In terms of gameplay I can happily say this is the best wrestling game. It just feels so good and the trigger reversals really made a huge difference. The inclusion of the Elimination Chamber match type adds hours of fun in multiplayer with friends, and the season mode, while not as polished as SYM, offers you everything you could possibly need to create a fun and unpredictable experience each time. It's basically infinitely replay value. My only nitpicks were with the overly glossy presentation of the wrestlers, as well as the removal of Hulk Hogan and Jeff Hardy, both of whom were sorely missed on an otherwise stacked roster, but the inclusion of Goldberg is a good trade off. Both Brock and Goldberg went missing with subsequent games and those suffered for it. Lack of commentary is also a minor negative, but the soundtrack is fast paced to match the action and very easy to listen to. I would much rather play this than modern wrestling games.

No Mercy fans vs HCTP enjoyers

This is the big one that spawned the control scheme they carried for (or got carried by?) a whole decade, four different lockups by pressing O + direction, do it again for the proper grapple, for a grand total of 16 standing grapples. You had to be there.

Season mode alone is worth the price of the package three times over, a simulated year of WWE television that keeps looping as you acquire titles, defend titles, get slotted in pre-written storylines including a fucking faction storyline (Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Big Show, Stacy Keibler, Sean O’Haire, the real DX Generation), chill with NPCs in the backstage area, more dialogue options than a Bethesda title, you get to check BOTH SHOWS’ champion situation and you are free to take control of any other match that is slotted in the same card as you, make money acquire divas loading screens and Legends who had no music and a generic entrance for some reason

The insane backstage brawl interactivity was the other reason people remember it fondly, you can move between half a dozen different, BIG rooms with elemental interactivity that makes Yakuza blush, then you get outside and dive from an helicopter and it never fucking hits anything but it shortened a dualshock 2’s lifespan by years from the sheer shock coming from the rumble.

Why is the game funnier and harder here when difficulty options are Yes - No while I can spend a week fine tuning Left Bicep Attack Strength sliders in 2k19 and I still win by sneezing on the controller

This roster man. Made from a time traveler who broke into Yuke’s studio with a gun and went “this is literally the only place in time and space where you can put Goldberg, Ultimo Dragon, Brock Lesnar, Steve Austin and The Rock in the active roster at the same time, you’d better”. Little did he know that WWE would eventually acquire the Infinity Gauntlet from Prince Salman and do that shit every year after 2017

You can store 7 finishers at once haha how are ‘90s kids still alive today

An incredibly fun character creator that has one of the more interesting, borderline VN story modes for this kind of game where winning and losing actually determine the storyline that you go through.

The gameplay itself is simpler than SmackDown vs Raw 2006 which I played earlier last month, but still hits the same level of satisfaction when you beat your opponent into a bloody broken pulp and then pin them.

The only other thing of note is that I beat this game while suffering from a panic attack, so truly, anything is possible in the WWE.

I'm still having anxiety while writing this, so that's fun.

-game has A-train
-it's not called Here Comes The Train
WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!

absolutely bitching game tho

Brock Lesnar was a born and raised farm boy from Webster, South Dakota. At 17 years of age he looked to join the army, but was assigned to desk work after colorblindedness denied him entry to work with explosives (Can't imagine how dangerous this man would be with explosives on top of everything else). He was discharged from the army after failing a typing test and presumably ripping off the officer's arms in retaliation. He'd later work in construction, most likely building entire complexes by himself in the span of only hours. He would then make a name for himself in amateur wrestling, winning the NCAA Division 1 heavyweight wrestling championship and about 700 other championships after mauling at least 106 men.

Not long after he was signed to the WWF, where in OVW he would win the Southern Tag Team Championship with fellow freak athlete and former college roommate Shelton Benjamin a total of three times. After being bored of OVW he would debut on Monday Night Raw annihilating Al Snow, Maven and Spike Dudley in a match he wasn't even supposed to be in. Not long after he would tank a chairshot to the face from Jeff Hardy like it was nothing and then smash him and Matt Hardy into the ground on PPV. The Beast Incarnate would then win the 2002 King of the Ring and beat The Rock at Summerslam, winning the WWE championship in only five months since his debut. In addition to the WWE championship, he would also win the IWGP belt, and would take the UFC heavyweight belt off Randy Couture at UFC 91 after eating him alive, and would demolish the Undertaker and end his streak at WrestleMania. He also doesn't give a shit about your kids.

Needless to say, Brock is a man of very few equals. He could've potentially done any sport he wanted and most likely dominate at it, whether it was MMA, curling, electronic Battleship, or miniature golf.

However, all of that is absolutely fucking paltry compared to the depiction of Brock Lesnar in WWE Smackdown Here Comes The Pain on Playstation 2. The tale of this particular dragon is legendary across the pro wrestling/video game community. A STR stat that is apparently actually 12 and not the "10" depicted in-game, meaning he can massacre you in few moves. Picking Brock Lesnar in HCTP is the equivalent to picking Rugal in KoF or using a semi truck to race against go-kart drivers. You don't fuck with HCTP Brock, not even real life Brock would want to fuck with HCTP Brock. You don't master HCTP until you've defeated Brock Lesnar in a last man standing match with Stevie Richards on Smackdown difficulty WITHOUT abusing the sledgehammer.

If you don't do this you cannot be considered a true master of Here Comes The Pain.

Great game btw, you can fly off a helicopter in Times Square onto someone.

Since my last review was written during an extended panic attack which I have now recuperated from (and this will be the last time I mention said panic attack since I don't want that to become a recurring theme for myself) and I didn't really go in depth on my experience, this review will be covering both my first and second runs through the story mode.

On that first run, I played as my friend Simon who would be portraying FireCop, a fictional character he made in High School. FireCop was a heel, though on a lighter shade of that spectrum. He didn't care for authority despite being a cop, and would often cheat and beat on the empire of Vince McMahon.

At the start, FireCop had it really rough. He was alone in a cold and scary world, jobbing regularly to high end talent like John Cena. That was until he was given the offer to get a manager of his own, and that manager wound up being Sable.

FireCop and Sable had a healthy partnership, and under her guidance, the man began to win. He would keep winning, and their success as a talent/manager duo was about to pay off.

However, things couldn't end as hoped. There was another man, a slimy awful man by the name of Chavo Guerrero. Chavo had made it his mission to take Sable from FireCop, not through a fair contest but by attacking her directly. Ultimately, Sable couldn't win the match, and FireCop had lost his only ally in the harsh world of SmackDown.

This turn of events ignited something furious in FireCop, who began thrashing Chavo and his brother, Eddie, with the desire to strip the tag team championship from them by any means necessary...

Enter Brock Lesnar.

Lesnar would become FireCop's tag team partner and his beastial powers would ultimately annihilate the competition. The Guerreros would leave every fight with FireCop and Lesnar bloodied and battered, there was simply no mercy to be had. This feud ultimately ended with a cage match, with the Guerreros becoming forgotten and cast aside, a fitting end for those who dared to take what was most precious to FireCop.

He was content with his victory, and simply wanted to return to a life of wrestling, but the powers that be had other plans.

Vince McMahon sought to ruin FireCop, who in his mind, had grown too big for his britches.

What followed was a near half year battle, with FireCop forming the FCPD to face off against the Corporation. FireCop, Lesnar, A-Train, Shawn Michaels and Torrie Wilson vs. Vince McMahon, Rey Mysterio, The Big Show, John Cena and Lita.

A battle for the ages, ending with FireCop being the reigning United States Champion, as well as having defeated the Undertaker.

There was only one thing left to attain... The World Heavyweight Championship.

As the months grew closer to Wrestlemania, FireCop could feel victory in his bones. He knew he had to do whatever it took, be it throwing McMahon crotch first on a sidebar, or spraying other wrestlers with Milk and Soda. He even got suspended for a time, but not even that could quell the flames.

Then his final feud emerged after the hellacious Royal Rumble. A feud with none other than STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN. Austin claimed that he had won the Royal Rumble, stating that FC had fallen first. This fight would go on for a month until FireCop ultimately kicked Austin's ass, proving once and for all that he was destined for greatness.

Then Wrestlemania arrived, and the final opponent for FireCop had arrived.

Throughout the crowd, the words "YOU SUCK! YOU SUCK!" could be heard echoing throughout, almost as if it were being spoken from the heavens to declare that the final opponent to FireCop would be none other than Kurt Angle.

The two had a history, with Angle actually being the first guy to offer to tag with FireCop, but his tendency to well... be Kurt Angle rubbed FireCop the wrong way.

The match would be a Hell in a Cell Match. Brutal falls, blood, sweat, and tears would fill the arena as FireCop ultimately got the 1, 2, 3 finish and became declared the World Heavyweight Champion.

A man who had come from nothing and became the best in the business. If this were any other story, you'd be told this was a happy ending. Even if FireCop was a heel, he was a heel with a purpose, fighting against the brutish authority that dared to control him.

However, this isn't where the story ends, and the ending is not a happy one.

Now, tell me. How many of you have heard of Viacom?

The poorest company of the richest companies, but still with a boatload of cash. Well, they sent their representative to be the newest superstar for Monday Night Raw.

Mr. Viacom is a character played by my buddy Collin, who is also a part of FireCop lore, and his story is far different from what came before.

Mr. Viacom was a smarmy, evil wrestler who would beat women and get away with it by being rich. He was Vince McMahon in everything but name, which shouldn't make it surprising that they teamed up down the road.

Mr. Viacom had his manager arc with Victoria but instead of losing her, he beat the hell out of D-Von Dudley and got together with her.

He then teamed with Goldberg for the Tag Team Championships, before focusing on being a Solo Wrestler where he allied with McMahon.

He ultimately defeated FireCop only halfway through the season, becoming World Heavyweight Champion incredibly early in the storyline. Mr. Viacom would then defend the title all the way to Wrestlemania, getting into feuds with Ultimo Dragon, Steve Austin and most notably The Rock (that feud wasn't official but the game really liked pitting me against him).

Mr. Viacom would arrive at Wrestlemania and squash his old ally Goldberg to remain Champion.

It was a saddening end to a lengthy tale.

I originally wanted it to end with FireCop vs Mr. Viacom but I think how it turned out was pretty good.

Who knows, maybe the redemption arc will come next time.

Honestly what is really impressive to me about this game is how neither of these two runs felt the same. The visual novel-esque style of storytelling dependent on your wins and losses and minor choices resulting in big twists later down the line resulted in me having radically unique experiences with each playthrough. I didn't even mention some of the cooler shit like Ric Flair showing up to fight Goldberg and Mr. Viacom having to play the ref, which resulted in me beating the shit out of Ric Flair and Goldberg just for my satisfaction, or FireCop using the Stunner on Steve Austin during their final match to secure the win. The game just creates all these cool little moments and I had a great time with it.

The gameplay is both simple to play but difficult to master, utilizing directional inputs for a variety of moves and combos. By my second run I was able to do so many things that I didn't do in my first that it made Mr. Viacom a viable threat.

It's why I'm very much looking forward to playing AEW Fight Forever when it comes out next year as it will hopefully be similar in style (helps that it's sharing the same developer). All in all I love how hard hitting and brutal this game can be and it was some of the most fun I've had for the past two months. I highly recommend it, it's the reason I've started to genuinely watch professional wrestling. It's an artform that is honestly underappreciated and great moments within these games are captured in real life.

I mean shit I just watched Action Andretti beat Chris Jericho, a jobber becoming a legend, like, that's phenomenal.

Anyways yeah, that's all I have to say.

Great game, so much fun overall, creation suite is packed! season mode was solid, gameplay was great and so addicting and could be improved on but in a good way, you can have fun matches and some technical wrestling if you prefer that, the gameplay can pretty much work for most wrestling fans and I for one, love it, the roster is overall great for the time with a little sprinkle of legends which was nice, backstage wise was still really really good, not as good as shut your mouth but only slightly, the backstage areas you can interact with is great, this game overall is much better than shut your mouth for sure although that shouldn’t be slept on either! Just for the record I judge wrestling games as a whole, not just the career mode, that includes, gameplay, roster, customisation and features overall, as well as the given season/story modes, the match types are all fun, the ai is challenging, OST is great, gameplay is fun, addicting and challenging, roster is packed with alt attires and legends to unlock, even some hidden wrestlers costumes and movesets in the creation suite which I loved! Great game overall loved it