WCW Nitro

WCW Nitro: EXPLOSIVE!!!

It's Monday night 8pm. What do you do? Flip the station to WCW Nitro of course! But now, on your PC, every night can be Monday night. THQ has delivered a winner with their WCW Nitro wrestling simulation. Wrestling action has never been more charged or more "realistic" (if you'll pardon the term in reference to professional wrestling). This game lets you compete in single competition, tag team, or a Battle Royal against a friend. Play at your house, on a modem, or over a network! Win by pinning, opponent count out, or be the last man standing.

Watch helplessly as wrestlers rush to the ring to interfere in your matches. (Oh, they aren't there to help you, just to hurt you.) Anyone can be thrown over the top rope or get counted out. Wrestlers even try cheap shots to opponents' groins then throw in a taunt or two for good measure. Mean Gene Okerlund calls the welcome, while Tony Schiavonne and Mike Tenay announce all the action at 8 different venues. I suggest the Nitro ring--complete with the Nitro Girls on the Jumbotron!

Roster full of roosters

The stable of wrestlers is a who's who of the WCW, NWO, and Wolf pack. (Strangely absent are any member of the Four Horsemen.) Included are Hollywood Hogan, Hitman Hart, Sting, Lex Luger, the Giant, DDP, Raven, Macho Man, Saturn, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Curt Hennig, the Steiner Brothers, Chris Jericho, and GOLDBERG!

"LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN!"

You can hear each wrestler run their own particular brand of smack before you send them into action. To top it all off, in addition the superstars, behind the curtain, there are more than 40 other wrestlers who will "participate" in various ways!

Make your move

WCW Nitro gives you a full range of wrestling moves and holds: from the basics such as piledrivers, snapmares, and back breakers, to the more intricate methods of inflicting pain...Frankensteiners, power bombs, and body slams. There are over 60 moves total.

Sign here

And no wrestler would be complete with out his own signature moves! Not to worry. WCW Nitro delivers in spades! Hogan has his leg drop. Hart has his sharpshooter. Luger's got the rack. The Giant choke slams. DDP applies the diamond cutter. And Goldberg spears anyone in his way, yelling "WHO'S NEXT?" As seen on TV, you won't be able to put some of the signature moves on until you have exhausted your opponent. This is a nice touch.

Weaknesses?

The graphics, though supported by hardware acceleration, were a little ragged, especially when you compare PC WCW Nitro to its PlayStation cousin. Oversights? No refs, no managers, no weapons (ya gotta have a chair outside the ring), and no Rick Flair! Every wrestling game should include the Nature Boy! Some of the moves are too easily repeated. For instance, you can power slam a guy several times in a row without any resistance. Also damage doesn't vary enough...a chop causes almost as much damage as powerbomb.

Choke slams probably do hurt

This game play is so good, you can almost feel the pain. And be honest, you know you've always wanted to get Raven in a scorpion deathlock and yell "Nevermore." Now you can. The moves, though initially a little intimidating, will pay off quickly. Try starting with Scott Steiner--his most devastating moves involve the same key repeated a few times. Each wrestler you try has something different. Variety makes this game even better.

Final rants

This game is by far the best wrestling sim for the PC so far. Although there's a little room for improvement, that's no reason to wait on this title. WCW Nitro will definitely wow all wrestling fans, and easily leave them wanting more. It will probably take weeks to perfect all of the standard moves, then a few more to perfect the finishing touches. If you're not a wrestling aficionado, you wouldn't have read this far. Go buy WCW Nitro! It's TOOO SWEEEEEET!

Review By GamesDomain