Previous Developments
Trawl through the archives
to find out even more about
the game...
|
"Wrestling is an art form. I don't worry
about those who don't get it;
I worry about satisfying those who do."
- Paul Heyman
From day one, there have
always been 2 sides to my wrestling work. As entertaining as the career
aspects may be, they're only ever a prelude to the inevitable management
game! Federation Wrestling evolved into Federation Booker,
Wrestling MPire paved the way for Booking MPire, and now
Wrestling Encore must pass the torch to Booking Encore. A
legacy of clumsy game titles aside, that process can always be relied upon
to take a concept to the next level - so get ready for a wrestling
experience that might just steal the title from its all-conquering
predecessor...
Seeing Stars
Although this version of
the game still revolves around live-action matches, the key difference is that
it's all about the ratings this time! Everybody knows that pro wrestling is a
curious hybrid of "sport" and "entertainment", and that's played out in these
games via a sophisticated scoring system. Sitting quietly in the corner, it's
arguably the most overlooked technical achievement in the history of my
wrestling work. A mind-boggling cocktail of mathematical equations work
feverishly behind the scenes to translate your creative fun into a scientific
formula. The context of the match, the quality of its participants, and the
action that takes place thereon, are all masterfully woven together to produce a
coherent 5-star rating. And it's even more sophisticated in this instalment.
Time plays a bigger role than ever - as overlong matches are punished by
plummeting scores, which makes choosing when to end just as important as how it
happens! Meanwhile, the "Heat" and "Chemistry" factors can no longer be taken
for granted - as they only apply when the responsible characters are engaged in
battle. Even the reliable quality of "Closeness" is trickier than ever thanks to
the enhanced role of "Stamina", which produces more buoyant health levels.
You'll have to work harder than ever for your classic matches in this game, but
at least you'll know you've earned them!
Critical Acclaim
The ratings system makes those
post-match magazine articles more significant than ever. The display is now
accompanied by a reminder of the match's qualities, which even seep into the
text when the match is described as "disappointing" or "terrible"! Rather more
importantly, that final verdict also has an impact on the wrestlers concerned -
as "Popularity" and "Happiness" benefit from a good match and suffer from an
embarrassing one. However, in this game each match is merely a drop in the ocean
of the whole night. Every show requires you to stage at least 6 matches (with a
maximum of 8) - the average scores of which determine how the entire promotion
progresses. That process is made clearer than ever in this version. An entire
screen is dedicated to summarizing each match that took place, before revealing
the overall score that the night deserves (you no longer have access to it until
the moment of truth, so it's a tense moment!). The impact of that score has also
changed for this instalment. As with the popularity of the wrestlers, a
promotion's progress is governed by its standards. A 3-star night may be
desirable for a lesser known company, but it's actually harmful to a leading
brand! You need at least 4-stars to stay in the upper echelons, with the
occasional 5-star show taking you to the very top...
Show Me The Money
A promotion's popularity is
vitally important in this instalment, because it factors into your weekly
finances. The attendance for each show is inextricably linked to the popularity
of the company combined with that of its champion. If either of those factors
take a knock, you'll see a noticeable change in your audiences - and your
profits! This version of the game takes things even further by making a massive
distinction between humble "TV Tapings" and big "Pay-Per-View Shows". The
enclosed hall venues from Wrestling Encore are now used for TV dates,
while the spectacular stadiums are only used for special occasions! Not only is
this a physical reminder of your status, but it also factors into the
attendance. Halls typically draw a smaller audience and have a capacity of just
6'000, while the stadiums attract more people and impose no such limits. This
makes PPV shows more special than ever before, and guarantees that you'll take
them seriously. Speaking of venues, another nice touch is that each of the 17
arenas represent a real-life city in your promotion's country! This name is then
referenced in the introductory sequence, the finance report - and even several
promos - to help convey the fact that your show is on the road...
Paper Trail
Conceptually, this game was
always going to be 99% similar to its Booking MPire predecessor - but it
makes its mark with a barrage of presentational improvements. In addition to the
articles and reports from Wrestling Encore, the game throws in several
details of its own to help you appreciate the experience. The most noticeable of
which is a new schedule display that keeps track of your weekly ratings. The
5-star score is symbolized by a tiny icon, and the icing on the cake is a graph
that's woven through those values! It's a visible reminder of how your year has
progressed, and leaves you in no doubt as to how your company reached its
current status...
Best Of The Best
Your own personal progress isn't
all that matters though. The aim of the game is to become the number one show in
the world - and that means competing with 20 other programmes for a coveted spot
in the TV ratings! There were only 10 such competitors in earlier versions of
the game, but the addition of 10 more fictitious shows has made the fight more
fierce than ever. Making it into the top half now takes some doing, and it's
also harder to keep climbing once you're there. Yet another struggle that makes
this instalment more challenging (and fun) than ever before! The chart also
benefits from the icons last seen in Popcorn. In addition to the current
score of each show, you can now instantly see how that compares to last week's
performance. Speaking of charts, another list that's new to this half of the
series is the "Title History" of each major promotion. It clocks any new World
champions, complete with the date of their reign for you to look back on...
In The Pipeline
What goes on in the ring is only
half the story when it comes to ratings success. By default, a promotion's
potential is woefully limited - and can only be enhanced by acquiring better
production values. Everything you took for granted in Wrestling Encore
must be built from scratch in this game - ranging from arena facilities to the
props that are placed within that arena. There are also several bureaucratic
productions that help keep your business running smoothly. Instead of
negotiating contract clauses with each individual wrestler, you now have to
establish them as company policies that apply to every employee under your roof.
The cost of these particular options has also changed in this game. Instead of
one set fee that may or may not apply to your roster, the paperwork now costs
$100 per employee - so it's relative to how big your operation is. And, as ever,
it takes time as well as money to build the perfect show. You can only work on
one development at a time, and each one takes at least a week to materialize.
Plus, there's no guarantee that your operation will be able to fund every
production until it's big enough! In the meantime, you have to juggle what you
want with what you can afford...
Deal Or No Deal
Of course, the most valuable
resource at your disposal is the talent that passes through your locker room.
Where you once pursued a big money deal in Wrestling Encore, it's now you
who must sign other wrestlers for as little as possible! The absence of contract
clauses makes the process a simple equation of time versus payment, but that
balance is still as sophisticated as ever. As in the career game, you can
negotiate payment as a weekly wage or a one-off lump sum (or a little of both) -
so you're free to use the methods that appeal to you. At the end of the day,
it's the wrestlers that call the shots though - and they've got more "personal
objections" than ever before. They've also got more intelligence. The game keeps
a record of the characters you've spoken to in recent weeks, and they'll shut
the door in your face if you pester them too often! In this half of the series,
you're also responsible for the sale of wrestlers. Any unwanted characters can
be unloaded on rival promotions for a tidy profit - and they might even approach
you to secure the talents of a particularly valuable star. Nothing is guaranteed
though. It's only a matter of time before a buyer loses their patience, so it
becomes a game in itself trying to extract the perfect deal...
The Suggestion Box
In addition to talking
business with external parties, you also have to field suggestions from your
ambitious employees. There are hundreds of possible concerns they might have -
ranging from their wrestling style to the way they're being treated - and each
encounter must be dealt with in either a positive or negative manner. Your
rulings have real consequences too. Every approval increases a wrestler's
happiness (and their ego), while each refusal causes resentment (but keeps their
feet on the ground). A major change with this instalment is that it's possible
to have several meetings each week - not to mention in between matches. Instead
of giving you one preset wrestler to talk to, the game now scans the whole
roster and grants an audience to anybody that might require one. This can make
you a busier man, but it also allows you to exercise more control over your
roster. And another man that might like to help you there is the "TV Executive"
that keeps your show on the air, and has his own ideas about where the show
should be heading! Instead of completing missions for your booker, this
instalment has you jumping through hoops for the Network bosses - and their
demands can be just as infuriating...
Courting
Controversy
One meeting you don't want to
find yourself having too often is that with a judge! Following on from the
Popscene series, this is the first wrestling game to inherit the court case
gimmick. As a booker, there are just as many bureaucratic arguments to be had -
ranging from the honouring of contracts to the treatment of employees. Some are
understandable while others are overblown, but all have their roots in reality -
so it's important to be careful when exerting your power! Other than a change of
context, it's the same old story - where each party makes their case before the
judge delivers his frighteningly random verdict. Victory safeguards you from any
further embarrassment, whereas failure damages your business and your
reputation. Win or lose, it's always an interesting experience though - and
makes a welcome change from a schedule of endless shows...
War Of The Worlds
There are plenty of other
occasions that give you a break from normality - ranging from charity and
memorial shows to heated inter-promotional contests. When the rivalry between 2
promotions gets too intense for an office, the only way to settle it is to march
into the ring for a series of very real matches! The difference this time is
that a booker has a whole night of action to worry about. Instead of making it
through one given match, you have to lead your men to victory in a series of
"champion versus champion" bouts - with each result having an effect on
the companies involved. There's even the option for a final 4-on-4 war if your
computer can handle it! In addition to these official battles, you can also get
embroiled in backstage attacks - where members of a rival promotion invade your
locker room or interfere in a match. In fact, this version of the game finally
acknowledges those as a pretext to an inter-promotional showdown - so they
happen more often and carry more significance than ever before...
The Takeover
The whole game kicks off with an
"inter-promotional showdown" of sorts, when your freshly created saviour of
wrestling is sent into any one of the 6 major promotions to take over as booker!
The process is slightly more professional this time - allowing you to take the
place of any stray trainee as surely as you did in Wrestling Encore. This
unique character can then go down in the history books when you finally retire -
thanks to the booking world's first "Hall Of Fame". As in the wrestling game,
your career is topped and tailed - complete with a newspaper summary of your
exploits and all manner of other statistics to look back on. That naturally
lends a bit more meaning to the proceedings, and encourages repeated play.
Indeed, the fact that each promotion offers a different experience is now
indicated from the very beginning - thanks to labels that read "Easy", "Average"
or "Hard". If you take over the big Japanese and American corporations, you also
inherit their massive debts - whereas the smaller promotions offer a more gentle
learning curve...
War Of Words
Speaking of showdowns, you'll
need to choreograph your own in-ring drama if you want people to care about your
matches! The spoken storylines play an even bigger role in this game than they
did in Wrestling Encore. They're responsible for igniting rivalries,
establishing friends, and setting the tone for a wrestler's character. However,
critics of the earlier games will be pleased to know that this version is now
far less fickle about such things. Although you must still beware of promos that
don't make sense, you're given much more leeway when it comes to relationships
and other details. Aside from glaringly obvious things such as claiming to be
the champion when they're not, the game will assume that you know what you're
doing and will let you get on with it. And there's plenty to be getting on with!
Over a dozen brand new promos have been added since Wrestling Encore's
release - let alone that of the original Booking MPire. Lest we forget,
the promo system is also there for the sake of entertainment too. In the hands
of popular wrestlers, each line elicits an excitable response from the crowd and
boosts the initial score of a match...
Let's Get Ready To Stumble
Although this game could have
ridden Wrestling Encore's achievements to an easy release, it surprised
everyone (including myself) by finding time to squeeze in new features. In
addition to those scores of new promos, we've also seen 10 new moves added since
the turn of 2006 (now available in v1.4 of the original game). Above all else,
the game engine has also enjoyed the introduction of a new "stumbling" system
that prevents wrestlers from falling flat on their faces every single time! It's
now possible to fall onto one knee and quickly return to the action, which does
wonders for the game's pace and balancing. Yet another development that
Wrestling Encore hasn't even received is the addition of "Thumbtacks" to the
selection of handheld weapons! They've long been available in the 2D games, but
I always assumed the gimmick was too much of a stretch for 3D. Earlier this
year, I gave it a shot though - and it's been riding high as one of the game's
coolest features ever since! Circumstances have conspired to make it exclusive
to this instalment of the game, so be sure to check it out to see what you've
been missing...
>>> MORE >>>
Copyright © MDickie 2000 - 2007
|