Extreme Warfare revenge
■ platform: pc ■ PUBLISHER: adam ryland ■ Year: 2002
At some point, we’ve all watched a wrestling show and wondered, “Who booked this crap?” This perennially popular freeware wrestling management simulator gives you the chance to unleash your inner Mcmahon, Heyman or even Russo and see if you can do better. You’re given total control over the running of your promotion, from hiring and firing staff members to scripting shows, working with sponsors and approaching television networks.
Similar to a football manager game, each wrestler has statistics that govern their performance in various types of matches and angles, as well as individual salary demands and friends. Your key job is to book shows which employ them in interesting matches and feuds, weaving in interview segments, backstage attacks, sneaky heel turns and more. After each show, a wrestling columnist rates your segments on quality and crowd reaction.
The default data in version 4.0 dates from around 2004, and although the game doesn’t carry any official licence, you can take the helm at a variety of promotions with accurate rosters. These include the WWE behemoth, big indies like NWA: Total Nonstop Action and Ring Of Honor, and even tiny upstarts. There’s no set goal, but we like to take small promotions and try to overtake the WWE. Fans have also kept the game updated over the years, so if you’d prefer to manage AJ Styles and Samoa Joe in WWE rather than TNA, you can.