THQ announces WWE Legends video game

[Mighty NorCal]

Credit WZ news site

THQ is releasing a whole new game line, in WWE Legends of Wrestlemania, which will release in March 2009, to coencide with WM 25.

This raises a lot of interest and questions for me....Will there still be legends in SVR?? What will this game be like?? How wil they do it?? Will they have historic arenas??? I cant wait for more news on this thing, honestly. everyone give your opinions on it, and what u think may be involved, and any new information. I personally think this idea has miles of potential, for both games (as SVR now could have way more room for rosters AND maybe you could upload legends from the legends game to SVR??? *passes out*) but I NEED MORE INFO lol

 

[Slyfox696]

Yeah, so I believe it was Wes and I who were talking about this the other day. We so totally called this. I wonder when it'll come out, and I hope it'll be good, and not run on the same game engine as the other SvR titles.

 

[Gelgarin]

I can't see why THQ would invest time and money into building an improved engine for a lower profile game that’s sales are unquestionably going to be lower than the main project.

If I were a betting man I'd wager on this just being SDvR 2009 with a completely different roster, a new campaign and a couple of minor gimmicks attached to try and make out that they've improved the mechanic.

It'll be nice playing as a bunch of legends, and it might force them to expand the move sets a little (although not much, 07 had more or less everything necessary to create most of the legends anyway) but I don't think it'll be enough to make me part with my money.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Im really hoping its the "NCAA" to SVR's "madden" so to speak. I think those two games prove there is certainley room out there for two totally different, enjoyable gaming experiences, in a simular overall genre, made by the same developers. Im just REALLY hoping this doesnt get done weakly and cheaply. there is SO much room to make this sick.

 

[Slim Pickns]

THQ has more than one developing team so it won't likely be the Smackdown crew pulling double duty but rather a new crew working on this title. I'm pretty sure they will use the Smackdown engine. THQ hasn't made a new wrestling engine since 2000 and Smackdown 09 is running off that same one. If they were creating a new one, it would be for Smackdown.

I think NorCal is on the right track, it could be like NCAA is to Madden. The same engine with slightly altered gameplay to give it a different feel. I would rather have a whole different game, but thats highly unlikely.

 

[Lil Wes]

FUCK YES!!!!

Sly, we got this one.

Bout time. This should be good, all of the mediocre legends on SD! vs RAW got boring. Now we'll have much more of a variety, as for your questions NorCal, I'm pretty sure SD v Raw will continue with the same damn legends they always have, this could be great. Just too bad we might have those god awful controls.

Either way, lot of potential in this game. Can't wait for vids and updates.

 

[Skullz Crack'Em]

This cannot be any worse than the Legends Of Wrestling games made by Acclaim, those were just plain awful. Chances are, this game will be exactly the same as SvR with Legends instead of current superstars. It will probably have SvR 2009's game engine with different looking menus and classic WWE/F features like the old steel cage instead of the Elimination Chamber or MITB match. I suspect this to be a cheap ploy by THQ where they sucker in Old School wrestling fans by telling them this game will have classic features and 60 Legends, only for it to be a dumbed down version of SvR, they did it before with the previous SvR games. When more info is released, we will know if this game will kick ass or not, I will probably get it anyways as usual lol.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Nothing to get excited about. It's going to be the same as the normal Smackdown vs. Raw. But with leghends. It'll possibly be a half completed version of the next version. Which is how some of the FIFA games work when it's a World Cup. If the SvR games were any good then maybe this would be something to get excited about. But I doubt they're going to change the whole game, or even anything at all. They'll possible add the blue bar steel cage, and take away the gimmick matches that weren't used back in the day. Pretty pointless if you ask me. At least the normal version probably now won't include legends, so we can have a couple of extra undercard wrestlers instead.

 

[Kasey]

I'm moderately excited about this. Hopefully they don't just ape the engine used in SvR and give us the boring old shit with a different layout of cover art. I hope that they can add some distinctive old-school match types. Preferably the old-school WWF cage match and maybe even an old-school dog-collar match or something like that. I also want the old theme songs to be used and for pete's sake, they have to have a deep enough roster and take a cue from the Legends of Wrestling bit with that. Half the fun of speculation on this thing is just thinking of who the hell is going to be in it. What they don't need to take from Legends of Wrestling is pretty much anything else (especially the horrible movesets that weren't even representative of the actual wrestlers). And Bruno fucking Sammartino better be in this thing.

 

[Danmen001]

I think that they will use alot of the SvR game product, and mould it into the Legends Game. THey will probably use the basic wrestling type they have now, and just cahnge the wrestlers, the matches (most of the matches, and include some old school ones.)

I hope for alot of legends, and make them match their 'own' persona. I hope they actually make this as realistic as possible.

Also something in me is saying that Ric Flair will be the star player in this game. Probably the best stats as well. ( Can't say I argue, but I don't want this turning into a Ric vs. *Random wrestler* thread lol.)

 

[Slyfox696]

I'll tell you something else they should do. They have the rights to WCW, and plenty of NWA, and AWA, and ECW, and WCCW...

They should incorporate all of that into the Legends game. Sort of like how WCW vs. the World did, they should have the ability to travel the country, to different promotions and be conquering hero. Include matches that are unique to each area, and everything like that.


That would be one of the coolest ways to do this game.

 

[Kasey]

^Totally. They tried that with Legends of Wrestling and even ran it off the old territory system, but it still failed because the gameplay was atrocious. I think since THQ is pretty good at programming wrestling games (they ought to be by now), it'll probably be a tad better if they do something like this. However, with the proposed title "Legends of Wrestlemania" it'll probably be something just geared around using only the talent that appeared at Wrestlemanias. Kind of a bummer if they go that way. I will say that I'd completely freak out if I could use the Texas Tornado and his Tornado Punch to finish off Mr. Perfect in a recreation of Summerslam '90.

 

[Frank the Frowner]

JR's blog confirmed that Hogan, Austin, Lawler, and the Honky Tonk Man will be in it.

What I'm really interested in is whether or not Savage or Warrior, two guys who are on extremely bad terms with WWE will be in. Despite Vince's personal issues with the two, both are obviously extremely important, and are technically "Legends of Wrestlemania".

What about Owen? He should definitely be in the game as well. The only problem with that is the issue of his likeness. I'm sure Bret would have absolutely no issue with him being in the game, but if his wife owns the rights to his likeness, that could be an issue.

Another topic: Active wrestlers. One could make the argument that despite not being retired yet, HHH, Shawn Michaels, and The Undertaker should be in. It should be interesting to see how they're addressed.

All I know is Arn Anderson better be included in the roster.

 

[Golden Standard]

Yeah like Slyfox said they should use legends from the old WWF, NWA, AWA, WCCW, WCW, and ECW and do like they did in WCW vs the World were they travel everywere and shit like that now that would be hot. And also have the old arenas and old Raw and Prime Time Wrestling, and Nitro. And also old skool ppv arenas and have a hot ass storyline were you get to play a legend and relive his career but do it however way you want it. You could make it that the montreal screwjob never happened. Now that would be sick.

 

[Y2Jedi]

I think this has the potential to be an awesome wrestling game. If they can incorporate the old territorial system and also use the more later day '80's and '90's AWA, NWA, WCW and WWF, etc then it could be awesome. You could then incorporate the likes of dog collar matches, bring in all the different titles from different promotions, plus then you have all the wrestlers that you could use from the varying promotions and decades. Personally, I'd be looking for guys like Bret, Steamboat, Savage, Curt Hennig, Kerry Von Erich, Road Warriors, The Rockers, Bulldogs, etc. There's so many possibilities but, to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a WWF style game, as in just based on the WWF from the '60's - '90's.

 

[Dragonslayer]

When I first heard about this game being announced, I got pretty excited. I like the Smackdown Franchise (well except for certain installments lol), but of course there were always just too few legends in there for my liking... So a game centered around heroes of the past is just awesome for me. I just hope they really include a lot of greats, also combine it with a nice presentation... old logos (well of course adapted from WWF to WWE), venues, theme songs, old steel cages, etc... This could be great fun.

Gameplay-wise I guess they will use the SvsR engine though... I just hope they make 2009 better than 2008, which is just plain awful... I only got it some weeks ago as it is Platinum now hereabouts, and damn, they made so many changes for the worse it really hurts...

And as someone else pointed out already, I would love to see both Warrior and Savage in the game, though I doubt that's gonna happen... Savage MIGHT even be possible since it's gotten quiet around him and he might need some money off his name... but Warrior, I doubt that, since he's just too full of his own questionable "importance". Would be awesome though, heh.

 

[George Michael]

I think it has potential to be awesome, I'm just curious as to how they are going to work out rankings for each wrestler. It's easy in SvR as you just have to disect what kind of year each performer had, but in a game where characters span generations.. this could be difficult. I'm most looking forward to the list of characters to be included, which we won't get a peek at until around Christmas. This will be a test of my patience.
On a side note, the WrestleFest arcade game was a near flawless period piece that has yet to be re-released via consoles. Perhaps Xbox Live offers a downloadable version around the time of this games release..? (Fingers crossed)

 

[Dead Kennedy]

This has got to be better than Legends of Wrestling and its sequel. Despite it being fun to wrestle as Andy Kaufman, they were the most flawed wrestling games I've played.

It's gonna be very hard to please everyone with the selection of legends here. I hope WWE don't just stick with the obvious (Bret Hart, Hogan, Ric Flair) but also other guys like Honky Tonk Man, Bam Bam Bigelow and the Legion of Doom. And classic Shawn Michaels would be sweet.

 

[mvk112]

Any updates on this game?

I could literally come up with a roster of 75 wrestlers that I would want in it. Alot of people will be disappointed by the outcome if there are only 40 in it. Maybe they'll put in 40-50, plus have another 20 unlockable wrestlers or something.

Understanding that Savage, Ultimate Warrior, and Mick Foley likely won't be in the game, I think the following should be in it...

Hogan, Andre, Piper, Studd, Snuka, Hart, Yokozuna, Honky Tonk Man, Mr. Perfect, Flair, Sgt. Slaughter, Bundy, Santana, Steamboat, Iron Sheik, Volkoff, DiBiase, Animal, Hawk, Ax, Smash, Ondorff, Orton, Davey Boy Smith, Dynamite Kid, Jim Niedhart, Valentine, Beefcake, Rick Rude, Jake Roberts, Shawn Michaels, Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Undertaker, Big Bossman, Jim Duggan, Hillbilly Jim, Dusty Rhodes, and Kerry Von Erich.

I know Heenan is in the game, other managers should be Hart, Slick, Albano, Fuji, and Paul Bearer.

I'd like them to also put in Mr T, Lawrence Taylor, and Pete Rose, as they played roles in some WrestleMania's.

Also wish they'd put it out for PSP, which it doesn't look like is happening.

 

[Checkmate]

There are soo many things to address about this game-

1. ROSTERS

The list of rosters could be endless. However, realistically if they just stick with WWE/F rosters, the list gets considerably trimmed down to guys who were/are just signed with WWE/F. However, even with this limitation, the list of rosters could be huge. I'm itching for a Tito Santana vs Ricky Steamboat matchup right now. Including Savage and the Warrior should be a must, but knowing the terms, we may be screwed on this one. I'd at least like a Create-A-Legend mode with their movesets and attire.

2. CONTROLS

This could be a blessing in disguise. Potentially, this is the bridge between SvR 09 and SvR 10. It could give us a glimpse into the next game, only with different rosters. I'd like to see the same controls as SvR, changed or not. It would make the translation from one wrestling game to another that much easier. Anyone who is good with SvR 09 would be able to just pick up and play this game, only with minor differences.

3. MATCH TYPES

I'm sure we won't have anything like the elimination chamber in this, as it wasn't around. However, I'd like it to be there. It wouldn't be used in storylines or anything, but it would be the ultimate 'what if'. I'd hate for only a handful of match types, but that is what we may have to settle for. It would be an unfortunate loss for gameplay, but if they are going for realism, that would be the way to go. Several match types, like Royal Rumbles, Cage matches, and Elimination Tags should be in there though. I'd look foward to see how this part plays out.

4. GAME MODES

Road to Wrestlemania? Career? Is there a set storyline? Another major part of the game I'm looking foward to. The single player story needs to feel legit. Granted, this will have guys from different generations, but it needs to mesh together right. I'm hoping this turns out well. I'm also hoping this could improve on the create a character mode. With 09 giving us the create a finisher, but only for one finisher position, this is the perfect way to expand upon the system. Thus, by SvR 10, we could have a complete Create-A-Finisher mode. I can only hope.

There is a ton more they can do with this game, but I guess we can only wait and see.