Six months after the release of their initial ECW title, ECW Hardcore Revolution, comes their second “effort”, Anarchy Rulz. Yes, you read that right: six months. Knowing that, I went into Anarchy Rulz expecting utter trash – and that’s exactly what I got. Acclaim has wasted no time in beating every other company to the market with not only an inferior product, but also quite possibly one of their worst creations – ever.

Remember, this is the same engine that has powered ECW Hardcore Revolution and WWF War Zone and Attitude, so don’t expect anything special in the visuals. No noticeable changes whatsoever have been made with the engine’s looks, except for what are probably customization purposes. The wrestler introductions have always been incredibly lackluster, and that tradition continues into Anarchy Rulz. Instead of using the PlayStation’s CD space as an advantage and incorporating FMV or anything to that extent, all the wrestlers do is awkwardly walk out to the ring with their music playing softly in the background. It’s bland, it’s boring and it’s only one of the many aspects that were never given a single thought during this game’s development.

Same as in every other Acclaim wrestling title, all of the character models walk and wrestle in odd-looking positions for no real reason. Basically, they have their arms entirely stiff and stretched out to the side and only bob up and down when the character isn’t involved in any real movement. It looks completely bizarre, and simply goes to show many of the small things that should have been changed in-between this and Hardcore Revolution, but weren't.

Compared to the other wrestlers on the market, there is always one area that always makes it less entertaining and interesting than the others: pulling off moves. In Anarchy Rulz, instead of the easier system used by THQ’s WCW/WWF wrestlers, there are button combinations for each individual mode that have to memorized. It wouldn’t be as big of a deal if it wasn’t for the cheap AI, but that’s another story. Moves might be more plentiful in ECW, but pulling off more than a couple of them during a match without a full move list sitting in front of you is clearly impractical and is completely devoid of enjoyment. Wouldn’t you rather pull off a finishing move by holding down one button and wiggling the joystick (i.e. WWF Wrestlemania 2000) instead of stringing together five or six presses, only to have it blocked by the cheap AI?

ECW Hardcore Revolution had enough different modes to choke someone with, and Anarchy Rulz has not only that, but more. This is probably one of the few features that could be considered a “positive”. Of course, there is the normal one on one battles, but cage matches, three on one matches, barbed wire, tag team – and a whole lot more. Problem? Most of them are so similar that you won’t end up trying them all in the first place.

What’s this? Is this another positive to Anarchy Rulz? Blasphemy! But it’s true; the Create-A-Player mode has always been top-of-the-line. You can customize nearly everything on a person’s body, from what tattoos will appear on their face to what their body size and color will be. It’s possible to create serious wrestlers for competition, but it’s infinitely more enjoyable to arrange the outfits in odd ways that can lead to some hilarious creations. Since this is the PlayStation, however, it is all CD-based, and there ends up being the problem of loading all the little options, which tends to be fairly annoying when making small tweaks to a character.

Acclaim has attempted to expand the create-a-blank idea to the Create-A-Pay-Per-View mode, but whether to the limits of technology or programmer laziness, there are not enough options to make it anywhere worthwhile to the user. There are only a few variables that can actually be shifted around, and most of the Pay-Per-Views end up being so similar to each other that you won’t give it a shot more than one just to see what it’s all about.

For being called Extreme Championship Wrestling, ECW Anarchy Rulz sure isn’t very extreme. All that makes this game worth the “M” rating are the few instances where more more "mature" language is used, and blood makes a slight splat on the characters and arena, When it comes right down to it, though, ECW Anarchy Rulz and the word "fun" have nothing in common in each other, and basically any other wrestling title on the market is more worth your time and money that this one. Will Acclaim ever learn? Who knows, but I’ll be forced to jump off a cliff if I have to play the same ECW title with a new name six months from now.