Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home

Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home Description

The concept of toy fighting has come along way since we were nippers, giving each other Chinese burns in the playground. What was once a bit of harmless fun (okay, maybe not all of the time...) has now evolved into a US phenomenon that, as the title and age rating of this latest Xbox release will attest, involves big guys knocking the absolute stuffing out of each other in any way that they can. The concept, then, of Backyard Wrestling sees players take on the role of an aspiring wrestler, who must be prepared to endure extreme amounts of pain and take incredible risks in order to move one step closer to the BYW title and ultimately be crowned 'The King of Hardcore' (surely there are more pleasant ways to go about receiving such a title). However, the road to glory is a long one, and a dangerous at that, as a range of pretty gruesome weapons play a big part in the proceedings, including the likes of thumbtacks, barbed wire, light bulbs, baseball bats, tables, trash cans, and - rather ironically - stop signs. The game itself places you in an assortment of fully interactive, destructible environments - such as a mansion, a truck stop and, rather obviously, a backyard - and sees you battle it out in true Backyard style: dirty. And by dirty, that means getting to grips with a large array of ultra-violent moves - such as grappling, throws, and hand-to-hand combat - and subsequently brutalising your opponents into submission. A healthy roster of real life BYW stars feature throughout the game, including the likes of Mdogg 20, Josh Prohibition, Rudeboy, and Madman Pondo. Each wrestler is faithfully represented by their respective detailed character model, itself made all the more realistic by the game's grisly damage modelling system. As such, throughout the duration of each bout, the characters get cuts, bruises and gashes all over their bodies, depending on the moves they've been doing, and more painfully, what moves have been done to them. As concerns regarding violent content in video games continually escalate, Backyard Wrestling is going to do absolutely nothing to convince sceptics that games are just a bit of harmless fun. But generally they are. And so is this. Perhaps a great deal more so than those agonising Chinese Burns from back in the playground...

• Over 20 unlockable playable characters based on real life Backyard wrestlers, each with their own fighting styles and signature moves
  
• 7 destructible, fully 3D levels including a gentleman's club, a mansion, a slaughterhouse, a truck-stop and of course a backyard! Each level provides the player with a variety of fighting areas including high levels for those breath taking high risk manoeuvres!
  
• Numerous playing modes including single player matches, versus mode, tournament mode, 6 unlockable bonus modes and a video clip mode featuring real footage from the Backyard Wrestling videos and DVD's
  
• Dozens of weapons including barbed wire, light bulbs, baseball bats, tables, trash cans, and stop signs are at your disposal
  
• A vast range of devastating moves including slams, throws, combos, ledge throws, aerial manoeuvres, running attacks, ground attacks, reversal moves and of course weapon attacks
  
• Innovative damage body system allows characters to get cuts, bruises and gashes all over their bodies depending on the moves they've been doing. But beware, the more high risk the move the more damage you receive yourself!
  
• No more button-mashing combos! Moves are based on timing and skill and every attack, throw or slam can be reversed with carefully executed counter moves
  
• Special 'stun' meter provides players with extra humiliation moves. The more you stun your opponent with your cool moves the higher your stun rating will go allowing you to humiliate your opponent
  
• An awesome soundtrack including an exciting partnership with multi-platinum recording artists the Insane Clown Posse (ICP) and Psychopathic Records