WWE 13: Attitude Era Preview (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

And if you ain't down with that, we've got two words for ya…

There are a lot of fans of World Wrestling Entertainment’s shows these days, but ask any fan when the company had its best days and they’re likely to respond with the “Attitude Era”.  This era ran back in the mid to late 90’s, when superstars like The Rock (who has since gone on to an acting career, but still returns to WWE from time to time), “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Degeneration X and Mick “Mankind” Foley ruled the ring with over-the-top storylines and shenanigans.  Austin’s battles with company owner Vince McMahon were the stuff of legend at the time, and at one point, “Iron” Mike Tyson was even brought in to heighten a forthcoming pay-per-view event.

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THQ knows that the Attitude Era is one of the most respected amongst the WWE audience, and that’s why it’s working so diligently on recreating the era for its latest wrestling game WWE 13.  Though we’ve only seen bits and pieces of this mode in action, we can tell you that the developers at Yukes are taking it quite seriously.

The Attitude era focuses on a handful of WWE superstars during that time, and then lets you control their actions, recreating key moments out of the era or making some new ones.  That means if you feel like reliving the Hell In a Cell match between Mankind and The Undertaker, and making Foley take a tumble off the top of the cell into an awaiting table (one of the company’s greatest – and most shocking – moments) then you can certainly do so.  Or maybe you’d like to run the Undertaker through the table for a change, yeah?  Heh.  We’ll have to see about possibly doing that.

Anyway, the Era will focus on a specific set of superstars, including “Stone Cold” Steve Austin (who’s getting a special edition of the game, which you can buy directly through THQ’s website), Degeneration X (consisting of Hunter Hearst Helmsley, aka Triple H, and “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels), the Brothers of Destruction (the powerful Undertaker and his equally powerful kin, the masked Kane), Mankind (aka Mick Foley, who’s also portrayed such characters as Cactus Jack and Dude Love), The Rock, and Bret “The Hitman” Hart.  As you might expect, their storylines clash often over the course of the Attitude Era mode, as you’ll do battle between Austin and Rock quite a bit, and DX will simply romp all over the place with the members of their team.

Attitude Era replaces the Road To Wrestlemania mode, which has been a favorite for fans, but as you can, replacing it is justifiable when it comes to the names that are involved in WWE 13.  And that’s not even including the current WWE roster that fans can control in other modes, including John Cena, CM Punk and The Big Show, among other would-be greats and legends.

But back to Attitude Era.  In terms of recreating moments from the past that have become timeless ones in the real Era, WWE 13 offers a umber of rewards and incentives to recreating these moments.  Doing so will allow you to unlock a ton of goodies, including video clips (THQ is working closely with WWE on this content, thus gaining its permission to do so), as well as alternate outfits and belts.  (No spinner for “Stone Cold”, thanks.)  You can still play your way, and even hop into the ring and threaten guest star “Iron” Mike Tyson (yep, he’s in the game – he even took part in the Summerslam promotional tour stop in L.A. a few months back) if you’re man enough.

Other characters can be unlocked from the Attitude Era, even if the story doesn’t focus so much on them.  Stephanie McMahon, the daughter of owner Vince McMahon and wife to Triple H, can get involved in certain parts (and have battles with Divas, like, say, current hottie A.J. Lee); former WWE Divas Trish Stratus and the high-flying Lita make their return in digital form (and put on quite a show between themselves, especially with Lita’s moonsault); and tag teams The APA (featuring Faarooq and Bradshaw doing their damage) and the Nation of Domination (where Rock got his start before breaking out into a solo career) are included.  It’s good to see a few others thrown in as well, including the other members of DX – “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn, “The Road Dogg” Jesse James; and X-Pac.  More are likely to be added via DLC as well, as part of THQ’s Season Pass.

Between the moments you can recreate, the new dream match-ups you can put together (how would Lita fare against Steph, anyway?) and the unlockable content, the Attitude Era looks to be the best thing to happen to the WWE game series in quite a while.  We’ll see how the final package shapes up when the game hits stores for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii on October 30th.

 


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Prima Games Staff
The staff at Prima Games.