Anyone else play this yet?
It's awesomely bad.
Arcadish action. Typical basic timing based grapping, and button mashing for pins/subs (think Legends of Wrestling, but faster gameplay). Reminds me of early Smackdown PS2 games, with the finisher meter (and especially the animations). You have to work your way up to bigger moves, as your "charisma" meter fills. When its full, you can hit your finisher. Taunts fill your meter (just like Smackdown), damage empties it.
Only 10 or 11 luchadors are unlocked out of box, you have to create a wrestler and go through story mode to unlock the rest. The story changes depending if you choose rudo or technico for your wrestler. It's not the deepest CAW i've seen (think Legends Of Wrestling, not SvsR or Fire Pro), but it's got enough to give a good variety. You can really creative with the masks, which is really all that matters anyway. In addition to wrestlers, you also unlock alternate rings, movies, and other extras.
There arent a ton of moves to choose from, and unlike other games like Fire Pro Wrestling Returns, I dont believe the moves are weighted. In other words, all of the weak grapples for example carry the same damage. You can attack/weaken certain body parts though, so there is a small element of strategy when choosing moves for your wrestler.
The game has two refs, a technico ref, and the famous rudo ref Tirantes. They will favor either the rudo or technico, which adds a unique element to the game compared to other wrestling games. You can lay out the ref, which allows you to "cheat" using a weapon or avoiding a count out.
One negative aspect that is inexcusable is the lack of 6-man matches. You read that right. A LUCHA LIBRE GAME WITHOUT TRIOS MATCHES. No trios, no best-of-3, no captains rules, nothing. I mean, that's just ridiculous. Obviously no atomicos (8 man tag) either. The match choices are one on one, one vs. two, one vs. three, tag team, 3 way, and 4 way. No Battle Royal or Royal Rumble type matches, but that's a small gripe because you rarely see that in Lucha. No gimmick matches, either, unless you turn off DQ's and decide to have it with the assorted weapons (chairs & LIGHT TUBES).
The story mode is nothing revolutionary. Various match types, as you work your way up the ladder from rookie to star. Every now & then you use a different character. My created wrestler is a rudo, so I was aligned with Konnan's Foreign Legion, and got to use guys like Konnan, Kenzo Suzuki, etc for some matches.
The roster features most of the big stars from AAA as of 2009/early 2010:
Konnan, Cibernitico, Zorro, Vampiro, Charley Manson, Kenzo Suzuki, Jack Evans, Extreme Tiger, Psicosis (not the original), La Parka (not LA Park), Super Fly, Laredo Kid, Mesias, Dark Cuervo, Dr. Wagner, Psycho Circus, Electroshock, Dr. Wagner Jr (cover boy), Silver King (with the mask, so no "Silver Cain"), El Glido, Alan Stone, Marco Corleone, Gronda, Octagon, Gran Apache, Chessman, Dark Ozz, and a few others. All have authentic entrances, but with generic knockoff versions of their entrance themes. Not a big deal if you wouldnt know the difference, but La Parka with no "Thriller" is like watching Daniel Bryan without "Final Countdown". Boo.
I thought the addition of the deceased Abismo Negro was a nice touch. There are also some fictional wrestlers mixed in with the story mode. One is a jobber you face early on in what amounts to a tutorial.
Online is smooth, it's a p2p connection so if you have lag it's your fault if you are the host. The downside is there is hardly anybody online. There are guys ranked in the top 20 with losing records. Haven't seen any cheesy exploits yet, except for guys who go for submissions right after failed pinfalls, resulting in a cheap "double" chance to win.
The best part of online? You can do MASK VS. MASK (it's actually called "Mask vs. Hair" iin the game regardless of what is at stake). That's right, you can put up the mask/hair of your created wrestler against the mask/hair of your opponents created wrestler. If you lose your mask, you must win three straight online ranked matches to regain your "honor" and win back the hood. AWESOME. This also applies to Mask vs. Hair & Hair vs. Hair. The stats/leaderboard tracks how many masks you "win" & "lose". I'm terrible at the game, so I haven't risked my mask yet, but I would assume that's where you would find some cheese tactics. FWIW, I played the #1 ranked guy and it was a clean ass kicking.
This is the kind of game you get tired of quickly, but it's worth a look if your a big wrestling fan looking for something different. And if more people played online, Mask vs. Hair could be seriously addicting.
No minis, no women, no exoticos. You can create exoticos though, I saw the entrance animations & attires for some of them. So have at it if you're into the trannies.
If this game had traditional trios & atomicos matches (or even basic trios), the minis, and a deeper roster (no Nicho? No Joe Lider? No SUPER PORKY? No legends, like Mil Mascaras, El Santo, Blue Demon, Dos Caras, Dynamite Brothers, or even guys like Fuerza Guerrera or Perro Aguayo?), it could be much better. Maybe if it sells well they will do another one and add some things, but here's a bad sign...the Game Stop my buddy got the game from only ordered ONE copy, and that was a pre order that the guy no showed for. Ouch.
