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Celebrity Deathmatch Review - PS2

3rd January 2004 by
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When making a videogame on a TV series you naturally pick a TV series that was a success, it has been done with Buffy and many others from the big and small screens. But when a videogame is based upon a failing television show, then aren't the developers and publishers just asking for trouble? For me Celebrity Deathmatch isn't a show that enjoyed great success here in Australia, reflected in the lack of exposure that it has been given here since it was first put on the box. Can Celebrity Deathmatch surprise us all with an impressive performance on the console and hide those memories of a poor, poor TV show?

Gameplay

If you remember the TV show of Celebrity Deathmatch you will recognize the setup of the game with the two announces who try to make some wise cracks and smart remarks but just come off looking like complete losers. Johnny Gomez and the Adams Family father look-a-like Nick Diamond are the ringside announcers, there harsh lines and witty comments are meant to be a feature of the game but like most things in this game, it sort of fails to make an impression.

There are a range of celebrities to use in the ring, from the sassy Carmen Electra to the porky Anna Nicole Smith; others include Jerry Springer, Tommy Lee, Mr. T, Carrot Top, Busta Rhymes, Dennis Rodman and a few more not worth mentioning. Looking over the characters for the game there's not one really big draw card other than the ever popular Jerry Springer, that man could sell nail infested cookies to orphan children and people would still love him! Lets just say there's a few 'stars' in here who if went missing no one would miss them.

The combat within Celebrity Deathmatch is average to say the least with minimal moves available to players, each character has there own set of moves that go along with there personalities or whacky objects that we can relate to the character. Examples are like Carrot Top has a carrot attack funnily enough, Marilyn Manson has a bondage whip attack and Dennis Rodman has a basketball in his hands at all times. The finishing moves are made out to be something fantastic, these aren't any fatality moves that we've seen in the Mortal Kombat series not by any stretch of the imagination, the finishing moves are quite stupid and don't give the desired feedback as you look for satisfaction from your success. Its back to the old style button mashing, this should keep the computer opponents contained.

What's the maximum amount of fun that can be had by battling over the top celebrities represented as clay model figures doing something similar to wrestling but not quite wrestling? Not a lot as the single player would have you to believe with its extremely short gameplay it offers with a pathetic group of episode matches and only the Deathmatch to really fall back on it offers not a lot at ... (continued next page)

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