Previews

WWE on the QD, ASAP

THQ brings World Wrestling Entertainment to handheld gamers for the first time

WWE on the QD, ASAP
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| WWE Aftershock

John Cena, The Undertaker and Chris Benoit are invading Nokia’s N-Gage and they’re bringing seven of their friends with them in WWE Aftershock, the first 3D WWE title for any handheld platform. The muscle-bound entertainers have been squashed into miniature 3D versions, replete with their unique signature movies, and have also been given a fully 3D ring for them to grapple in, in what’s looking like a fighting game with more depth than most.

It’s also got more presence than most, too; anyone familiar with the TV shows on Sky will be pleased to see that each wrestler’s entrance music has been included and plays as they walk down to the ring. The visuals and, in particular, the character animation is impressive. Thanks to the 3D environment and characters, the sheer range of movement, grappling and interaction between wrestlers is amazing. While digitised voices of the wrestlers involved have been omitted this time round (a feature planned for inclusion in future N-Gage WWE titles), there’s a wide range of sound effects so that your ears don’t feel left out. Notable is the crowd noise, which rises and falls with the intensity of the in-ring action.

Ten WWE superstars are available to choose from, with two more unlockable wrestlers rewarding those who win the single-player tournaments and take part in two-player contests via Bluetooth and the N-Gage arena. There’s an equally wide range of matches on offer to spice up the action. Along with the Survival, King of the Ring and Tag Team matches, there are five main events to choose from, including the infamous First Blood match. Building on THQ’s experience of publishing WWE titles on console, the control system is fluid and should be spot on; the developers have promised that Aftershock won’t be a simple button-masher but will instead rely on gamers pressing a combination of buttons in order to execute moves.

WWE Aftershock is out now – keep an eye out for the Pocket Gamer review soon.