WCW Backstage Assault

WCW Backstage Assault
Developer(s) Kodiak Interactive
Publisher(s) Electronic Arts
Platform(s) PlayStation, Nintendo 64
Release PlayStation
  • NA: October 31, 2000
  • EU: November 24, 2000
Nintendo 64
  • NA: December 12, 2000
Genre(s) Fighting
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

WCW Backstage Assault is a professional wrestling video game by Electronic Arts. It was the final World Championship Wrestling (WCW) game released as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) purchased the company's assets three months later. Backstage Assault features commentary by Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. The game is distinguished by the fact that all gameplay takes place outside of a standard wrestling ring. This approach was very poorly received and the game sold only 200,000 copies. A PlayStation 2 port was under development, but cancelled.

Gameplay

Backstage Assault is vastly different from other games of its genre. Previous wrestling games such as WWF SmackDown! and WCW Mayhem featured backstage areas as auxiliary fighting locations. Backstage Assault took the concept further by removing the ring entirely and having all action take place backstage.

The primary gameplay mode is called Hardcore Challenge. It consists of winning matches against random opponents until challenged by the champion. Throughout the game, players can unlock wrestlers, arenas, and moves for use in Create-a-Superstar. The player cannot defend the championship after earning it.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
N64PS
EGMN/A4/10[1]
Game Informer3.5/10[2]3/10[3]
GameProN/A[4]
GameSpot5.1/10[5]5.1/10[6]
GameZone9/10[7]9/10[8]
IGN4/10[9]2/10[10]
Nintendo Power6.2/10[11]N/A
OPM (US)N/A[12]
PSMN/A6/10[13]
Aggregate score
Metacritic48/100[14]40/100[15]

WCW Backstage Assault was universally panned upon release. Most negative reviews center on the premise that all wrestling gameplay takes place outside of a wrestling ring, or traditional arena entirely. While some critics respected this decision by EA, virtually all reviewers acknowledge this as an ultimately fatal approach.

Other less notable grievances include gameplay that quickly becomes repetitive, a control system that is unimproved from EA's previous installment, the amount of locked wrestlers in the start of the game, and graphics that appear to have actually regressed from its predecessor. It is frequently considered today to be the worst wrestling game of all time, as well as 'Celebrity Deathmatch'.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "WCW Backstage Assault (PS)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. January 2001. Archived from the original on January 26, 2001. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  2. ↑ Fitzloff, Jay (December 2000). "WCW Backstage Assault (N64)". Game Informer. No. 92. p. 137.
  3. ↑ Fitzloff, Jay (December 2000). "WCW Backstage Assault (PS)". Game Informer. No. 92. p. 110. Archived from the original on September 14, 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  4. ↑ Cheat Monkey (November 28, 2000). "WCW Backstage Assault Review for PlayStation on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on February 13, 2005. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  5. ↑ Gerstmann, Jeff (December 19, 2000). "WCW Backstage Assault Review (N64)". GameSpot. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  6. ↑ Gerstmann, Jeff (November 10, 2000). "WCW Backstage Assault Review (PS)". GameSpot. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  7. ↑ Courtney, Rita (January 15, 2001). "WCW Backstage Assault Review - Nintendo 64". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  8. ↑ Lafferty, Michael (January 15, 2001). "WCW Backstage Assault Review - PlayStation". GameZone. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  9. ↑ Lewis, Cory D. (December 12, 2000). "WCW Backstage Assault (N64)". IGN. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  10. ↑ Smith, David (November 9, 2000). "WCW Backstage Assault (PS)". IGN. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  11. ↑ "WCW Backstage Assault". Nintendo Power. Vol. 139. December 2000.
  12. ↑ "WCW Backstage Assault". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. January 2001.
  13. ↑ "Review: WCW Backstage Assault". PSM. 2001.
  14. ↑ "WCW Backstage Assault for Nintendo 64 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  15. ↑ "WCW Backstage Assault for PlayStation Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.