A better choice for PC

Being a one of the PC gamers, I have to say that it was actually a relief to me when I got a good looking wrestling game working well in my PC. Even if a long time has passed since this game was released for PC, the fact that there is no WWE RAW 2 for PC makes this game the only good choice. Even if this game lacks lots of options, still the absence of any other good game based on the WWE in the PC platform makes the game a great choice for the WWE fans.

The best thing about this game is its comparitively low requirements. Those who have been fed up with the low graphics games like WCW Nitro can really see a boost in WWE RAW. May be its time that more wrestling games are released for PC. Its a good news for your friends as there is the option for a two player mode in the single keyboard which the games like FIFA 2005, NHL 2005 etc miss. But there is no multiplayer option to fight online or the support for mouse in the game. You have to depend on your keyboard completely to browse through the menu.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Windows 98/ME/XP compatible computer system with DirectX 8.1
Pentium III 500 Mhz Processor
3D Graphics Accelerator Card
128 MB RAM
4x CD-ROM
1.05 GB of free Hard Drive Space
DirectX certified sound card
100% Microsoft compatible mouse and keyboard

The game has got a good graphics, with interesting special effects when the superstars make their entrances. The Undertaker's entrance on the bike and the fiery entrance of Kane requires a special mention. The way in which the fire, lightning and other effects are done for entrance is worth the applause. They got all the entrance music and videos covered, but the problem is that there are only a few superstars, and almost half of them currently inactive.

The roster just didn't seem to be made in a way to attract the gamers. We miss the legends like Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan as well as a few others like Rey Mysterio, Batista, John Cena etc. But there are the superstars not currently present in the WWE like Justin Credible, Haku, X-Pac etc. May be they decided not to concentrate much on the roster. But if they wanted to impress any of the WWE fans, they should have made the roster up-to-date. With lots of good WWE games in other platforms, the PC platform just seem to get dry up a bit.

Another factor is the game modes. Even as there exists Fatal Four Ways, Handicaps and Triple Threats, there is no special game modes like Ladder matches, Table matches, Hell in a Cell or any of that kind. Climbing the ladders and cages as well as jumping from the top of a cell may have been something that a WWE fan may have always wanted. But WWE RAW just fails in that concept. And don't even think about the bra and panties match. There is not even the season or career mode and the fans may miss the Royal Rumble, the maximum!

The better things about the game include the character editor - you can create or edit a character upto a high extent and customize his or her appearence as well as the entrance and moves also. There are even lots of moves to choose from, ranging from the moonsault and swanton bomb to the tombstone and chokeslam. But, just look - whatever you do, you will not see any blood in this game - even the sledge hammers and kendo sticks fails to do that. Give your opponent as many chair shots as you want, but you just got no chance to make him a bloody mess. You even miss the option for a combined attack in this game - working as a tag team is thus more difficult - even tagging is difficult in the game.

There are a number of items available in the game ranging from the chairs and baseball bats to television sets and steering wheels. There are three dificulty levels, easy, medium and hard. After playing this game for a few weeks, I assure that you won't even find the hard level anyway difficult. This one, I found a comparitively easy game. Even if you find some problems with the controls, don't hesitate to have a look at the tutorial in the options menu where you can see the implementation of each key.

There is some good music in the game, but no commentry. There is an interference option in which you can attack the players before the match starts. Just like in the real WWE, you can send the players through the tables or throw them to the foot steps - but they doesnt have very much high an effect. The player strength doesn't count much on this game as even Trish Stratus and Lita can manage to beat Big Show and Kane on occasions. What the game makers should know is that it is the storyline that makes the WWE show attractive and they would have certainly added it before making this game.

The character detail seemed to be mixed - the superstars like the Undertaker, the Rock, the Big Show etc looks real while a few others like Triple H and the divas look horrible - there is no scarcity for the muscles though. The game doesn't have any of the Pay Per View other than the King Of The Ring Tournament which doesn't even occur these days on the real WWE. And, ofcourse there are title matches, even as some outdated titles like Light heavyweight and Hardcore championships do exist in the game. When you win these titles, you may unlock the McMahon family - Vince, Stephanie and Shane along with Fred Durst.

The final decision is that this game is worth trying for all the WWE fans all around the world, but with a less amount of expectations. This is a game to go for only because of the absence of any better games. This game also manages to keep its level above average, only due to those graphics and some good entrance and wide variety of moves for suport. But due to the reasons I mentioned above, this game cannot be called a complete game. It doesn't even have an expansion or a good enough patch to help its cause. It is time that THQ go for a WWE RAW 2 or something even better for the PC. Let's wait for that to happen.