ECW was a unique wrestling company. It wasn’t as big as WWF or WCW, but it greatly influenced those two promotions. I didn’t know much about them in the late 90s, and I had the misfortune of being introduced to them through the Invasion Storyline in the WWF.
Every once in a while, I would hear about a wrestler who was in ECW. It was almost impossible not to hear about the company, even if you never watched their television or pay-per-views. Thankfully, many wrestlers would end up on other shows, so I knew who they were.
This game is a reskin of either WWF Warzone or Attitude, which means it will play the same way. I like those games despite their awkwardness and somewhat annoying gameplay. It has some cool things, but still nothing close to Smackdown 1 and 2.
TLDR: It is a decent game but suffers from the same problems as WWF Attitude and Warzone.
Narrative
There is no story here. You have a tedious career mode, but you’re left to use your imagination here. If you win a match, you move on to a new opponent and eventually get on a pay-per-view. This can take a long time.
Gameplay
If you liked WWF Attitude and Warzone, you’ll like this game. If you hated opening a menu to see the possible move list, you won’t like this game. I think it is fine, but I like the Smackdown games more.
It has a decent number of game modes, and you can add stipulations to matches. It’s great that all of this is here. It is mainly carried over from the game on which it was based.
There is a bit of a learning curve with these games. You need to open up a menu to read what moves are possible, and pulling off those moves can be awkward. Depending on your chosen difficulty, doing anything awesome can be almost impossible.
This menu system is a problem in retrospect. At the time, I wouldn’t have had an issue with it. However, I would rather play Smackdown.
I like the gameplay, but this isn’t a game I would want to go back to. It is fun to see how the different companies approached video games, but I doubt this would’ve been what ECW fans would’ve wanted. If you were a fan of ECW and played this game when it came out, I would love to hear from you.
Visuals
The game looks great for the time. This means it will look dated by today’s standards, but I don’t think that is a problem. It is a reskin of a different game but has a few other improvements.
The blood is weird. It just appears on the character, but I don’t think they could’ve done it any other way. The game was released in 2000 and was made in 1998 or 1999. While I think it is weird looking at it now, it would’ve looked cool at the time—until you’ve played a few matches and got sick of seeing it.
The crowd looks great! It seems like there is a group of people enjoying the match. It is still a PS1 game, so the graphics aren’t going to blow anyone away.
The wrestlers’ entrances are very good! They look great and add quite a bit to the game. Having some variety to the entrances is great, which is better than WCW Mayhem.
7.5/10. It is the same as WWF Attitude. It has the same problems but also the same strengths. The controls can be a little wonky when you have to bring up a move list to know what you can do.
Pros
- Decent Graphics
- Decent Controls
- Lots of Game Modes
Cons
- The blood looks weird
- Tedious career mode
- Lacks a story
Conclusion
If I had played this when it came out, I wouldn’t have had anything bad to say about it. I wouldn’t know that it didn’t reflect what was on an ECW show. I would’ve thought that it was like Warzone, which it is.
However, after watching retrospective reviews on ECW, I think this game might have disappointed ECW fans. I’m sure those hyperbolic people say this is the worst game ever, but I think the worst thing I can say is that it isn’t what an ECW game should’ve been.
ECW is a good Wrestling game for the PS1 era. It has the same weirdness from WWF Attitude and Warzone, but it is a fun game. I’ve said this plenty of times already, but I would rather play the Smackdown games.