Game:

WWF War Zone (1998)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 11:25

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Summary:
WWF War Zone (also known as The Warzone) is a professional wrestling video game developed by Iguana West and released by Acclaim Entertainment in 1998 for the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy. The game features wrestlers from the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

The game was followed by a sequel, WWF Attitude, released in 1999.

Gameplay:
WWF War Zone features a gameplay system in which players must grapple with their opponent and perform a series of presses on the directional pad then a button press to perform wrestling maneuvers. WWF War Zone also features the audio commentary, provided by Vince McMahon and Jim Ross.

A variety of modes are available. The single player game is highlighted by the "WWF Challenge" mode in which the player selects a character and challenges for WWF titles by beating other wrestlers. Sometimes previously defeated wrestlers will challenge the player to a "Grudge match." These matches will usually be weapons or cage matches. After winning the championship, the player can then defend it against a series of challengers. Various multiplayer options are available such as a free-for-all, two-on-two cage matches, and tornado tag team matches. The game also has a number of unlockable features such as hidden characters. War Zone also includes a training mode in which the player can freely practice the moves of their chosen wrestler. Other gameplay options are also available exclusively in the Nintendo 64 version - gauntlet matches in which players challenge a series of opponents one after the other and Royal Rumble, in which the player must eliminate numerous wrestlers by throwing them over the top rope. Exhibition matches against the computer can also be played, but the computer opponent is always chosen at random.

War Zone also has an create-a-player feature that for the time was quite extensive. It allows for players to create a custom wrestler, entering a name, customizing various attributes and choosing theme music. Wrestlers of both genders can be created, with various options for skin and muscle tone, as well as body type and in-ring apparel. Individual maneuvers cannot be chosen though and an entire set of moves must be copied from one of the game's existing wrestlers.

Development:
Early in development, the game was called WWF '98 and featured a different ring and arena.[7] The development team for War Zone consisted of 20 people, 10 each working on the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation versions. Initial development on the game was begun on the PlayStation as developers waited to receive Nintendo 64 development kits. Space considerations of Nintendo 64 cartridges prevented developers from including the CD-quality audio and full motion video of wrestlers from the PlayStation version.[8] Despite the limited cartridge space, lead programmer Justin Towns (who had previously worked on WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game and WWF In Your House for Acclaim) found the Nintendo 64's z-buffering support and the faster speed in creating cartridges over burning CDs to be advantageous during the development process. The game took roughly a year and a half to develop.

Parts of the War Zone game engine were taken from another Acclaim Sports title, NHL Breakaway. One of the developers who worked on Breakaway, John Lund developed the "soft skin" technology that allowed characters to be rendered using models without seam lines. For the PlayStation version, they used 3D models with more polygons and larger textures. Reduced polygon models and smaller textures were used during four wrestler matches in the PlayStation versions, while the Nintendo 64 used the same models for all matches. Developers found they were able to run the game at up to 640x240 resolution and maintain a constant 30 frames per second. The development team aimed to create a simulation-oriented experience, but with faster gameplay. Motion capture for the game was done by several wrestlers not working for any major professional wrestling promotion, who performed the various moves that were included in the game. Some maneuvers were dropped from the final game due to space and gameplay considerations. WWF announcers Vince McMahon and Jim Ross recorded over an hour's worth of speech for the game's match commentary.

Reception:
War Zone gained favor with gamers and was a popular rental title in the United States for months after its release.The game was also a bestseller in the UK.

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