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Booking MPire
















Early Previews

Trawl through the original
previews and read about each game feature as and when
it happened...


"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

When you retire from Wrestling MPire, the boss wonders whatever you'll do next. "Become a BOOKER!" comes the response - and it's no empty gesture! In this second instalment, you do indeed step behind the desk and start calling the shots...


Self Promotion
The transition from wrestler to booker is smoother than you'd think. Upon starting a new game, you design your star character and then choose one of the 6 promotions to take over. Then, in a special introductory segment, you exchange words with the current booker - before cruelly revealing that you're there to replace him! In a challenging twist, he then breaks the promotion down to its most basic - leaving you to assume control of a sinking ship...


Piling On The Pounds

The world has changed since you were last on the scene. For a start, it's bloated from 200 wrestlers to an even more impressive 250! Dozens of new faces can be found in the "Wrestling School" and "Hollywood" pools - both of which play a larger role in the world of booking. The original rosters also boast a handful of new names - and even the existing ones have evolved or moved on since you saw them last...


The Tale Of The Tape

The most noticeable change is that the booking aspects have called for yet more statistics. There's a new "Charisma" rating for promo-based situations, and "Reputation" has now been broken down into 2 separate attributes: Happiness and Attitude. In Wrestling MPire, both of those were decided by your actions - but now it's you that has to deal with the egos of everybody else! Wrestlers with bad attitudes are tardy, lazy, and naughty - either of which can make a booker's job a nightmare. Behind the scenes, there are yet more new statistics to contend with. In addition to on-screen friends and enemies, the wrestlers now have "real" relationships. Like children in a playground, they pine to be with their friends and regularly come to blows with their enemies! Keeping things civilised backstage is almost as important as what goes on in the ring...


No Pain, No Gain

Fortunately, a wrestler's statistics are not set in stone. They evolve over time, and in the aftermath of substantial matches - but the surest way to improve is with training. Booking MPire introduces a fantastic new system for just that. Instead of being confined to a gym, every wrestler can now be assigned a regime - and they don't even have to miss work to stick to it. That said, they do need incredible stamina to work through the aches and pains of training. The results should be worth it though, as each passing week clocks up a few more points in the chosen area. However, it's not all about becoming superhuman! Skills can deteriorate over time as easily as they improve - especially after injuries - so many wrestlers will find themselves working out just to break even. A realistic touch is that even that isn't possible once they're over the hill. Once a wrestler reaches their physical peak, all you can do is make the most of their skills before they slowly deteriorate...  


The Best Of The Best

With all these statistics spinning around your head, you'll be glad that the database has returned to help you make sense of it all. As in Wrestling MPire, it can be used to list the top 10 of everything - whether it's internationally or locally. There are several more categories for Booking MPire too, so that you can compare the new attributes - and others that have become more significant, such as contracts and salaries. You can even view a "Title History" for each company, which makes for an interesting trip down memory lane! It's not all paperwork though. You can view video footage of foreign wrestlers and search for the greatest attribute of all: the X factor...


Come Join My Merry Band

Your research will often reveal a wrestler that you want to buy. For this, the contract negotiations from Wrestling MPire have been spun around to suit your new role as a booker. Now it's you that must convince a wrestler to join the roster - and you're looking to save a fortune rather than make one! All the mind games you played come back to haunt you, as the wrestlers give you the same headaches over contract length and salary. In fact, they've got more reservations than ever before - including objections about joining their enemies and leaving their friends. A similar system is used for renewing wrestlers too, so you need to learn how to negotiate if you want to maintain a decent roster...


Selling Out

In addition to buying wrestlers, you can also sell them. The process is far less sophisticated though - coming down to a simple game of greed, as you hold out for as much as you can before accepting an offer. However, sometimes you can't even give away a wrestler! If they're particularly weak, or the wrong style, then your fellow bookers may not give you the time of day. If you're still desperate to remove a wrestler in these situations, then you may find yourself paying THEM to accept a release! That is, if they're still under contract. Once a contract expires, you're free to dispense of them as you wish. Until then, you're responsible for giving them a living - which is important to remember when you sign them up in the first place...


The Suggestion Box

Once a wrestler signs the contract, that's not the last you hear from them. The nights are interspersed with various other meetings - in which the wrestlers try to influence your booking. The dozens of suggestions they can make include a Face/Heel turn, a particular feud or title run, the formation of a team, and changes to their gimmick. You then have the power to agree or disagree - which not only enforces the said effects but also affects their happiness. If you keep shooting a wrestler down they'll soon grow to resent you, so you often find yourself agreeing just to keep the peace!


Making The Headlines

In amongst the matches and meetings, the world also evolves via news events. Every night you're notified of the major happenings within your own roster, and from others elsewhere in the world. These reports can cover everything from title changes to scandals and fatalities. However, more often that not, it's just a helpful summary of the state of your company. You're notified about the return of any absent wrestlers, and receive vital warnings about any potential problems. All in all, it makes your booking responsibilities much easier to digest...


In The Pipeline

You'll be thankful for the crisp presentation, because you've also got to worry about improving the show's production values! There are over a dozen unique facilities to install - all of which improve your potential for business and/or entertainment. Fans of Federation Booker may recognize the selection, but you may not be familiar with the new system. The production times are now a thing of the past, as anything can be delivered by the following the week. The catch is that you now pay maintenance costs for each and every thing in your warehouse - so it's a permanent financial commitment rather than a pay-off. This makes you pay more attention to the necessity of each production, and makes financial sense more important than ever... 


The Ratings War

The most important reason to improve your show is that your popularity has a glass ceiling. There's a "potential" rating, which can only be restored to 100% once you deliver all of the glitzy gimmicks that make for a world-class show. Until you do, you may find yourself at a dead end in the all-important TV ratings. As far as the game is concerned, your one and only goal is to take your chosen promotion to the top of the charts. Every good night you put out takes you closer to that goal, and every poor show drags you back down. The whole system gives your otherwise self-indulgent work a more serious edge...


Mission Impossible
You might be the booker, but you still have a boss of your own: the TV Network. They sternly remind you when your standards are slipping - and regularly threaten to fire you if you don't turn things around. Even more frustrating is that they've also got ideas of their own on how you might do so! If they're not telling you to improve the show's popularity, they might send you off on other missions - such as to attain/remove a certain wrestler, or develop a certain production. Rather amusingly, their ideas are rarely based on a great understanding of the wrestling business. They simply want to make their presence (and power) felt - but you must bow to their demands if you value your job...    


When World's Collide

The ratings war is tough enough on paper, but it comes to life in the form of inter-promotional battles! Every now and then, rival bookers will approach you about pitting your champions against each other in series of historic matches. Such bouts have always been something to look forward to in previous games - but this latest incarnation is even more intense. Instead of one big match, you now participate in a whole night of action. Every single one of your champions must face their foreign counterpart in a match of their own - before coming together in the final round for one almighty 4-on-4 war! Each win clocks up popularity points for the victor and his federation, whilst doing more harm than good for the losers. This makes inter-promotional battles a genuinely risky prospect, so it's fortunate that they are now an optional event. Like a suggestion from one of your wrestlers, you have the power to accept or decline...


Risky Business

Inter-promotional battles even spill out of the ring in this latest instalment. Rival wrestlers will occasionally turn up at your arena to cause some very real trouble behind the scenes! A backstage scuffle ensues, which is your chance to see them off and preserve your honour. Failure to do so can have some particularly serious consequences - such as sabotage to the arena or productions, and maybe even a bomb scare! It's not just rival wrestling shows that want to see you fail either. The mob are also at large in this game, and will regularly threaten to destroy your life if you don't cut them in on your business...


Let Me Entertain You

With all these real-life battles taking place behind the scenes, it's easy to forget that you're in the business of "entertainment". The single biggest difference between this and Wrestling MPire is that it no longer matters who wins or loses - so long as the match is exciting. It's not as tiresome as you'd think to bear that in mind. You simply play in a manner that entertains yourself as a player, and sure enough it'll translate into good ratings in the game. In any case, there's a highly detailed entertainment analysis on hand at all times. This identifies the key ingredients - such as whether or not a match is close, has chemistry, and has heat. Naturally, it also features a 5-star rating of the match as a whole - plus a second rating for the violent content. Too much of that can taint your reputation, so it's important to keep an eye on it...


Master of Ceremonies

The entertainment factor has even extended to the promos, whereby a wrestler's "Charisma" can boost a match's potential. More importantly, the promos now have very real effects - such as establishing relationships and turning wrestlers Face or Heel. In fact, unlike Federation Booker, that's the only when to do so. The fans can only buy into angles that originate on-screen. This makes a wrestler's mic skills more important than ever, because very rarely will they be able to avoid it. The stakes are even higher in this game too, as it's actually possible to screw up a promo! Particularly weak speakers will be lucky to get through a promo without slipping up and ruining the whole thing. Doing so not only ruins the angle, but may also have a negative effect on their profile. Another type of screw-up to worry about is the more deliberate "shoot comment". Wrestlers that are unhappy or unreliable could very well throw away the script and take the opportunity to speak their mind! Whether they speak out against your booking or another wrestler, the result is practically guaranteed to destroy the reputations of all concerned...


The Write Script
With all this extra pressure, you'll be thankful that the promos are better organized now. The tangled list of Wrestling MPire is history, as the promos are now divided into distinct sections. Each script falls into one of 4 categories: "Announcements", "Championships", "Relationships", and "Arguments". You can skip to any one of them and then browse through the dozen or so scripts that fit into that category. All in all, it means you can locate any promo within seconds! It's a good job too, because the range of promos has increased substantially for this new game...


The Latest Fashions

In addition to new promos, the game also boasts other new material - ranging from costumes to moves. The range of face textures, in particular, is much better - featuring over a dozen new looks that ensure every single character is unique. The 8 new moves have already been well documented in the run up to the game's release - and can even be found in the latest versions of Wrestling MPire. However, here they are provided as standard - scattered amongst the 250 characters for your convenience...


What The World Is Watching

The game boasts several other cosmetic improvements - such as the ringside announcers! They were regular fixtures in my early 2D games, but we haven't seen them since. Considering that characters are the biggest drain on a game's resources, a pair of commentators aren't exactly essential. That's still the case now, as they're a luxury reserved only for the most powerful of computers. However, they are fun if you can handle them! They have several different mannerisms at their disposal as they look on at the action - ranging from boredom to shock. You can even step over there and interact with them like any other bystander! They even step back if you ruin their table. Other new touches include a slightly animated crowd - which makes for a better atmosphere in the corner of your eye...

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