E3 2010: WWE All Stars flexes its super-sized muscles

If you thought pro wrestlers couldn't get any more 'roided up, just check out WWE All Stars, an over-the-top fighting experience that makes the WWE SmackDdown vs. Raw series look like a simulation, in comparison.

Think of WWE All Stars like The Bigs -- a jacked-up alternative to the norm, complete with characters sporting comically overwrought physiques and super-stylized finishing moves that include 10-foot vertical jumps and lots of motion blur. Both current star wrestlers and legendary favorites are expected on the roster, and the E3 demo delivered a mere taste of the final product, with The Rock and John Cena available for play.

In addition to a simplified face button-based combat system and juiced versions of each wrestler's iconic moves, WWE All-Stars includes some mechanics pulled from traditional fighting games, like a juggle system that lets you string together moves to keep your opponent in motion (while delivering loads of damage).

THQ's standard SmackDown vs. RAW franchise isn't going anywhere soon, and the publisher certainly isn't taking a chance on releasing the two games in the same timeframe. WWE All Stars will arrive sometime in the first quarter of 2011, several months after WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2011, and THQ promises to reveal many additional wrestlers and modes in the months to come.

Jun 16, 2010