Background Info
With the success of WCW/NWO World Tour, THQ decided to publish a sequel. THQ wisely did not try to compete with the release date of WWF Warzone. Also, the WCW licenses will be taken away from THQ at the end of the year, so undoubtedly, THQ will be pumping out wrestling games left and right till the end of the year.

Presentation/Graphics : 85
The graphics in Revenge are above average. The game features real wrestler's faces, although some of their bodies look a little distorted. There are different arenas in Revenge; however, structure-wise, they are all the same with the exception of the WCW Nitro arena. In the Nitro arena, wrestlers can toss someone through the entrance and they will coming running back out, sometimes with a weapon!

Presentation/Audio : 55
The audio in Revenge was horrible. Due to the lack of space on the cartridge, Asmik (the developer) was forced to go with bare bones audio. While playing the game, all one hears are a bunch of punching sounds and the background music. Unless you count Macho Man's "Oh Yeahh" and The Stinger's "Wahoooo" sound he makes. I've been playing this game for a while and that is all I've heard. In my opinion, the best actual audio in the game is the referee counting, "1,2,3..." That tells you something. This game will disappoint you in the audio department.

Interface/Options : 80
Revenge features a Championship mode, Battle Royal, Handicap modes, and single and tag-team matches. The menus are pretty much straightforward. To start a game, you choose either an exhibition, championship, or special mode. From there, players can choose from over 80 wrestlers representing the various factions in WCW, such as NWO Black and White, NWO Red and Black. The game allows you to edit player's costume. No memory pack is needed for Revenge since the game saves it on the cartilage itself. Revenge lacks the ability to allow users to create players.

Gameplay : 84
Revenge has the same basic engine as its predecessor, WCW/NWO World Tour. The wrestling moves in Revenge cannot be executed from two players standing facing each other. One wrestler must grab the other wrestler and then after some smashing of the buttons he will perform wrestling moves. Bringing weapons into the ring is a nice addition. I loved the ability to fight on the aisle that the wrestlers walk through to get to the ring.

Revenge features an arsenal of wrestlers in the game. Fan favorites such as Goldberg, DDP, Kevin Nash and others are all among the 80+ wrestlers, each with their own unique special moves. Some of the new and welcome features of Revenge are the ability to grab weapons from opponent's hands and the wrestler's unique way of getting into the ring. For instance, Kevin Nash climbs into the ring by stepping over the 3 rows of ropes while others like DDP go between the ropes. On some occasions, String parachuted from the ceiling with a baseball bat in his hands. Sometimes while fighting a 1 on 1 match, the computer will send out wrestlers to either double team you or your opponent. The negative thing here is that the wrestler coming out is very passive. Most of the time, the wrestler stands there and throws an occasional punch. During exhibition 1 on 1 matches, managers might accompany wrestlers with managers in reality.

Revenge does not keep track of players record. That would have been a very nice feature to have. Instead, the game gives wrestlers a score after every match depending on their performance.

Although it's fun to see The Giant being choked slammed by someone much smaller than he such as The Stinger or Glacier, I would prefer a game in which your wrestlers can only do the moves he does in reality. Many know that three "Outsider's Edge" would be enough to win a match; however, wrestlers in Revenge can often get up from special moves such as the "Outsider's Edge" or the "Choke Slam." Also, a steel cage would have been a nice feature to have in Revenge. There are no moves to toss anyone over the top rope.

Difficulty : 78
The AI in a tag team match, with both users teaming up against the computer, is not that its cut out to be. The easiest thing to do to in a tag team match versus the computer, is to toss the wrestler that is in the ring to the outside, have your partner hold him out there for 20 seconds and you win. A friend and I were constantly beating the computer in less than 2 minutes. Another thing in the tag team match is that the computer that gets tossed outside will not try to get back in until the 15 count. Worse, the other tag team member stays in the ring and taunts instead of helping his teammate. So then we tried the game on the hard setting. Indeed, it was more challenging. Tag team matches can still end quickly as they did while playing on the normal difficulty setting. One player matches vs the computer now take more time. However with a weapon in your hands, the computer will be no match for you even if its on the hard setting.

Overall : 80
Overall, I enjoyed WCW NWO Revenge. However it does not top WWF Warzone in my book. I recommend that all wrestling fans purchase WCW NWO Revenge and also WWF Warzone, for those who haven't bought it yet. Both are excellent games and unique in their own way. The game provides more excitement with four human players.