WCW Backstage Assault

A decent game for a laugh, focusing on what was arguably the most fun part of the wrestling games at the time: getting out of the ring and fighting with chairs, tables and whatever other objects were available. It plays much the same as the previous year's WCW Mayhem, bringing with it similar control and collision issues, but it's far from unplayable.

A more perfect game reflecting the state of disarray it's parent franchise was going through at the time doesn't exist.

WCW Backstage Assault, the follow up to the already weird WCW Mayhem, takes all the bad parts of that game and puts them into the most fucked up, glitch laden, conceptually random context possible.

It's a wrestling game with no wrestling ring. You put your grapplers against each other everywhere in the arena except the ring. The lockers, the media room, the parking lot, the bathroom, etc.

There's a real accent on weapons use which, considering the era (late 90's / early 00's), isn't too shocking; goofy "hardcore" style matches were popular time wasters. However, on TV, it was highly apparent that the weapons were fake (light aluminum stunt cans and the like).

In Backstage Assault, the abuse you dish out with 2x4, crowbars, bats, crates and whatever else borders on disturbing. I mean, you feel bad; lighting a 2x4 up on an open flame, you can set your opponent on fire (to which announcer Tony Schiavoni will belt out "HE'S ON FYYYURR!"). It's bizarre.

The graphics are less murky than Mayhem but, they're still using the same character models. Which are so incredibly bad, they're amazing!

The characters look like tiny mutant clones of the wrestler they're supposed to emulate; imagine DDP or Booker T having their DNA spliced with some froggy amphibious thing and there you go. Splice in your own genetic material in the wonky Create A Wrestler mode! They are fucking insane!

The controls are simple and easy to learn; too bad the collision detection sucks bad with plenty of gliding and chopping. The movesets are pretty minimal as well leading to repetitive gameplay. But who gives a shit about wrestling moves when you can beat your opponent while they're down with a baseball bat for five minutes, then coup de grace them with a flaming 2x4?

Backstage Assault. It's a bad game. As a playable example of the mass dysfunction that ruled the Vince Russo end times era of WCW, though? It's amazing. Hilarious.