The weirdest wrestling game is also the most realistic
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- Опубліковано 17 чер 2024
- Wrestling Empire is a one-man project that reflect the weird world of wrestling better than any AAA wrestling sim. Wrestlers are an itinerant warrior class who struggle with access to health care, bruising schedules, and promotions that can treat talent as disposable. This janky game reveals the pants-peeing, grim underbelly of wrestling, and Polygon's Patrick Gill is here to take you on a tour of this strange world.
0:00 Intro to Wrestling Empire
0:50 The world of wrestling games
2:05 Meet Buddy Buchanan
5:06 Injuries and healthcare
8:58 The steroids problem
11:10 Getting rebranded
12:23 Bodily fluids
13:47 Gimmick matches
15:10 The End
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#wrestlingempire - Ігри
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I once had a great run with a character in this, he was world travelled and had won a number of world championships until one day injuring a fellow wrestler, and later accidentally killing the same wrestler in self defense. This started a downward spiral of fury and chaos as he killed several other wrestlers before himself being thrown in front of a train. Miraculously he survived, but while recovering from injuries in the hospital the champion (who my guy was scheduled to face for the belt until the train incident shelved him) showed up and beat him to death on his collapsed hospital bed. It was one of the most bizarre stories I've ever played 11 outta 10
Always like if you injure your opponent
You get called out for neglet in
The paper.😂
Stuff WWE should be doing in their
Games but won't.
Wanna see Triple H get blown by TNT
You can.
Wanna kill the hulkster in the ring you
Could do that too.😂
And more.
On federation wrestling Matt dickie
Would spend all his time in the career
Trying to crush your dreams.😂
He even release crooks from jail
To deal with you.
All because you didn't end your
Contract.
We need to make a movie out of this journey
I had a wrestler named Bi han he was a legend holding all the belts from different promotions buut he fell I'll then his enemy my enemy Arn Goodman he attacked me in the hospital then he slumped and died, I honestly was pained cause I used him for 10 yrs in wrestling empire time, so I feel your pain bro
So glad MDickie is getting the props he deserves. Dude is a visionary.
even with the lack of polish the games have, he certainly knows how to make a FUN game.
Federation Booker has been my go to game since it came out, its janky and weird but Matts games have always had a charm to them
@@WartyWarlock INDEED
It's dope.
@@WartyWarlockagreed
Mat Dickie’s entire roster of games are all very perplexing. You can say they are simplistic but you can’t say they aren’t extremely captivating in how much they try to pack into themselves.
Did he make a game that took place in a prison? The design here reminds me of a game I played in my youth
@@pokkiheart yes, in fact im pretty sure some models he made for that game are reused here, even if at nicer qualities
@@pokkiheart Yep, you're thinking of Hard Time
I feel like The You Testament is probably his weirdest one. I mean it's a retelling of the life of Jesus Christ.... in the same engine as Wrestling Empire.
@@CatCheshireThe or The You Testament 2. Which is about the life story of the Prophet Muhammad but flagrantly recycles assets from the first game, including having every cross in the game say "INRI"
once i got my clothes stolen and was also foolish enough to sign a contract that only paid me for losses at the same time. my character most likely was crying alone and naked in a rugged hotel bedroom. 10/10.
oh noooooooo
...in the game, right?
@@claytonandres1194 they find you
yes
same kind of things happenedc to me
@@claytonandres1194
You know it’s good when it’s Pat plus wrestling
and it so often is
I saw polygon had a new video about wrestling and immediately knew there'd be good pat content within
Pat's become my favorite ever since his fighting games video.
Pat?
I’ve always said the most dangerous part of wrestling is the five seconds immediately before and after receiving a tasty little snack from a vending machine. Good to see my theories backed up with rigorous science
many are saying this
Everyone knows snack time is the best time for smack time
Hook in AEW is a subversion of this trope, he is the danger and is constantly snacking
@@thepolarphantasm2319mmmm chip
the machine literally explode on me
Buddy’s life is so crazy that he needs to be on an episode of Dark side of the Ring.
That’s what playing wrestling empire is basically it’s a dark of the ring simulator😭
@@DonJulio1942You're right, only the camera is a bit wiggling.
Been saying this for years - I've always contested that Wrestling Empire just has something that makes it THE wrestling game. Anyone can play this game for 15 minutes and have something just wildly out of this world - but depressingly realistic come out of it.
Because its a wrestling game that is dedicated to fun
Most wrestling games are dedicated to being a sales vehicle for the federation its based on. "RECREATING THE MOMENTS OF DA WWE!" instead of you having your own moments in that setting.
I only have one problem with it and its how godamn hard it is.. but I'm at the part of the video arguing that its the point and yeah maybe
@@magusperde365what do you mean by hard? It is so easy that you can get 16 win streaks while you have no energy.
As someone who bought it for the Switch upon release and has been playing ever since, I could not have clicked faster. This game and MDickie are an absolute gem.
Edit: I would also like to mention there are opportunities to unionize in Wrestling Empire. You will occasionally be asked about it by any wrestler at any major promotion, be they big stars, job guys, rising stars, or Vince McMahon who quit WWE to ruin a Mexican lucha promotion. You can say yes or decide not to rock the boat. But if you say yes, you can rat Jesse Ventura out to Mr. McMahon (I genuinely did that once because I couldn't believe the stars aligned like that. My character, Dr. Meth is, for me, the person who canonically ratted out Jesse Ventura). A further point in the realism column.
that's amazing
Dr Meth is an amazing name holy shit
@@ryan_alexander It was inspired by the absolutely batshit lifestyle my wrestler undertook to maximize their training gains as soon as the freeroam mode was added. I figured out that milk increases strength and weight, and can be refilled underneath the bathroom's showers. So I pretty much immediately maxed all my stats by working out constantly, and when I got tired I sat on toilets I ripped out of the wall and placed under the showers to increase my health gain as I double fisted bottles of milk. I put on like 300lbs, would sleep four hours every night, under the shower heads, on a toilet, grasping my precious milks. I felt like my gimmick had to turn into "The World's Craziest Man, Dr. Meth"
Wait, Vince did what??
@@elijahechicagobearsboyd5734 Vince quit All American Wrestling to work for Super Lucha Libre in my game one time. Cracked me up
Not only did Mick finish the Hell in a Cell match, he appeared later in the show to do a run-in.
You know it's good day at the office when you ask your co-worker if you used the thumbtacks & there are about a hundred of them stuck in your back.
I always enjoy hearing about Pat’s special interest. He’s made a subject I could not care less for genuinely interesting and through his eyes I can see theappeal
Things i was not expecting today:
1) to become invested in a wrestling video
2) to have wrestling world compared to twin peaks, convincingly
3) to nearly be brought to tears about the wrestling world
Well done and i look forward to more quality videos
Wait until you see the other crazy games MDickie made. Spoiler alert. They're all wrestling games, even when they arent
The number of times a Pat video has made me laugh, fume, and ponder existence all in the same 15 minutes is shockingly high.
Very glad that Pat brings up the unionization efforts within wrestling! Unions protect workers!
I especially appreciate his little history lesson of Jesse Ventura and that rat snitch bastard Hulk Hogan.
Some unions are good, but some are greedy and can ruin business owners. But it’s different for all places in the world.
Shame that vox media, who owns polygon, fires workers who try to unionize
@@mrmoviemanic1none of that invalidates the need for unionisation in every sector of society, no boss ever made a concession to the workers out of the kindness of their own heart
@@mrmoviemanic1 It should go without saying that the need for unionization means GOOD unionization that isn't corrupt or incompetent. Even then, a slightly incompetent union is still far, far better than no union. Exploitation _will_ happen when there's no protections, and there's no system that proves to be an exception, only individual companies have proven to take care of their workers in spite of existing in a system where they don't have to. There's really no place in the world where a proper union isn't a net positive, because the places where workers are being taken care of already won't notice when it becomes a hard base requirement.
Pat and Polygon, still out here in a devastatingly precarious business, doing incredible work and saying the things that need to be said. We love you, Pat.
Love this and the recent one about logistics. The whole short-form video essay using a video game or genre of games to reflect on something in the real world is a really good fit for them.
I have a coworker whose kid just graduated wrestling school into an indie wrestling promotion. It's hard knowing that some or all of this could happen to such a sweet kid. I hope with the rise in union action over the past year that we're able to see unionized wrestling in the U.S. For his sake.
Wrestling will never have a union.
@@Bale4Bond I don't know. It all depends on who has the leverage. In WWE, the wrestlers will never out muscle the company. In TNA, they could try but it'll be blood from a stone. If it happens, I bet it'd be AEW.
That said, the indies won't be unionizing. Ever. Anyone who tries is too easily replaced.
@@dgthe3 Why would any of the already overpaid bums in AEW think about unionizing?
@@Bale4Bond Tony would definitely fear for his life though
This explains why The Mountain Goats' concept album "Beat the Champ" starts with "Southwestern Territory" rather than "The Legend of Chavo Guerrero", a set up for the main character's inspiration for entering wrestling. "Southwestern Territory" is a sad song about a traveling jobber oscillating between enjoying the sweet, brief moments of glory in the ring and the cold, lonely, and stressful moments that comprise the rest of his life; the chorus openly repeats that his job is explicitly to lose over and over. It lets the listener know that the fun and drama of the rest of the album is only snapshots of a tragic life.
Apparently the Matrix has decided I need to listen to The Mountain Goats. This is like the second or third time I've seen/heard them mentioned in as many days.
@@Matthias129 you will not regret it
I love all MDickie games. They are just chaos incarnate and sometimes you can dismember people to horrorifying degrees.
I do too. With the exception of Sure Shot. Sure Shot sucks.
Extra lives and Wrecked memories huh?
@@kctharich6836 Wrecked and World War Alpha are MD's most underrated games hands down.
I was playing a character who was a jobber. I slowly got to a state where I was allowed to win, after losing about 50 matches on purpose. Then I was scheduled for a title match, but got injured and died a couple weeks before my title shot.
I was just in a random non-title match and some guy threw me out of the ring and my character screamed and got really slow, but I won anyway.
After the match, a screen came up that said that I collapsed backstage, after the match and could not be resuscitated.
After my character died, I just had to start over as a new character.
This video achieves that weird, amazing feat where... once we get to the end, I wanted you to start over with another wrestler, and to just tell me their absurd little story (with some more random social commentary / history of wrestling commentary peppered throughout). I guess it's the combo of the game, and the writing and performance of the video, but it's pretty wild. Great stuff.
as legitemately sad and exploitative real life wrestling can be, Buddy explosively pissing himself, waddling in to a match he immediately loses and waddling out of the ring only to exhaustedly crash and sleep on the floor in his piss soaked leather pants is the most hilarious sequence of events
Real
Well done. I didn't wake up today thinking a silly wrestling game would suplex my feelings but you got me good, Pat.
I met Roddy Piper a few years before he died. He was so incredibly pleasant, but I could tell that he was struggling. He never once raised his voice in that signature way that he was known for, and he was either sweating or looking pale for most of the convention weekend. We were in a hot convention hall (someone kept pulling the fire alarm and that disabled the AC), and there was really nowhere for the guests to escape the heat. Knowing that he was still sporadically wrestling at the time was crazy. Between the cancer, hip replacement, and other ailments, he should not have still been wrestling. I'm glad he was basically done that year, but there's no way it wasn't detrimental to the remainder of his life.
the moment I saw the title I knew this was gonna be a Pat banger. thank you for making such good wrestling content my dude
The actual drama with wrestling isn't what's on screen, it's what happens behind the scenes
AEW fan I assume?
Wrestling fans will say this and then wonder why they can't get invested in the shows anymore. Because you don't even try!
I need an entire series of Pat talking about wrestling video games. The knowledge he has of wrestling is amazing and I would love to hear more of it!
Idk but i think this reality about wrestling is what makes it so metal and cool, knowing that the people i watch are actual gladiators and they have fought for their dream
Knowing the wrestling world, and you'll appreciate Mark Callaway even more and understand why he's been praised and loved by every wrestler.
Honestly a great dive into a game I would've never heard about elsewhere. Everyone's videos on this channel are such treats into aspects of game design and comparisons to real life
Glad to see Pat and Mike's twitch series was really all just research for this Polygon video.
Every new video gets each individual producer closer to the singularity of being distilled down to their strongest passions and I am not complaining. 100 more wrestling/unionization videos please and thank you Patrick
Played all of MDickies games growing up! Insane that he released them all for free for the people
Having an actor start speaking about their experience with a health and fitness supplement via an ad immediately after 5:00 in this video while I was in another room made me, for a moment, wonder if this had turned into a deep dive into Huel's dark history beefing up jobbing wrestlers
12:16 looks like buddy went number 3 😳
Yeowch
oh my god you really did the wrestling empire video
By the end I really needed that Lego Yoda to lighten things up. Thanks Pat.
I love that Wrestling Empire is getting the respect it deserves. Hilariously great game.
And as always and forever, fuck Hulk Hogan.
Reminds me of John Oliver's episode on wrestling. Good stuff! Also, that guy correctly and calmly predicting that he won't make it to 65 is just heartbreaking
Roddy Piper.
I'm glad you decided to make this vidoe over mdickies game. He's made this game by himself and it still is more fun than any other pro wrestling game in the last 10 years.the games not perfect but you work around the odd parts and it still comes out better than most wrestling games
the clips you picked are amazing, especially of Bryan Danielson. he's one of my favorites ever, so that clip of him talking about his dad, was really beautiful, that was an excellent cut. that's the definitive Bryan Danielson, the way he's romantic about wrestling
MDickie is a underrated game developer in general. All of his games are still refreshing even after a decade of playing them. I’m glad to see the recognition.
Wow...really informative, empathetic, and funny. Thanks Pat!
That's awesome. I am so happy there are people who go their own way to make such art. Fact that they go this far creatively shows the difference of one doing a job, just making a "video game" vs. showing love. Lots of love was given here.
Absolutely incredible video, enjoyed this one a lot. Well done to everyone involved!
This was a fantastic piece, Pat. Thank you so much for putting the spotlight on the realities of wrestling and not doing so in an over-the-top way, but with the utmost respect. You always approach pro wrestling with just the right amount of reverence and humor.
Also thank you for touching on unionization. So many wrestlers have tried (and are still trying) for unionization that hasn't come.
Pat's eyes overlaid with the wrestling poop video title is godlike editing, it knocked the wind out of me
It's a good day when Pat drops a new video.
MDickie is a modern day mad scientist
love the video. love the description even more. shoutout to you great job
You’re very captivating in the way you produced this video, love your voice, and love the editing.
Never seen you til now but subscribing now. 🎉
My favorite hobby is hearing Pat gush about his. Truly marvelous work yet again.
What a great video, at times laugh out loud funny and others depressing, with a little message about solidarity mixed in! So good!
Now if you will excuse me I have to look up a video about wrestlers pooping in the ring.
2 seconds in and the elaborate yet, yet staccato animations, combined with the clear but outdated graphical style, plus that noted dream-like swimmy camera instantly make me go "wait, is this an M. Dickie joint?" and then the quick flash of the menu at 1:41 confirms it because that's the exact same menu I've seen in every game of theirs I've ever seen, including The You Testament, where you play out alternate universe version of stories from the new testament in this exact same wrestling sandbox game engine. Incredible~
Still thinking about this video a full day later, what an awesome breakdown of a passion-driven sport and the unique way game design can really tap into it… really appreciate the breakdown on both the sport and the game
Sleep! How can this video hit so many hyper-specific niches at once? I love it. Now I need to hear Pat talk about Doom Metal.
Proceeds the Wrestler
The crossover I never knew I needed
The world needs more of these wrestling empire vids from you
those few seconds of Buddy waddling in his new leather chaps were great
I had a wrestler who wanted a snack before his match, unfortunately the vending machine exploded and he died shortly after.
First time seeing one of your videos and this was a real treat out of no where..thank you 👍
A whole new perspective... amazing 🔥🔥
Great game review, & commentary on the life of pro wrestling. Ironic to mention the Danielson Orbital bone injury, since he has just suffered the same injury again in AEW.
I love these videos, especially when they get "too" real. Like, I very nearly teared up at this one!! And I think that's incredible. You're doing great work out here, y'all.
Fantastic preview and essay!
I played the old 2D version of Wrestling Revolution like crazy. Loved that game.
Why did this hit so hard? Great job, thank you for your attention to something that goes so unappreciated
Oh my goodness the nostalgia overload. This takes me back when I would play games on my phone aside from Trivia Crack.
oh thank god more Pat run wrestling content, I needed this today.
I admire your creative approach to reviewing this game, by put it side to side with real life struggles professional wrestlers face. For me personally it one of the most realistic wrestling games in physics aspect as well, no other game allows you to catch people mid air from someone else's move without it being a scripted sequence. I also love how one can input direction into your moves.
There's also one other, somehow darker thing about the business that can happen in this game.
During one of my playthroughs, I was booked in a hardcore match with another wrestler. After hitting my finisher on him into a trashcan, he gets injured. Swiftly ending the match and getting through the curtain, I find out that he died as a result of his injury.
I snitched on a Union in my play through. (My character is 54, multi millionaire, and best career of all time, and career lasted 32 years)
Great video! Thanks for making it
I could listen to you talking about wrestling for hours.
I see a new Polygon video, I click.
I see a new Polygon video from Patrick Gill, I click TWICE.
This was an incredible video, making me sympathize for a random game character. But also getting jumped twice at the vending machine was too funny!
Nice subtle Bobby Heenan tribute with the "ham & egger" remark.
I never see myself in any of the clips Limitless posts but you post from one of their matches and BAM there I am.
i fuckin love it when patrick makes a wrestling video man. another great one from the king
I’ve been playing wrestling empire for a year now and even played wrestling revolution 2d for 2 years, but I really love how you dive deep into a goofy game and made me rethink what a shithole it must feel for my wrestling, he’s getting his ass whooped every other week and can barely exercise without being gassed out or paralyzed, I love this video because you clearly put a lot of work into this, good job man.
Never expected that a video about an MDickie game could make me tear up
Pat knocks it out of the park again, always so happy to see when a new one goes up :)
This is such a PAT video, and I'm absolutely here for it
I just watched this, bought it and subbed! Great stuff brother!
I would love to hear what Steph Sterling has to say about this game, since she's a pro wrestler herself.
If I gauged her tastes well, she probably loves it in a Deadly Premonition way. In spite of all the "autoerotic assetflipsiation".
"Floor hotdogs" didn't sound so bad until I we realize that's the same floor the wrestlers pissed themselves on.
Kinky
I had seen a couple of clips of this game before, but I had no idea it was this detailed. Very glad I came across this video
The culture of working while injury in pro wrestling is definitely egregious - one shared by the NHL (and I presume ice hockey in general), e.g. Matthew Tkachuk playing multiple playoff games with a broken sternum. The same 'it's not mandatory but it's valorised' dynamic. But the medical care and money and resources available to NHL players will be exponentially greater than the vast majority of pro wrestlers.
Beautifully articulated! Mdickie's games are a work of beauty and you covered it in an amazing way!
youtuber supergreatfriend conjured maybe the strangest series of videos out there by dragging a beefcake luchador through the entire mDickieverse. can't reccommend it highly enough.
Bully Demise, the people's champion. Possibly the only early 2010s LP worth sitting through to its ridiculous conclusion in wwe2k14. Started life on a 2d version of wrestling empire on of all things, the Ouya. He's now a character in this game which is hilarious. Mdickie games are so odd yet so charming - the characterisation of it as the Dwarf Fortress of wrestling games is spot on, a tragedy story generator
I see you with that Bull Buchanan reference and the Test outfit!
Great video Pat. Thank you.
Pat's videos have made me really appreciate wrestling. This video specifically reminds me of the Box Brown "Andre the Giant" nonfiction comic. Its really sobering stuff that shows the limits of athleticism and showmanship
great video, well done!
This is one of my favorite wrestling game there is. Wrestling Revolution 3D, the game before it, is probably the game I've played the most in my life. Years spent playing it
This game is basically a "Dark Side of the Ring" episode simulator
I bet if MDickie teamed up with Rockstar, this concept would blow up.
Shoutout to the Beyond Wrestling cameo
Another Pat masterpiece. One of the best ones yet!!!
literally had my jaw dropped near the end. amazing video...........
That was a damn good video. Made me feel... Well something.👍