2. Attitude Era Mode
WWE 12s Road to WrestleMania was met with vast disappointment. The player spent three chapters, each lasting six in-game months, as one character. It got boring fairly quickly. On top of that there were many matches that ended by cutscene, making the players involvement obsolete. THQ have replaced Road to WrestleMania with a mode surrounding the most popular time in WWE history; the Attitude Era. A time when guys like Stone Cold, The Rock, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Triple H and Mankind were at their peak. This mode starts in 1997 with HBK going one-on-one with Foley and ends at the WrestleMania XV event, when Austin defeated The Rock for the WWE Championship. The mode is split over six chapters. We start with the rise of DX, before spending several months with Stone Cold, then The Undertaker and Kane, The Rock on his road to winning his first Championship, Mankind and finally, WrestleMania XV. It follows an interesting part in WWE history, acting as a lesson for newcomers and being nostalgic for those of us who still pine for those glorious days. By splitting it over six chapters, with an estimated 65 matches over the entire mode, it means you wont get bored by playing as the same character time-and-time again. During the matches several side challenges are set for you. Passing them unlocks more content, whether that be arenas, characters, extra attires or even additional matches. One example of an unlockable match is the Shawn Michaels Vs British Bulldog battle from One Night Only, held in the UK. Winning the match unlocks the arena. It feels like youre being rewarded for the matches and completing the side challenges. These side challenges are based on real events that happened during the actual match, such as Austin hitting McMahon with a chair at the Unforgiven PPV. THQs attention to detail has played an important part in bringing an historical aspect to the mode. The WWE production team have created numerous video packages to give more detail to the various feuds and the ratings battle between WCW and the WWE is displayed to show how McMahons company won back the audience. On top of that, JR and Jerry Lawler teamed up to record the commentary for the mode.