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From TheSmartMarks.com Movies / TV I have a feeling this is going to bring in a ton of traffic. Here goes nothing� While some of you may have heard of myself and TheSmartMarks.com, I gather that many of you are new readers, itching to get any tidbits of information about the highly anticipated EWR 4.0. The Scotsman already posted a brief preview/diary of his thoughts on the game, which you can find over at his site, Scotsmanality. Here, you�ll get a pretty hefty dose of info on the game�not TOO much, but just enough to wet your appetites. I became a fan of EWR shortly prior to 2.0�s release and since then, I�ve been hooked, plain and simple. 3.0 was released on Wrestlemania Day and the EWR community named Adam Ryland their GAWD and rightfully so. I�m sure you can imagine how shocked I was when the man himself e-mailed me to tell me that he liked my NWA:TNA reviews and complemented me as a writer. That started a relationship which ultimately led to myself being added as the 4th selectable recapper in the game�on one condition. I had to write the commentary for it myself, unlike the other three. Now, while I admittedly slacked off on writing it, it had its benefits as I was able to see 4.0 progress with every new feature that Adam put into the game (and even contributed some ideas) and right now the game is about 95% done�and guess who�s got an advanced copy. Let�s hit the review shall we! The first thing you notice is that there�s a new title screen, created by someone in the EWR Forums. It�s very appropriate as 4.0 is as close as you can get to a TOTAL overhaul of the EWR series without taking away what made it so popular in the first place. Oh�the graphical buttons are MUCH better than the ugly mustard colored ones from 3.0 by the way.
For those of you who don�t always like to play as the WWE, you can now take on the Evil Empire in a MUCH more realistic fashion. This is definitely the best way to take full advantage of most of the new features in EWR 4.0. Let�s take it one step at a time. Contracts � The verbal contract�no longer exists. Instead, what is now in place is a much better system of hiring workers PER APPEARANCE with an �Open� contact. The best part about this is that it helps your financial situation a TON. If you don�t use a guy�.you don�t have to pay him! Simple as that! Since it isn�t a written contract�you don�t have to worry about the guy�s morale dropping either! Makes life much easier and definitely more realistic in the way that indy wrestlers are used across the country.
Multiple Employers - In all prior versions of EWR, if you wanted Christopher Daniels in NWA:TNA, you were out of luck because he was with the Ring of Honor promotion and you�d have to wait �til the end of his contract to even TRY to sign him. Now, any wrestler with an �Open� contract can work with up to THREE promotions at the same time�AND the character traits don�t even have to be the same. If you want Chris Daniels to be a lackey in TNA, an evil clown in ROH and a fun babyface in MLW, managed by different guys in every fed�it�s all good! There is one major pitfall to the �Open� contract and that is that while it may be beneficial to any indy promotion to pay by appearance�the WWE can try and snatch them up into an iron-clad written contract at any time. Trust me�I know.
Touring in Japan � For those of you who have never watched any indy wrestling and are only familiar with the WWE, occasionally, certain wrestlers take a couple of weeks off from touring the U.S. and end up going to Japan for a few weeks. It tends to screw up a lot of storylines and feuds, since the guy isn�t in the freakin� country! Now, YOU TOO can be frustrated to wits end when some of your favorite guys decide to go out tour with All Japan and get dropped on their head for fun! In the �Japan� section, available in the main menu, you can check out a list of the wrestlers going on tour and when, so keep that in mind when writing your diaries! Got a World Title match between AJ Styles and Low-Ki scheduled? Make sure both guys are in town! FOR THE RECORD, this does NOT mean that you can play as All Japan or New Japan. Only North American feds are in the game. Pictures � Prior to EWR 4.0�s release, make sure that you go to RaveX�s site to download a pretty large Zip file containing the pictures of MOST of the workers in the game. The pics, although they don�t have a direct effect on the game, do add to the visual aspect when checking out the rosters, tag teams, receiving e-mails (which I�ll get to) and more.
Minor Feuds into Major Feuds � I try not to toot my horn TOO much, but for once, I�d like to give myself a little credit. One of the things that I always tried to do in previous EWR�s is write out a feud with a slow burn�which was kinda hard to get the game to do. If it was something that you knew was going to be big, you�d start it as a Major feud and you only had a few slots left, not to mention the whole Heat factor going out of wack if you don�t do anything every week. I made a suggestion to Adam, which he loved, to have the option of making any �Minor� feud into a Major feud at any time. I use it all the time, as does Mr. Ryland himself and those of you who are itching to do a drawn out storyline that doesn�t start with a bang now have something to look forward to.
Relationships � Assuming you�re reading this, you�re on the Internet, are you not? If so, you�ve probably been going to all the sites with �insider information� like 1wrestling.com, the Wrestling Observer, etc and you�re keen on who�s friends backstage and who has heat with each other in real life. With the Relationship feature in EWR, playing as the WWE can become political HELL. The relationships are as follows: Blood Relative, Love, Hate, Dislike, Friendship and Loyalty. What�s absolutely CRAZY about this is that there are over THREE HUNDRED relationships in the game! Triple H is friends with the Clique, obviously, the ECW clan tend to stick together and Shane Douglas has heat with almost EVERYONE! Triple H is more likely to job to someone he considers a friend than someone he has no relationship with whatsoever. Try jobbing him to someone he dislikes, like Goldberg, and it would take nothing short of a miracle for him to agree with it�and that�s if he DIDN�T have Creative Control in his contract! You want to put an angle where Matt Hardy ends up pairing up with Sable in some way? I don�t know why you would, but I�m just throwing that out there. Well, good luck, because Matt�s girlfriend Lita will bitch about it. The possibilities are endless with this, making booking a hell of a lot more challenging. And how exactly do they communicate with you�? E-mails � If the talent aren�t happy with something or have some suggestions, they definitely let themselves be heard. Some are wrestler specific, some are generic, but they are all important�.
PPV only � Selectable Date � Another excellent feature is the ability to format the PPV�s differently. No, you don�t have more than 8 segments unlike before. What you CAN do is hold a PPV weekly, like NWA:TNA or place your PPV�s on specific days. Want Halloween Havoc to be on October 31st? You�re the boss! The �last Sunday of the month� rule is OUT THE WINDOW. Merchandise � For the guys out there that like to fire every hoss and old-timer that come with the fed, you now have something else to watch out for. Don�t care for Hulk Hogan�s bullshit and you want to get rid of him immediately? Well, you�ll lose 12% of your Merchandise dollars now! In the Finance section, you can take a look at the Top 10 Merchandise sellers in the company, which tend to be the guys who are most over and have entertaining gimmicks. It makes cutting certain talent a harder decision�but if that�s not what sells it for you, then THIS will. WAR � The subtitle for EWR 4.0 is �The War Is On� and indeed, those of you who truly wish to battle another fed and put them out of business can now fulfill that fantasy.
If at the National or Global level and you are within 40% of your rivals Public Image, then a war begins between yourself and the other promotion, most likely the WWE. Every week or so, depending on the ratings and/or other factors such as major signings or steals factor into who is winning the war�and the Public Image becomes a tug of war. You won a Bidding War and signed away The Rock!? Your PI just increased by 5% while theirs dropped by 10%! Guys like Hogan, Triple H and �Taker hurt your PI if you lose them�so think again about getting rid of them! Those of you who always thought that EWR was too open-ended and didn�t pose any replay value�think again. Try and take down the WWE, literally. They�ll come at you hard, swift and with RUTHLESS AGRESSION~! My Commentary � What can I say? I�ve got to pimp myself right? For those of you who have read my reports on TSM know that I write my matches out in a certain structure. I bring up a Match�s Background, discuss the match itself and then offer My Opinion. My commentary keeps that structure intact, although the Match Backgrounds won�t be nearly as extensive as my usual work. It�ll let you know if the title is on the line, how long has the champions reign been, if the opponents are feuding, etc. I�ve also tried to write the commentary out to have a little more transitions in the moves instead of having spot and spot�but if it sucks, blame me since I wrote it myself. Now, I don�t want to reveal EVERYTHING in the game and I probably wouldn�t be able to myself, since I haven�t even seen it all, but there are TONS of more features. Here�s a quick listing of some things that may or may not catch your fancy. WARGAMES: THE MATCH BEYOND~! The ultimate blowoff match is now available in 4 vs. 4 or 5 vs. 5 formats! TONS of new Angles. �Host Angles� allow the use of a Piper�s Pit or Hightlight Reel segment�and interference in them. One of my favorite new angle is the �Singles Debut Duelling Microphones�. Want to recreated Jericho�s debut, interrupting The Rock? Well, now you can.
Hype Video for a Feud is FINALLY in the game! An �Authority Figure� can now book matches for the Next Big Event (PPV�s) in advance! Just an angle though, so it�s up to you to book the actual match when it�s time. �Finisher No Sell� is a 1 on 1 angle for those of you who want to be COMPLETE assholes! Students in the Training Camp have to remain until the �graduate�. The ability to make any wrestler a manager and/or vice versa at any time via the Roster Screen. The ability to start a bidding war prior to the end of a wrestlers� contract. More match purposes and Match endings, such as �Build to a Future Match� and a Dusty Finish. Wrestlers being in more than one stable at a time. Guest Referee matches�with ref interference! Well, that�s all that I�ll share with you right now. The game is scheduled to be released by the end of August and incase Adam�s site, www.adamryland.co.uk is down with all of the traffic, be aware that you can also download the game here at TheSmartMarks.com when it becomes available. Remember, choose me as the 4th recapper!
�Til next time, �The Dames�, Damian Gonzalez. Send me some feedback at [email protected] © Copyright by TheSmartMarks.com |
