11. "WWF With Authority" (PC) 2001
Home Computers hadn't seen a WWF game since "European Rampage" in 1992 (as mentioned in Part One.) In essence, With Autority was really more of a card collecting game. You collected cards and placed them in a virtual "playbook" which made up the arsenal of moves that you could pull off when it came time to take on an opponent. It's actually not too dissimilar to the first ever WWF game, Microleague Wrestling, though a massive step forward on what that game tried to do. It was mainly designed as a game to be played online against other people, challenging their collection of cards against your own and at the height of its population, had a decent volume of players. After the games initial release in 2001, it received numerous updates and new cards over the next year or so. Though not what most wrestling fans wanted from a game, it was in some ways ahead of its time. Card games were not a popular genre at the time but would eventually become a lot more sought after. Even games like the FIFA series have started using a trading card concept in its increasingly popular "Ultimate Team" mode. Back then, the ability to pay real money for in game content was a relatively new concept and a lot of people were understandably wary. With Authority was arguably a victim of its own innovation. While it would eventually become a popular genre, WWF With Authority came out a bit too early to enjoy any success. WWF Trading cards had always been popular, and unfortunately for the game creators, most fans who were interested seemed to stick with the physical cards rather than the PC ones. In recent years, a fan made remake of the game went live under the name Synamic Darkness. Overall, With Authority was another admirable attempt to use the WWF license in a different way that unfortunately didn't really pan out in the long run.