Last year THQ surprised us with a WWE wrestling game the Gamecube could actually hold it head up high about. That game was WWE Day of Reckoning. Because of its success THQ decided to make a sequel, WWE Day of Reckoning 2. Sometimes sequels improve a franchise but I can’t say the same about WWE DoR 2. (NOTE from here on out WWE Day of Reckoning 2 will be referred to as DoR 2) Lets find out why this game doesn’t live up to its first alliteration.The story mode in DoR 2 picks up right where the first one left off. You made it to the rankings of a WWE Superstar and now your going after the richest prize in the game, the WWE Championship. Throughout your journey you will have to endure many twists and turns in order to win the WWE Championship. This mode is pretty much the same type of thing as seen in last years WWE DoR story mode. Even though you are starting where last years story left off you still need to make a new character to play as. For one reason or another THQ didn’t include the ability to bring your created superstar from part one to part 2. I myself was not too pleased to find this out. Your supposed to assume that this new character you jut created, is the same one that you used in DoR. There are of coarse new arena’s to unlock and play in, and new superstars to meet throughout the story mode, but that doesn’t help the game much in my opinion. Exhibition mode doesn’t really bring anything much new to the table this time around. The same matches that were found in DoR can be found in this version as well. There is also a “WWE SHOP.COM” where you can purchase un-lockable items with the money you make throughout story mode, and from playing exhibition matches. As recently stated the overall story mode doesn’t really bring anything new to the table, and is lacking in some areas that it should have excelled in. This is one area where this game truly excels in in my opinion beyond expectation. The character models look great and the arena’s got a makeover. The crowd is now FULLY 3D. That’s right, no more 2D flat emotionless crowd’s. The area’s shine and look very realistic. The entrance’s are spot on to the real thing. The wrestlers also finally show facial emotion. When they are hurting you can see it not only on their body, but on their face as well. The blood is also done well in this game. When you get busted open it bleeds a little bit, but if you continue to work on that area of their head you can open them up more. The blood also realistically stains the mat and canvas. Depending on how bad you are opened up, blood can continually drip down and stain your chest. Spit also comes flying out of your mouth if you are punched in the head, or just hit hard there. The audience also realistically reacts to how the match is doing. The announcers are also back and are portrayed how they should be, seen and not heard. This game also does well in this department. When you punch or kick you can hear your hand move through the air. The sounds of weapons breaking is also done well. The entrance music is perfectly done as well. The background music played is of actual songs not pointless techno or midi music. The crowd chants the names of who it likes or dislikes during each match. Also, at the beginning of each match the entrance announcer(Now entering the ring, weighing in at *** lbs) actually tells you what type of match is being played and who is entering.As always, the gameplay is pretty much the same as the previous installment with a few minor additions, as well as some things left the same that should have been changed. One neat and new addition to this game is the Stamina meter. That bar represents your stamina, which you need to watch throughout the match. If the meter gets too low you superstar will be winded and you will have to scramble to find time to catch your breath. This adds tremendous realism to the matches. The momentum change returns as well as a graph showing how hurt and where your superstar is weakening. One thing that should have been changed would be climbing the ladder in the ladder match. They should have added more to it than simply and easily climbing the ladder and grabbing the belt. There is no hanging into a stuck belt or anything. A second thing that should have changed is the facing system. Using the C pad to change who you are facing can get aggravating especially when you cant seem to face who you want to. The referee as always is a nuisance. He gets in your way at the worst times and sometimes will walk into your punch and disqualify you. One last feature that makes this gameplay fun is the new mini game that appears when you are trying to make an opponent submit. The person performing that submission first chooses between submit, drain, rest hold, and taunt. The person that has the submission hold applied to them then chooses one. If the person with the submission hold applied to them chooses the same thing as the person doing the submission than the submission hold is countered. If not, the submission hold remains intact. This game doesn’t offer much for replay value. The arena’s, weapons, hidden moves etc. can all be unlocked throughout your first play through of the story mode. What ever is left in this department can be unlocked throughout playing exhibition matches against the CPU. There are 5 total WWE Legends that can be unlocked in this game. They are Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Mankind, Bret Hart, and Hulk Hogan. The Rock, and Hulk Hogan are unlocked at certain points during the story mode where the other 3 are unlocked based on how many exhibition matches you play against the CPU. This game should have been better. There were a few key elements not found in this game that could have made this better than it was. The lack of not being able to bring the created superstar data from DoR to DoR 2 was a huge disappointment. The lack of really new content also didn’t do this justice. THQ also seems to keep forgetting that the WWE i split into RAW and Smackdown because it doesn’t show which superstar represent what show in the pick a wrestler screen. To sum it up this does not seem like much of a sequel. This game is more or less just last years installment with new arena’s, a roster and graphic update. If you have the first DoR game, you can wait on this installment. I say get this game for the exhibition matches but the story mode leaves something to be desired.