OUR RATING: 4.2 FLAWED About our ratings

TANGIBLES: Gameplay: 4 Visuals: 8 Audio: 6 Value: 4 Quality: 2

Why you should buy it: Don't, save your sanity! Why you should rent it: If you like frustration, go ahead.

UNIQUE RATING: 4.2 SUGGESTION: Skip It

When it comes to WWE licensed wrestling games, the Xbox hasn't had the best track record. The last two games WWF Raw and WWE Raw 2 were average at best. This is a stark contrast to the PS2, which gets the always improving SmackDown series of games. THQ is trying to change this by having a new developer produce the third Xbox game to bear the WWE license. This game is WWE Wrestlemania 21 developed by Studio Gigante, the development house founded by John Tobias; best known as one of the creators of Mortal Kombat. Unfortunately their offering didn't turn out so well.

Wrestlemania has a sound, albeit simple wrestling system at its core. Two buttons are used for grapples, each of them having two functions depending on whether you tap or hold the button. There is a button for strikes and two buttons for reversals. For the most part this system works well. The reversal system in particular is an interesting one. During key points in your opponent's attack an icon will flash near your health bar. This shows you that you have the opportunity to reverse their attack. The timing of these reversals is a little bit tricky at first, particularly when it comes to reversing strikes. After a bit of practice, you'll get the hang of the system and be able to consistently reverse almost anything your opponent can throw at you. If this bit of handholding doesn't appeal to you, you can always play the game at the higher difficulty levels, which removes the icons entirely.

That's about as good as Wrestlemania 21 gets, though, since it all goes downhill from there. To start with, the opponent AI isn't very good at all. At the default difficulty setting, they don't pose much of a challenge. They become more competent at the higher difficulty levels, but they still suffer from some bizarre quirks. This is most notable when foreign objects are brought into the mix, like in Ladder matches. The AI is just as likely to knock over the ladder if their partner is going up for the belt as it is for their opponents. They'll also make very little effort to stop someone hanging from the belt even if they happen to be at the top of the ladder with them.

The game also has some bizarre collision detection issues. In particular the game's judgment of whether a wrestler is considered up or down. This makes top rope moves a crap-shoot, as a wrestler that is starting to stir from the mat may or may not be considered up. It also doesn't help that it can take a ridiculous amount of time for a wrestler to get up.

If your opponent knocks you down, you have to sometimes wait a very long time to get back up. During this time you can use the D-Pad to roll around the mat. This leads to some frustrating, albeit amusing moments where your wrestler resembles a fish out of water. More often than not though, your opponent will just lock in submission after submission, without you being able to do anything about it.

Wrestlemania 21 offers up three main modes. There's the Exhibition mode where up to four players can compete in various match types. Singles matches, Tag matches, Ladder, matches, and the now seemingly-obligatory Bra & Panties matches are among the match types offered. Unfortunately, with all the AI quirks and wonky collision detection, none of these matches end up being much fun.

There is also a career mode. This is a strictly linear affair. You take a created wrestler just out of developmental and take him all the way to the big time. This is the best part of Wrestlemania 21 as the story you'll play through is a decent one as far as wrestling storylines go. The matches, on the other hand, all end up suffering from the game's many aforementioned flaws. This mode is worthwhile to play for the story, but suffering through the bugs and glitches will turn it into a chore before too long.