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Paul Heyman's ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) promotion is one of the hottest in show business. Although ECW is now featured weekly on TNN in a primetime slot, it has not lost its edge. Soap opera story lines, extravagant pyrotechnics, and silly gimmicks involving the promoter's family are either absent or held to a minimum. ECW is all about hardcore, in-your-face wrestling action. The wrestlers in ECW's stable are not generally household names during their tenure at ECW, but many times become stars in the WWF or WCW. Tazz, the Dudley Boys, Cactus Jack, and Stone Cold Steve Austin are but a few of the past ECW stars.

Given the strong talent base in ECW, and my interest in this wrestling federation, I have been a little disappointed in the lack of a wrestling game with a full ECW license. Therefore, when I received word that Acclaim was going to publish a game with an ECW license I was very excited. This excitement was heightened when it was revealed that the Dreamcast was in Acclaim's plans. Although ECW: Hardcore Revolution is also available for the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation platforms, the Dreamcast is the ideal system to show the hardcore nature of ECW. Blood simply looks better in high resolution. Just how hardcore is this title, and does it take advantage of the power of the Dreamcast? Read on to find the answers.

The graphics in Hardcore Revolution are decent, but not great. Given that this title is a Dreamcast game, there is no excuse not to have excellent graphics. The wrestlers are fairly detailed and look good. The animations are generally sound in execution. I encountered collision detection issues from time to time, but overall the matches flow well and the action looks realistic. Unfortunately, the crowd does not look that great. The crowd has a very 2-D appearance and animates occasionally. A major advantage to holding wrestling events in smaller venues is that the crowd seems part of the action. There are no greater fans than ECW fans. They get as involved as a crowd possibly can, without getting thrown out of the arena. It is too bad that Hardcore Revolution makes the crowd seem distant from the action in the ring. On a positive note, there are several venues in which to wrestle. Each venue has its own character and "charm."

The sound in ECW: Hardcore Revolution is disappointing. Joey Styles handles the commentary, but is not heard enough. Well, maybe that is actually a good thing since his phrases become quickly repetitive. It is lamentable that Joel Gertner and Cyrus the Virus were not put into the commentary booth as color guys. Speaking of missed opportunities, the music in Hardcore Revolution is not very good. There are only a handful of entrance songs. The music in the real-world ECW comes from big-name bands. Perhaps it would be expensive to buy the rights to all the actual songs, but the inclusion of just a few of these tunes would beef up the game a good deal.

When it comes time to hit the mat, Hardcore Revolution does not disappoint. Many of the signature moves of the ECW stars are available to the user. Unfortunately, there are several popular moves of ECW stars that were not included in the game. In the end though, there are enough ECW-specific moves to satisfy the ECW fan, and distinguish Hardcore Revolution other wrestling titles.. In addition to the ECW-specific moves, there is a long list of standard moves. Given that this title uses a combo-based system like WWF: Attitude, it will take the gamer a little time to learn the button sequences needed to pull off the more difficult maneuvers. While this method may annoy the person wanting immediate gratification, it rewards those gamers who take the time and practice to learn the combos.

The main mode of play in Hardcore Revolution is the Career Mode. This mode works much like career play in other wrestling titles. The user must choose a wrestler and guide him/her through the rigors of a season. Starting at the bottom rung of the ladder, the user must climb their way to the top by winning matches, advancing up to TV matches, pay per view matches, and eventually winning belts. Speaking of pay-per-view events, Hardcore Revolution contains many of the actual ECW PPV events - Hardcore Heaven, Guilty As Charged, Living Dangerously, Heatwave, Anarchy Rulz, and November 2 Remember. Overall, I found the Career Mode to be an enjoyable experience. Statistics are tracked for each match, the interface is attractive, and the game can be a good challenge.

Options, options, options! Hardcore Revolution is open to a huge amount of customization. Particularly cool is the excellent create-a-wrestler feature. The DC version of the create-a-wrestler is second to none. The sheer amount of customization available to the user is stunning. There is virtually no wrestler that cannot be created with this powerful tool. In addition to the create-a-wrestler feature, ECW: Hardcore Revolution offers a lot of game modes. Lumberjack, Tornado, 3 Way Dance, and Battle Royal are several of the match styles offered. Hardcore Revolution also sports a Barbed Wire match style. In this mode, the ring ropes are replaced with strands of barbed wire. This mode is all well and good, but I would like to see even more hardcore match styles. Flaming tables, exploding barbed wire, and scaffolds would have been nice additions to the game. Since the game is already rated "Mature" there is no reason not to go all the way with the hardcore theme. Perhaps some of these elements will be a part of the next ECW game.

Has Acclaim fully captured the whole ECW experience in ECW: Hardcore Revolution? No. Is Hardcore Revolution a game worthy of the ECW license? Yes. The bottom line is that this title is fun. So you don't like the combo-based system in Hardcore Revolution and Attitude? Then don't buy the f'n game. I happen to like the idea of being able to use whatever move I like, as opposed to being held hostage by the computer deciding what move to implement based on the situation. While not a truly great game, Hardcore Revolution does a good enough job of presenting the ECW experience. ECW fans should definitely pick up this title.