to facilitate a little prematch commentary also would have added another level of depth to the game's already thick atmosphere. But enough about all this extra atmosphere stuff. As much as an installment of Raw has very little to do with actual wrestling and more to do with storylines and atmosphere, the game still needs to deliver in the gameplay department. Attitude plays extremely well, but it also plays nearly identically to War Zone. The most significant change to the gameplay is the addition of a more robust set of reversals. In War Zone, most people stayed away from the tie-up position, instead raining on an opponent's parade with tons of moves from the ready position. But Attitude's got more reversals for moves that come from the ready position, so varied attacks are more important than ever. Regardless of that, however, the game remains largely the same, so those of you who didn't like the War Zone rock-paper-scissors-style tie-up system will still be out in the cold. The tie-up system is a great idea, and it keeps you honest by preventing you from doing the same move over and over again, but too frequently you'll be trying to do a move from the ready position as your opponent grapples you. You'll still be hitting the button for your ready move just as the grapple takes effect, and the result is a match filled with arm bars and other weak moves. Also, even though lots of wrestling games feature tag team or other multiplayer matches, no one seems to have come up with a good way to control all that action. The result in Attitude is a button that cycles though and determines which wrestler you're facing for attacks, blocks, and even tags. Since there's no easy onscreen indication of which wrestler you're actually facing, it's very easy to get confused in fast multiplayer matches, resulting in you hopping out of the ring instead of tagging, blocking in the wrong direction, or just kind of spinning around in circles like a moron.

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