Wrestling Spirit (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.3 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Brett Todd
• Reviewed on: 07/22/2005
• Released on: 02/14/2005
• Originally published on GameSpot: Wrestling Spirit (PC) Review

Calling Wrestling Spirit the best professional-wrestling management simulation available for the PC may seem like damning the game with faint praise, but this is one excellent sports sim regardless of the diminutive size of the genre. Designer Adam Ryland, a wrestling expert best known for Total Extreme Wrestling, and publisher Grey Dog Software have put together a captivating look at life inside the squared circle. And although living the career of a Triple H wannabe makes the game more frivolous than the usual stat-heavy sports sim, the absence of serious depth is offset by the entertainment value of role-playing a muscle-bound freak who bashes people over the head with chairs for a living.

Sports simulation and role-playing neatly cohabitate here. Instead of managing a wrestling organization like the WWE or TNA, you guide the career of a single worker trying to make his or her way in the world of sweaty behemoths and steroids. You have the option of taking the easy road and picking an established ring legend from a selection of fictional wrestling promotions (such as the WWE-like, and awesomely named, Burning Hammer of the Wrestling Gods) in superstar mode, or doing things the hard way and building up a nobody in rookie-to-legend mode. Both play in a similar fashion, although of course the latter is a lot more difficult in that you have to start at the bottom of the ladder.

Going the harder way is the most rewarding, though, as you get to create a rookie wrestler from scratch. You give your creation a name, a date of birth, and a size, and then you further refine your character with training. You select a wrestling style from options that include a high-flying Mexican luchador, a technician, and a psychopath, and you tweak slider bars to set stats in such areas as charisma and wrestling fundamentals. All of this training translates into 10 core stats (power, technique, speed, stamina, psychology, toughness, safety, charisma, microphone, and superstar look) that then determine how well you do in your upcoming career.

After this, you work on a move set. Here you browse a huge list of classic wrestling maneuvers and concoct an arsenal of strike, standing, ground, top-rope, rebound, and corner moves from choices such as the "bionic elbow," the "headhunter special," and the "brass-knuckle punch" (nobody says you have to play fair). All are rated in terms of effectiveness and entertainment value. Moves are available only if you have the requisite skills and style to employ them, so you can create wrestlers with diverse talents and personalities. The world is your oyster, whether you want a spry high-flyer who loves coming off the top rope or an Andre the Giant clone who lumbers about squeezing necks. Replay value is tremendous, if you like the idea of experimenting with different wrestling styles, seeing if a brawling, psychopathic heel can reach the big show ahead of a baby-faced technician, and so forth.

Skills and moves are fully utilized, so just about every aspect of a pro wrestler's life is depicted. The most important feature is, not surprisingly, bouts in the ring. Matches in Wrestling Spirit are real, too, unlike the scripted soap-opera affairs seen weekly on the likes of WWE RAW. So you have to actually fight here, by employing the aforementioned moves in a turn-based system where you choose actions, moves, and counters (each is illustrated by a graphic of a wrestler pulling off the move in question, which is a nice touch that adds color to a genre that's too often drowning in text). Spanish Superfly, for instance, might try a running dropkick on you, and you can attempt to avoid it or throw some countermoves at him. Conversely, when you're on the attack you can Irish-whip him and then grab him with a DeColt thrust and bodyslam him to the canvas--if all goes well and he doesn't break or counter those moves, of course. Many moves link up, so you have to plot out combinations to get your opponents sprawling on the mat. Flailing about only drains energy and puts you at risk of a pin.

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