WWE 2K14 hits UK shelves on November 1st this year (Oct 29th in the US). Before the release date, I am taking a walk down wrestling memory lane and providing a look at how the WWE franchise has evolved over the years. Last week I posted my first look back at the Complete History of WWE video games, (
READ HERE) which focused on the early years of the franchise from 1987-1995. The last few games in that article came at a time when the 16-bit era of games was coming to an end and gamers and developers alike were preparing for the next highly anticipated generation of gaming. New games franchises were being created, along with major upheavals to existing ones, with wrestling games being no different. Join me again in this retrospective of WWE gaming and relive how WWE games adjusted to the new "3D Era," and paved the way for the generations that followed.
1. "WWF: In Your House" (Playstation/Dos/Sega Saturn) 1996
Like "Wrestlemania The Arcade Game" before it, In Your House is another Mortal Kombat style game, and very similar to that game in almost every way. Again, the wrestlers were caricatures of themselves with crazy moves, over the top taunts and special attacks that fit their character. Instead of wrestling, it was another game that was actually a fighting game featuring wrestlers. Each wrestler had their own arena, much like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. They ranged from normal (Bret Hart's family dungeon, Ahmed Johnson's locker room) to weirder ones (Undertaker's crypt, HHH's mansion) to just plain crazy. Ultimate Warrior's home arena was some sort of cowboy ranch, which I'm guessing was supposed to be "Parts Unknown." Shawn Michaels' fighting arena was a Heart Break Kid nightclub. Even though he's more used to getting beat up outside them. Despite beng called "In Your House," no one's arena was actually a house. The game featured authentic voiceovers and commentary from Vince McMahon and Curt Hennig, with Vince McMahon's being particularly over the top to match the tone of the game. For the most part it was a poor sequel to Wrestlemania, with seemingly less effort put forth. It had decent graphics, but not as good as its predecessor and no noticeable improvement in gameplay. Matches could be over in seconds if you mashed the right combination of buttons. 4 Player multiplayer gave it a bit of longevity, but in all In Your House was another less than mediocre game that has understandably mostly been forgotten about.