Rumble Roses E3 2004 Preshow Update

At Konami's pre-E3 2004 press conference, Rumble Roses, the upcoming KCET and Yuke's-developed wrestling game featuring an all-female cast, was on hand for a brief demonstration. The demo started out with a lengthy introductory cutscene that showed off very little in the way of subtlety, cutting between multiple scenes of bikini-clad wrestlers grappling on the beach, to lots of in-ring bumping and grinding (along with some occasional wrestling, here and there).

Following that, the demo shifted toward some gameplay, which gave us our first good look at how the game itself will actually play. From the get-go, Rumble Roses definitely seems to retain the Yuke's style of wrestling gaming. Though little was shown in terms of actual controls, it was immediately apparent that the same kinds of strike and grappling mechanics would be available in the game, though at a slightly faster pacing. A bit more was shown on the game's unique "humiliation" system as well. Specifically, humiliating your opponent will have a positive effect on your character. Each time you degrade or embarrass your opponent, a small batch of hearts will appear near your life meter, indicating you've successfully humiliated your opponent. Doing this will make your character stronger and earn her new moves. However, if you do this incorrectly, it will have an adverse affect on your character and cost you dearly.

The game's actual wrestling methodology seems to be a hybrid of the more WWE-styled, realistic fare and the more exaggerated moves found in games like Def Jam Vendetta and Backyard Wrestling. Typical suplexes, submissions, and slams will be available, as well as plenty of crazy, over-the-top, high-flying, spectacular moves, like phoenix splashes, hurricanrana DDTs, and bizarre combination submission movies (such as a brutal suplex that transitions into a Texas Cloverleaf) that all really do look quite painful.

The last portion of the demo was perhaps the most bizarre yet entertaining aspect of Rumble Roses. When not wrestling inside the squared-circle, the ladies of Rumble Roses will be able to mud wrestle. Donning bikinis instead of their usual ring attire, the two chosen wrestlers began hashing it out inside a square space filled with mud and surrounded by rowdy fans. Aside from the obvious teenage-fantasy aspect of this mode, the game's mud wrestling was actually impressive to look at simply from a technical perspective. Though a bit on the watery side, the graphical design of the mud itself looks quite realistic, and after getting dunked into the depths of the mud pit, each wrestler shows a nice amount of progressive grime, which actually will disappear over time.

If the demo shown at the press conference was any indication, Rumble Roses is going to be a sight to behold when it hits stores this November. We'll have more coverage on the game during E3, so stay tuned.