| ECW Anarchy Rulz | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Acclaim Studios Salt Lake City [1] |
| Publisher(s) | Acclaim Entertainment |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation Dreamcast |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Fighting Sports |
| Mode(s) | Single player multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: T (Teen) |
| Media/distribution | CD-ROM, GD-ROM |
ECW Anarchy Rulz is a professional wrestling video game released by Acclaim Entertainment in 2000 based on Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). It was released for the PlayStation and Dreamcast. The game is the sequel to ECW Hardcore Revolution.
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After ECW Hardcore Revolution was disappointingly received due to, among other reasons, the lack of an ECW feel, Acclaim tried to compensate for this by adding many new match types. Among these are the Street Fight, Table Match, Inferno Match, Dumpster Match, Lion's Den, Hate Match, and the Team Rumble.
The game featured new control mechanics as well, but these felt very similar to the controls that had been with the series since WWF War Zone. Rounding out the additions is the revamped career mode. There was a Nintendo 64 version of this game but it was cancelled as the console was approaching the end of its life.
This was the last game that was made for ECW before its bankruptcy, the members' participation in The Invasion and ECW's purchase by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), but Acclaim went on to produce the Legends of Wrestling series. The more recent incarnation of ECW would appear in four games in the WWE Smackdown vs. Raw series (2008–2011).
As in 'ECW Hardcore Revolution' the game also features bonus characters called 'Jobbers'. By pressing 'Right' while highlighting any wrestler on the selection screen, the player can see the jobber list. They are characters based upon non-performers in ECW and Acclaim, although some are completely imaginary. At first, Trainer is the only one available as the others must be unlocked.
This game featured five arenas.
The career mode returned with two major differences. The fictional Acclaim world title was removed, leaving only two titles in the single-player singles career. This made the mode much shorter. The player would begin by only competing in matches at untelevised House shows. As they progressed on, they would appear on televised shows, and then pay-per-views. Even though each match was billed in different cities, the arenas on differ depending on where they are set. As the player moves up the rankings, the caliber and number of opponents increase and harder stipulations added.
In a singles career, a player begins at the bottom of the ECW World Television Championship rankings (#15). Every time the player won a match, they would progress up one rank, or go down one place if they lost. If the player won at a pay-per-view, they would move up 3 spaces. If the player is ranked #1 on a pay-per-view date, they will get a title match. If they have won the title at a pay-per-view, they must defend the title at the next 5 matches. If the player loses any of these matches, the player loses the title and falls down 5 places in the rankings. If the player wins all five title defences, they move onto the bottom of the ECW World Heavyweight Championship rankings (#10). If the player wins the Heavyweight title, every match thereafter will be a title match.
Winning a pay-per-view match will sometimes lead to an unlockable being awarded.
In a tag team career, the player selected team begins at the bottom of the ECW World Tag Team Championship rankings (#15) and must win a series of Tag Team matches, eventually winning the Tag Team titles. The player would always begin the match with the first character they had chosen, but could use the other during the match.
In a stable career, the player starts at the bottom of a fictional ECW World Stable Championship (#10). You use a pre-made stable of four characters. After this, you can choose which member(s) of your stable will be active before each match. As you progress through the rankings, the number of members representing each team will increasingly favour the computer (starting 2 vs 2, but ending 1 vs 3). The final match is a stable match for the title. Once the title has been won, the career ends.
In a multiplayer career, up to four players can progress through career mode at once. Two can work together in Tag Team career or a Stable career. If players choose to rival each other, they will begin with a match that incorporates all players. The winner would automatically advance further up the rankings than the other players, with the remainder being ranked dependant upon their success in the inaugural match. From then on, each career date will feature an individual match for each player. Or the players will be required to face off again. In a singles career, players can only compete for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. When one player reaches the top, he must compete against all other players. If he loses this match, that player will drop 3 places and the winner will advance one space. If the person who reaches the top of the rankings wins this challenge, he also wins the title, thus ending career mode for all players.
One of the few features that made the game unique was 'Belt Tour' mode. This consisted of four 'King of the Ring' style tournaments, but could only be played in single-player mode. There was no save function between rounds, so one loss automatically lost the entire tournament.
In this mode, the player can see the 4 alternate costumes of each unlocked character and their attributes. When viewing a character, the character's theme tune plays. The characters are listed in four categories, 'A-M', 'N-Z', 'Jobber' and 'Created'.
This game featured stables. A stable is a team of four characters. The stable could be used in the Stable career mode. The player could choose a name (maximum 10 characters including spaces), a stable theme, logo and four members. During the Stable career, the player could choose up to two from the four stable members in each match.
Some of the stables were based on genuine teams in ECW (e.g. 'Impact Players' featuring Justin Credible, Lance Storm, Jason and Dawn Marie), some were genuine teams with additional members (e.g. 'Ghetto FBI' featured both 'The Baldies' and 'Full Blooded Italians' tag teams), and some were completely fictional (e.g. 'Pure ECW' featured Jerry Lynn, Super Crazy, Paul Heyman and Francine). There were no other advantages to a stable in the game.
Due to copyright constraints, Acclaim were not allowed to use many of the theme tunes used by ECW wrestlers. Instead, they composed similar sounding themes for the characters. But they were able to secure the rights to four songs which do feature in the game.
ECW Hardcore Revolution was heavily criticized for being too similar to WWF Attitude. Many of the moves and taunts appeared in both games, with the former having only a few additional moves. Some moves were simply renamed (for example, the Seated Powerbomb was renamed Awesome Bomb).
In Anarchy Rulz, there are very many unique moves added to the game, with none being removed. Some moves are in twice under different names (in the same fighting position). For example, the 'Wham-Bam Thank-You Ma'am' and the 'Double Arm DDT' are the same move performed in the Ready position.
There are a large number of moves which are not assigned to any in-game characters. And also, certain moves can only be performed in certain matches. All corner moves with the word 'Springboard' in its name can only be performed in matches in which the ring ropes are active. Also, there were many moves added to the game which were unique to ECW. For example, the Reversal DDT sees the attacker fall victim to a powerbomb, but they counter the move with a Tornado DDT.
Reception for the game was mixed-to-negative, with Metacritic giving the game a 43 out of 100 rating, based on 7 reviews, with the consensus being "generally unfavourable". Most reviews did, however, point out a wide selection of wrestlers.
GameSpot says "Things just don't feel quite right, and, even if you like the controls, the AI still cheats too much, the same boring combinations still lead to wins, and crowd involvement still takes precedence over inherent skill," while giving the game 5.5 out of 10 stars.[2]
GamePro gives a 2.5/5 rating, describing the game as "the fourth War Zone-engine game from your friends at Acclaim. It's a perfect example of the adage, 'If it's broke but people still buy it, don't worry about fixing it'."[3]
IGN gives Anarchy Rulz a 3.8/10 rating, criticizing the inclusion of Dusty Rhodes and stating that "I'd recommend Anarchy Rulz only to ECW fans, and their reaction might only be to wonder where everything they liked about the promotion has gone".[4]
Gaming Age gave the worst rating, at 16 on Metacritc, saying that "Acclaim has wasted no time in beating every other company to the market with not only an inferior product, but also quite possibly one of their worst creations — ever".[5]
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