Ok, Pros & Cons of the gameplay...
PROS
- The AI is smarter... way smarter. They break up submissions before you even have them applied now. They whip you into their corner when they want to tag in and out. They break up particularly devastating moves, to keep you from gaing an advantage in 4 way matches. Brilliant.
- The learning curve is better than in the original DoR. Instead of just making you do specific tasks, this time, you start off with the first few guys being relatively easy but gradually increasing in difficulty. This lets you feel out the AI to better prepare you for real matches.
- The story line is like a real (and dare I say fantastic) WWE angle. The dialog sounds sort of like what the actual wrestlers might say on tv. Best of all, you're not just some pussy who takes everyone's shit anymore (taking a lead pipe to the back of Edge's head for hitting on your girl? God damn, son!). Also, there are minor choices every now and then, such as which partner or opponent you want to fight with.
- The match layout during the story is great. So far, I've had hardcore matches, cage matches (one of them a 4 way), a tornado tag match and a bra and panties match, and I'm not even 20 shows in yet. Yeah, Stacy Keibler is your girl and you get to control her at least once so far. Also, you don't wrestle every night. Obviously, no wrestler wrestles every night on RAW and I'm glad they've captured that. You do still make promo appearances, though.
- The stamina meter adds difficulty to the game. You can't just bulldoze your way through an opponent with extremely tough moves or you will tire out (ie. you can't move, which = bad news late in a tough match).
- The reversals have been greatly improved. Before some styles were almost identiclal, save for one or 2 particular reversals (eg. Edge's and Benjamin's). Now there is more variety, as the existing styles have been expanded and there are more individual reversal styles to choose from.
- You can now get tied up in the ropes facing out of the ring as well as th original inwards way. Nice touch there. Adds realism.
- The blood system. I had Edge in the corner while he was bleeding and pummeled his head with repeated kicks. When he finally fell down, there was a pool of blood where he was standing. Definitely better than the "mist" from DoR.
CONS
- The submission system. Before I shit all over it, let me say this:
the overhaul is not bad, it's just not as good as it could have been. The system gives you four options when applying a submission: taunt (which drains spirit), drain (which drains stamina), submit (which actually weakens the particular body part[s]for a quicker sumbission) and rest hold (which fills up your stamina meter, you'll be using this a lot). That's all well and good, but I was under the assumption that you would have a different submission for each, thus allowing you to be some kind of Dean Malenko "man of 1000 holds" wannabe. Oh well.
- Moments of retardation on the part of the AI. Sometimes they stand there and do nothing for a long time when you are knocked down. Then they will have a delayed reaction and over compensate when you finally get up. The ref is dumber than ever too. He seems to enjoy walking directly into your line of sight when you are busting out a particularly strong attack. Also, why is he selectable? He just wastes precious moments while you are trying to cycle through opponents you are facing.
- Speaking of targeting, why is the C stick still used for that? It's very inaccurate. I preferred the Z button methon from WM XIX. I realize it's also the tag button, but how hard is it to make tagging done by holding R and pressing Z?
- Withstanding strikes. When you hold down R, you can now puff your chest out and take it like a man (just like in the N64 games) without receiving damage. I find it just makes it easier to be a pussy. It's not that hard to time reversals.
- It's a little too easy to knock people out with weapons now. You have to take it easy now.