DarienA said:
...you haven't played the demo have you?
I know there's all this it's not really a wrestling game stuff going around... but the reality from what I've seen, read and experience in the demo is that the core mechanics of a wrestling game(strikes and blows, grapples, moves), are still there. Each style has strikes be the focus on punches or kicks, and also has grapple moves. The focus on pinning is gone with KO'ing being the focus now.
Even EA is calling it a fighting game... but from what I've seen it still lives very much in the wrestling world.
*raises hand* I call BS sir!
I've played the "demo" (if it can be called that, a 1 minute fight in story mode, and a vs. mode...) and this is a dumbed down version of the LAST edition of the game in terms of gameplay and dynamics. DJV's hype in the FIRST PLACE came from the fact that is was "from the creators of No Mercy." Throw in some rap dudes, and dumb down No Mercy play, and bam. There you have it. DJV was only a decent game at best btw, like all first editions of a series.
Going from the demo, this game will sell much more, and offer much less. It's a jack of all trades, master of none type game, and it's not even good at what it does. There's kick, punch, grapple, and strong grapple. There's a sort of counter move where you might get lucky catching a player running at you to perform this move. That's all there, yadda yadda. The play has shifted over from grapple based, to more punch/kick/combo based fighting. The inclusion of various styles comes into play, with submission and kickboxing, etc. But uh, the only real different between any of them is submission (where strategy is concerned). It really lacks any real depth to be honest. The Storyline segment was much, much too quick to gouge how good that will be. So, only good indicator is the Vs. The whole thing is to punch/kick as much as possible so your Blazin meter lights up and throw 2-3 of those in a match, and it's over (and those blazin's will get old, really, really fast)
The graphics were very, very nice though. Voice overs were pretty cool, and animations were nice. It's going to be a very slick game presentation wise, that's for sure. Multiplayer, it'll be fun to throw down every once in awhile for kicks. The Hip Hop thing will get quite old though (just like in DJV), unless you're into that type of thing. No clue on CAW mode, but not worth talking bout anyways since the gameplay is really shallow.
The reason DJV got hype and was looked forward to was because Aki was behind it. We would get a brand new Aki engine brand of wrestling, with familiar hip hop faces thrown in. With This new DJ, any of that is washed away, and you're left with an engine that lacks any real depth. This is a mid tier "fighting" game, if that really.
However, it'll sell assloads, which more power to them really. And no doubt, I'll give it a rent to see if I can eat my words with a giant, fat spoon and for some multiplayer action. If I can eat my words upon playing the full game, awesome! If not, oh well.
All IMO based on the demo and previous play with DJV.
