WCW/nWo Thunder for Sony Playstation
Developed by THQ, Inc.

Lately I've been in a wrestling game phase, enjoying some really good offerings from THQ – WCW/nwo World Tour and WCW/nwo Revenge for Nintendo 64, and WCW Nitro for Playstation – that have incredibly entertaining gameplay, especially for multiple players. You haven't lived until you've experienced the manic energy created during a battle royal against three friends. Oh, and the video games are good too.

So you'd think that THQ would be able to pull out all the stops for their Playstation game, right? Oof. Wrong.

All they did was take the exact engine and mechanics from the existing games, added some new wrestlers and rings, and just painted by numbers. That's all. Except for some minor cosmetic and gameplay changes this is EXACTLY the same game as WCW Nitro.

If you've played that game, you've played this one. Even the button and controller combinations for the wrestler's moves are almost universally the same. Let's see, what has actually changed? Well, the wrestlers get introductions now, featuring short video clips and snippets of their theme music. Yippee.

You can change a wrestler's "affiliation", i.e. you can make nWo members join WCW or vice versa. There are foreign objects you can use. Ooh, there's an original idea.

One of the worst features added is the "test of strength". You can lock hands overhead with your opponent, and then by mashing buttons, you can simultaneously sap your opponent's strength and increase your own.

Now, it wouldn't be a bad feature, except for one small problem. Do it once, and your opponent's strength is cut in half. Do it again, and his strength is gone. After that, it's punch and pin. Possibly the ultimate in cheese moves.

So many of the things that could have used improving were left untouched. The graphics are still subpar, as the wrestlers are vague apparitions of themselves, and the colors are drab. The wrestlers move like your old arthritic uncle on an exceedingly cold day, and the execution of moves is tricky at best.

The response to button combinations is spotty and slow. The digitized crowd looks like something off a Sega Genesis, and the crowd noise and reaction is virtually nil. They will shower the ring with debris if the heel wrestler wins, but other than that, they're just window dressing.

This game is a loser all around. The enjoyment level is non-existent, and one of the things that makes its Nintendo 64 cousins so enjoyable, the four-player support, isn't even an option here. The huge amount of wrestlers is a great plus, with 60 or so hidden but easily unlocked with a code.

But the hidden wrestlers are all stuck with other wrestlers' finishing moves, which is annoying. Maybe most disappointing is the fact that due to the infighting between wrestling icon Ric Flair and WCW President Eric Bischoff, Flair is not even on the game. You might say there's no Flair at all.

The amount of play modes is limited, the amount of moves are limited, and fun for the player is extremely limited.

Under no circumstances should you even consider buying this game. As a matter of fact, don't even rent it, unless you've got some kind of creepy fascination with awful video games, or with big, hulking, sweaty men in tight nylon. And even then, rent Extreme Leatherman BDSM Dungeon for GameCube instead.

Review by ICE