Wrestling Encore

Everything So Far Has Been A Warm-up Act... Get Ready For The Main Event! The Best Just Got Better!

Wrestling Encore serves as the remake of Wrestling MPire. With many improvements almost across the board, this was indeed an Encore.

As the series returns to the stage for a Wrestling Encore, it's to deliver the most entertaining interpretation of the sport that you could ever hope to play...

No Pain, No Gain

As promised, there's a new and improved training system that revolves around physical sacrifice rather than money. It uses the real-time 3D setting (complete with updated animations for each exercise), and adds the option to train at any one of 3 intensity levels. These naturally produce better results the higher you go, but they also determine how tired your wrestler is at the beginning of each week! A casual training regime will leave you running at 75%, while an intense regime will break you all the way down to 25%. It's a very realistic system that does a good job of communicating how hard your character is working. It also adds a little more strategy to the proceedings, as you risk losing matches if you wear your body out in the gym.

Familiar Faces

With the editing options laid out, the characterization has finally been taking shape. The very best costumes have been joined by re-mastered versions of all the old favourites. New faces include the best Hulk Hogan yet, a fantastic Undertaker, Steve Austin, an improved Scott Steiner, the furrowed brows of Curt Hennig, a craggy old Bret Hart, and some much improved oriental faces. Not to mention some re-mastered masks and face paints - ranging from a great new Ultimate Warrior to those Japanese legends. And even those from the last game look better than ever thanks to the massively improved hair and headwear options.

Musicology

The characterization has also been assisted by the return of the full selection of entrance themes (which, in case you haven't heard, is now expandable). Not only do we have some new tunes, but many of the existing ones have been re-mastered and provided at a better quality. As with the new and improved sound effects, there's even a slight hall effect to make them sound like they're booming out of the arena sound system! Speaking of sound, another little touch is that characters have different voice tones depending on their size as well as their gender. It's much more convincing when you knock a giant out of the ring and hear that masculine roar!

Deep Impact

Even the regular attacking gameplay has managed to slip in a few improvements. Not only do opponents reel back according to how closely they were hit, but it's also possible to connect at different points in an attack. For instance, a Dropkick will now hit as soon as the legs touch an opponent - whether that's at the bent stage or when fully extended! As for new additions, the latest weak attack is a great "Body Blow" punch that hits low and the latest ground attack is a superb "Elbow Drop" - which looks good whether standing, running, or flying.

New Moves

All that remains is to leave you with a round-up of the latest grappling moves to be added. Since the last game we've seen a slightly smoother "Choke Slam", a good "Throat Toss", a "Reverse DDT", the "Pedigree", a shaky "Jackhammer", an "Atomic Drop", and a superior "Inverted Atomic Drop". Meanwhile, some of the more dramatic moves have benefited from animations that return to the feet. Those being a "Suplex Drop", a fantastic "German Suplex", an equally good "Back Suplex", a smooth "Sitting Powerbomb", a "Piledriver", a "Rock Bottom", and my own variation of the Stunner called the "MDKO". As for ground moves, there's only been one addition a "Crossface Clutch" at the head is by far the best so far! It's applied very smoothly, and wrenches back in satisfying fashion.

Tabloid Junkie

The career gameplay is set to deliver as many break-throughs as the in-ring action! Wrestling Encore delivers a great little magazine mock-up in the aftermath of each match. The imaginatively titled "Wrestling Review" summarizes a little about the match and context before reporting all the usual developments that we've come to expect from previous games. One welcome difference is that this game now offers a little more information where the old games simply said "Nothing to report". These include describing exactly how a performance affected a wrestler's profile - such as winning/losing at a high profile event or in exceptional circumstances. That should help novices make sense of the wrestling politics, and promises to be especially handy for the booking game. However, the best addition of them all is that these articles use an actual photo of the match that you just played! It's often quite amusing to see what the cameras picked up while you were busy.

All About The Benjamins

Following on from the magazine mock-up, there's a similar screen for your weekly financial report. An actual notebook details all of your business - from your name and place of employment to a breakdown of the income, expenses, and subsequent profit. It's a much more convincing way of delivering the information.

Late Negotiation

The return of the contract negotiation system has really made the career gameplay feel at home. It makes use of the same boardroom setting, and has even inherited the more sophisticated negotiation logic. Master negotiators can now strike a balance between pay-off's and weekly salaries. By lowering one, the other is free to go up - so you can decide whether you want your money upfront or drip fed. You can also work it into your contract clauses, since taking a pay-cut gives you more leverage on other demands. And as ever, each promotion has its own unique benefits to entice employees - so working for each one should feel significantly different.

Locker Room Stories

The real-time 3D meetings have also joined the negotiations. Although it's a similar story to last time, the scenery has changed in several areas - with formal discussions taking place in the boardroom, while casual meetings are more at home in the locker room. The consequences are more significant too thanks to a system that's closely tied to your "Attitude" level. Every little positive decision boosts it, while every negative response knocks it down - so over time your true attitude should become clear (and the game will punish you accordingly!)

New Attacks

These newly dressed characters can be seen delivering plenty of new attacks too. Fans of the martial arts style will be especially pleased to hear that a much improved "Shuffle Kick" (Sweet Chin Music) has made it into the game. It's a accompanied by a "Flying Kick" variation too - both of which can be administered from either a standing or running position. As can a new and improved "Diving Clothesline" and an even smoother "Spinning Heel Kick" - both of which enjoy dedicated animations from the top rope. A "Missile Dropkick" has received similar treatment, and looks much better than the speeded up standard dropkick that plagued the original game! Meanwhile, down on the ground, a fantastic new "Leg Drop" is becoming a firm favourite. Not only is it better animated on impact, but it works better too as the perpetrator clambers back up to his feet immediately (in true Hogan style). And that goes for any instance of the attack - whether standing, running, or even flying! It's not all hard-hitting with the attacks though. A quick little "Side Kick" is the latest weak attack to hit low, while a smooth Ric Flair style "Chop" is a brand new upper attack.

New Moves

The grappling moves are also constantly improving in quality. Some recent power moves include a "Shoulder Breaker", a "Tombstone Piledriver", and a much improved "Powerbomb". Meanwhile, technical wrestlers can enjoy an energetic "DDT", a smooth "Hurricanranna", and a great variation of it that turns into a standing "Plancha" (which Rey Mysterio normally executes from the top rope). And if you thought high-flying action was reserved for the canvas, you'll be pleased to know that there's even a version of the Hurricanranna that's delivered from the top rope!

New Holds

And finally, I'll leave you with a round-up of the latest ground moves. The most innovative is a fantastically smooth "Slingshot" - which now triggers directly from the legs instead of from a standing grapple! But if you must keep things grounded down there, there's a full-blown "Boston Crab" and a "Half Crab" variation - both of which are looking better than ever.

Front Row Seat

Whatever's happening in the ring, you can enjoy it from any angle with the introduction of a whole range of classic cameras. Actually, the selection has been trimmed since the last game - featuring 15 good angles instead of dozens of questionable ones. Novelty angles such as the perspective of the announcer, audience, or referee, can be disorientating - but they're great to watch! The king of unplayable angles is the "first person" perspective - which now literally emanates from the head. That means it shakes around with every bump and fall as it would in real life! More sensible angles are better than ever though - such as the bird's eye view, which looks especially smooth. Not least because the breakthroughs from Wrecked allow the camera to glide from one position to another.

Cheats, Secrets, and Federation Novelties

• Press ALT + F over a promotion in the editing screen to automatically unlock it...
• Press ALT + P at the promo selection screen to automatically unlock all promos...
• Press CTRL + END during a match to decrease the health of all participants...
• Use the editor to trade your character to a major promotion (keys 1-6), and you'll be able to negotiate a long-term contract the following week!
• Press B over a character in the editor to automatically make them the booker...
• Press W over a character in the editor to automatically make them the World champion...
• Press I over a character in the editor to automatically make them the Inter champion...
• Press T or Y over a character in the editor to automatically make them a Tag champion...
• Press ATTACK + RUN when "Special" to perform your opponent's finisher!
• Press BACKSPACE during a match to produce a random explosion...
• Press BACKSPACE over a character in the editor to reset their health status...
• Press ALT + C at the editing screen to re-evaluate the contracts of all wrestlers...
• Press ALT + J at the editing screen to jumble up the rosters!
• Federation Online don't care about controlling your image...
• All American Wrestling offers the most generous payments...
• UK of Wrestling don't care how long you sign up for...
• Rising Sun Puroresu are more inclined to give you better health care...
• Maple Leaf Grappling are more inclined to give you unconditional pay...
• Super Lucha Libre insist that they control your image...