"Wrestling is an art form. I don't worry about those who don't get it;
I worry about satisfying those who do." - Paul Heyman

From day one, there have always been 2 sides to my wrestling work. As entertaining as the career aspects may be, they're only ever a prelude to the inevitable management game! Federation Wrestling evolved into Federation Booker, Wrestling MPire paved the way for Booking MPire, and now Wrestling Encore must pass the torch to Booking Encore. A legacy of clumsy game titles aside, that process can always be relied upon to take a concept to the next level - so get ready for a wrestling experience that might just steal the title from its all-conquering predecessor...

Seeing Stars
Although this version of the game still revolves around live-action matches, the key difference is that it's all about the ratings this time! Everybody knows that pro wrestling is a curious hybrid of "sport" and "entertainment", and that's played out in these games via a sophisticated scoring system. Sitting quietly in the corner, it's arguably the most overlooked technical achievement in the history of my wrestling work. A mind-boggling cocktail of mathematical equations work feverishly behind the scenes to translate your creative fun into a scientific formula. The context of the match, the quality of its participants, and the action that takes place thereon, are all masterfully woven together to produce a coherent 5-star rating. And it's even more sophisticated in this instalment. Time plays a bigger role than ever - as overlong matches are punished by plummeting scores, which makes choosing when to end just as important as how it happens! Meanwhile, the "Heat" and "Chemistry" factors can no longer be taken for granted - as they only apply when the responsible characters are engaged in battle. Even the reliable quality of "Closeness" is trickier than ever thanks to the enhanced role of "Stamina", which produces more buoyant health levels. You'll have to work harder than ever for your classic matches in this game, but at least you'll know you've earned them!

Critical Acclaim
The ratings system makes those post-match magazine articles more significant than ever. The display is now accompanied by a reminder of the match's qualities, which even seep into the text when the match is described as "disappointing" or "terrible"! Rather more importantly, that final verdict also has an impact on the wrestlers concerned - as "Popularity" and "Happiness" benefit from a good match and suffer from an embarrassing one. However, in this game each match is merely a drop in the ocean of the whole night. Every show requires you to stage at least 6 matches (with a maximum of 8) - the average scores of which determine how the entire promotion progresses. That process is made clearer than ever in this version. An entire screen is dedicated to summarizing each match that took place, before revealing the overall score that the night deserves (you no longer have access to it until the moment of truth, so it's a tense moment!). The impact of that score has also changed for this instalment. As with the popularity of the wrestlers, a promotion's progress is governed by its standards. A 3-star night may be desirable for a lesser known company, but it's actually harmful to a leading brand! You need at least 4-stars to stay in the upper echelons, with the occasional 5-star show taking you to the very top...

Show Me The Money
A promotion's popularity is vitally important in this instalment, because it factors into your weekly finances. The attendance for each show is inextricably linked to the popularity of the company combined with that of its champion. If either of those factors take a knock, you'll see a noticeable change in your audiences - and your profits! This version of the game takes things even further by making a massive distinction between humble "TV Tapings" and big "Pay-Per-View Shows". The enclosed hall venues from Wrestling Encore are now used for TV dates, while the spectacular stadiums are only used for special occasions! Not only is this a physical reminder of your status, but it also factors into the attendance. Halls typically draw a smaller audience and have a capacity of just 6'000, while the stadiums attract more people and impose no such limits. This makes PPV shows more special than ever before, and guarantees that you'll take them seriously. Speaking of venues, another nice touch is that each of the 17 arenas represent a real-life city in your promotion's country! This name is then referenced in the introductory sequence, the finance report - and even several promos - to help convey the fact that your show is on the road...

Paper Trail
Conceptually, this game was always going to be 99% similar to its Booking MPire predecessor - but it makes its mark with a barrage of presentational improvements. In addition to the articles and reports from Wrestling Encore, the game throws in several details of its own to help you appreciate the experience. The most noticeable of which is a new schedule display that keeps track of your weekly ratings. The 5-star score is symbolized by a tiny icon, and the icing on the cake is a graph that's woven through those values! It's a visible reminder of how your year has progressed, and leaves you in no doubt as to how your company reached its current status...

Best Of The Best
Your own personal progress isn't all that matters though. The aim of the game is to become the number one show in the world - and that means competing with 20 other programmes for a coveted spot in the TV ratings! There were only 10 such competitors in earlier versions of the game, but the addition of 10 more fictitious shows has made the fight more fierce than ever. Making it into the top half now takes some doing, and it's also harder to keep climbing once you're there. Yet another struggle that makes this instalment more challenging (and fun) than ever before! The chart also benefits from the icons last seen in Popcorn. In addition to the current score of each show, you can now instantly see how that compares to last week's performance. Speaking of charts, another list that's new to this half of the series is the "Title History" of each major promotion. It clocks any new World champions, complete with the date of their reign for you to look back on...

In The Pipeline
What goes on in the ring is only half the story when it comes to ratings success. By default, a promotion's potential is woefully limited - and can only be enhanced by acquiring better production values. Everything you took for granted in Wrestling Encore must be built from scratch in this game - ranging from arena facilities to the props that are placed within that arena. There are also several bureaucratic productions that help keep your business running smoothly. Instead of negotiating contract clauses with each individual wrestler, you now have to establish them as company policies that apply to every employee under your roof. The cost of these particular options has also changed in this game. Instead of one set fee that may or may not apply to your roster, the paperwork now costs $100 per employee - so it's relative to how big your operation is. And, as ever, it takes time as well as money to build the perfect show. You can only work on one development at a time, and each one takes at least a week to materialize. Plus, there's no guarantee that your operation will be able to fund every production until it's big enough! In the meantime, you have to juggle what you want with what you can afford...

Deal Or No Deal
Of course, the most valuable resource at your disposal is the talent that passes through your locker room. Where you once pursued a big money deal in Wrestling Encore, it's now you who must sign other wrestlers for as little as possible! The absence of contract clauses makes the process a simple equation of time versus payment, but that balance is still as sophisticated as ever. As in the career game, you can negotiate payment as a weekly wage or a one-off lump sum (or a little of both) - so you're free to use the methods that appeal to you. At the end of the day, it's the wrestlers that call the shots though - and they've got more "personal objections" than ever before. They've also got more intelligence. The game keeps a record of the characters you've spoken to in recent weeks, and they'll shut the door in your face if you pester them too often! In this half of the series, you're also responsible for the sale of wrestlers. Any unwanted characters can be unloaded on rival promotions for a tidy profit - and they might even approach you to secure the talents of a particularly valuable star. Nothing is guaranteed though. It's only a matter of time before a buyer loses their patience, so it becomes a game in itself trying to extract the perfect deal...

The Suggestion Box
In addition to talking business with external parties, you also have to field suggestions from your ambitious employees. There are hundreds of possible concerns they might have - ranging from their wrestling style to the way they're being treated - and each encounter must be dealt with in either a positive or negative manner. Your rulings have real consequences too. Every approval increases a wrestler's happiness (and their ego), while each refusal causes resentment (but keeps their feet on the ground). A major change with this instalment is that it's possible to have several meetings each week - not to mention in between matches. Instead of giving you one preset wrestler to talk to, the game now scans the whole roster and grants an audience to anybody that might require one. This can make you a busier man, but it also allows you to exercise more control over your roster. And another man that might like to help you there is the "TV Executive" that keeps your show on the air, and has his own ideas about where the show should be heading! Instead of completing missions for your booker, this instalment has you jumping through hoops for the Network bosses - and their demands can be just as infuriating...

Courting Controversy
One meeting you don't want to find yourself having too often is that with a judge! Following on from the Popscene series, this is the first wrestling game to inherit the court case gimmick. As a booker, there are just as many bureaucratic arguments to be had - ranging from the honouring of contracts to the treatment of employees. Some are understandable while others are overblown, but all have their roots in reality - so it's important to be careful when exerting your power! Other than a change of context, it's the same old story - where each party makes their case before the judge delivers his frighteningly random verdict. Victory safeguards you from any further embarrassment, whereas failure damages your business and your reputation. Win or lose, it's always an interesting experience though - and makes a welcome change from a schedule of endless shows...

War Of The Worlds
There are plenty of other occasions that give you a break from normality - ranging from charity and memorial shows to heated inter-promotional contests. When the rivalry between 2 promotions gets too intense for an office, the only way to settle it is to march into the ring for a series of very real matches! The difference this time is that a booker has a whole night of action to worry about. Instead of making it through one given match, you have to lead your men to victory in a series of "champion versus champion" bouts - with each result having an effect on the companies involved. There's even the option for a final 4-on-4 war if your computer can handle it! In addition to these official battles, you can also get embroiled in backstage attacks - where members of a rival promotion invade your locker room or interfere in a match. In fact, this version of the game finally acknowledges those as a pretext to an inter-promotional showdown - so they happen more often and carry more significance than ever before...

The Takeover
The whole game kicks off with an "inter-promotional showdown" of sorts, when your freshly created saviour of wrestling is sent into any one of the 6 major promotions to take over as booker! The process is slightly more professional this time - allowing you to take the place of any stray trainee as surely as you did in Wrestling Encore. This unique character can then go down in the history books when you finally retire - thanks to the booking world's first "Hall Of Fame". As in the wrestling game, your career is topped and tailed - complete with a newspaper summary of your exploits and all manner of other statistics to look back on. That naturally lends a bit more meaning to the proceedings, and encourages repeated play. Indeed, the fact that each promotion offers a different experience is now indicated from the very beginning - thanks to labels that read "Easy", "Average" or "Hard". If you take over the big Japanese and American corporations, you also inherit their massive debts - whereas the smaller promotions offer a more gentle learning curve...

War Of Words
Speaking of showdowns, you'll need to choreograph your own in-ring drama if you want people to care about your matches! The spoken storylines play an even bigger role in this game than they did in Wrestling Encore. They're responsible for igniting rivalries, establishing friends, and setting the tone for a wrestler's character. However, critics of the earlier games will be pleased to know that this version is now far less fickle about such things. Although you must still beware of promos that don't make sense, you're given much more leeway when it comes to relationships and other details. Aside from glaringly obvious things such as claiming to be the champion when they're not, the game will assume that you know what you're doing and will let you get on with it. And there's plenty to be getting on with! Over a dozen brand new promos have been added since Wrestling Encore's release - let alone that of the original Booking MPire. Lest we forget, the promo system is also there for the sake of entertainment too. In the hands of popular wrestlers, each line elicits an excitable response from the crowd and boosts the initial score of a match...

Let's Get Ready To Stumble
Although this game could have ridden Wrestling Encore's achievements to an easy release, it surprised everyone (including myself) by finding time to squeeze in new features. In addition to those scores of new promos, we've also seen 10 new moves added since the turn of 2006 (now available in v1.4 of the original game). Above all else, the game engine has also enjoyed the introduction of a new "stumbling" system that prevents wrestlers from falling flat on their faces every single time! It's now possible to fall onto one knee and quickly return to the action, which does wonders for the game's pace and balancing. Yet another development that Wrestling Encore hasn't even received is the addition of "Thumbtacks" to the selection of handheld weapons! They've long been available in the 2D games, but I always assumed the gimmick was too much of a stretch for 3D. Earlier this year, I gave it a shot though - and it's been riding high as one of the game's coolest features ever since! Circumstances have conspired to make it exclusive to this instalment of the game, so be sure to check it out to see what you've been missing...

The Verdict
Although I'm doomed to never be appreciated for it, I've always prided myself on being able to turn anything into a game. It's with that brazen optimism that I gave the world its first fully graphical simulations of the music industry, the movie industry, and no fewer than 3 separate assaults on the wrestling industry. In each case, I've been charged with the responsibility of turning a creative art form into a formulaic science fit for a game - a thankless job if ever there was one! Fail and people suggest that's why nobody ever bothered before; succeed and they assume the format has been around since the dawn of time. My wrestling games have always fallen into the latter category. By default, no industry is fit for a game - let alone one that involves "faking" wrestling matches in the name of entertainment! It's no small miracle that I stumbled across a network of factors that make the idea even remotely workable. The constantly evolving universe, the behind-the-scenes details, and the intuitive rating system all come together in a format that would have you believe booking was born to be a game! And nowhere is that more evident than in this 3rd instalment, which delivers on the promises made by Federation Booker and Booking MPire. The managerial aspects have been fine-tuned over several years of evolution, and the improved gameplay of Wrestling Encore provides the perfect platform on which to bring your show to life. Like many of my games, it's only as good as you make it though - and won't respond to those that lack the passion and imagination of a real booker. If that's not your true vocation, this celebration of a minority interest won't convert you. However, if the idea of running a wrestling show does appeal to you, this is as good as it gets without leaving the comfort (and safety) of your home...

Try Before You Buy (8mb)
You can sample many of these game features for yourself by downloading the official demo at the above link. As ever, it fails miserably to do the game justice - reducing the action to a tiny roster of preset wrestlers in a preset arena. Simply take it as a test to see if the game works on your computer, and then you're free to order the full game and enjoy everything mentioned in this preview. Alternatively, you could try your luck with the huge 25mb trial version! It gives you a limited time to explore the full game, after which you can activate it permanently by registering at full price...

Available Now! $14.99
Of course, the best way to own the game is with the official boxed CD. It comes in a fully decorated jewel case, complete with a pull-out instructions summary. Plus the usual selection of bonus material - including source code extracts, graphical templates, and demos of all the previous games. Please note that it ships from California USA, so shipping costs and delays may apply to international orders...