The most interesting part seems to be the game started development before the attitude era, as a lot of the screenshots/wrestlers were more new generation era.
You're right Larry!, it was originally a different game, they latter changed everything from scratch, Fun Fact: The Blue Blazer was supposed to be in the game, but after Owen Hart's death, they scrapped him entirely (except Owen himself is in the game already), but there is also an Owen armabnds that are in the game as a homage to Owen Hart.
@@KirbyVanPelt That's WWF Attitude you're thinking about. Warzone came out a year before Owen's death. Attitude was slightly delayed because of Owen's death.
I think they started working on it in either April or May 97. If you look at Goldust's face paint and hairstyle in the FMVs, it's exactly the same face paint and hairstyle that he wore back in the second quarter of 1997. The reason why I say April is because that was when the Vader Kuwait incident took place, as he was initially supposed to be a part of the video game. After all, his mask is available in the create a superstar feature of the game. And the reason why I say May is because that was when Goldust started to change up his face paint.
Wow, the wrestler models actually look better in the beta version. The shape and textures in the final version look too smooth and their bodies look too bulky. In the beta, their bodies look alot better proportioned.
They are using the golden era/new generation ring colors and the crowd looks like late 80s/early 90s crowd. I wonder if there a rom dump of this beta anywhere.
So that's interesting that they have "Destiny" Rock, "Blue Blood" Trips and "Kliq" HBK but in the finished game, it's DX Shawn & Trips and NOD Rock...yet they left in the things about their past gimmicks in the grudge promos, Rock talking about being a third gen wrestler, Trips talking about how he'll get his lawyer in and HBK talking about the Kliq
Production of the game was probably in early 97' that explains the outdated content...I've always wondered the same in games like WWF Raw,WCW Mayhem,SvR 05' E.T.C...All those games I've noticed had major outdated and missing features,now I know why,it's because they was in production early of the year before...
Motka There was more footage posted on UA-cam a few years ago but it was removed shortly after. That one had gameplay featuring Bulldog and Mankind I believe.
Thank you so much. Many great memories. Never been more excited for a game in my life. CAW literally had me giddy. Barely slept a wink before release day! I seem to remember there being an image of wrestlers on the ramp during a match, too.
The beta looks dope the blue cage (would've been cool to include the ropes) looks cool and the red and white blue ropes looks awesome should've been a arena options
Wow in all honesty I like the camera angle for the regular match in the beta version it showed more depth in terms of field view but the final showed more facial photo realistic features I guess smh
Seems like the developers made the game too far in advance and couldn't keep up with all the changes the WWF was going through at the time. They changed the ring design and some ring attires and ring names to match newer gimmicks (Hunter to Triple H, Rocky to The Rock), but still by the time the game came out it was very outdated: Bret Hart, British Bulldog and Ahmed Johnson were gone, HBK was out for the next few years, Faarooq was out of the Nation and The Rock and Triple H's promos were from previous gimmicks.
More so that both this game and the sequel Attitude went through development hell at Iguana West and both games were released about a half year after they were initially slated to ship. This game was meant to be a very early '98 release. But undoubtedly they were handed a tough task with the on screen product entirely changing from what they initially started making
Does anyone know the story to why Bret Hart remained in the game? Bret Hart was gone from the WWE in late 1997 this game didn’t come out until July 1998 which is several months after the Montreal screw job there was definitely plenty of time to of taking them out of the game.
TheSSUltimateGoku Idk if they still do it...But around this time,WWF and WCW would make video games of that year,but the game would be based on the year before...EX:WWF Warzone was made in 1998,but the game was based on the year 1997 simply because they started working on the game in 97'...
I bought the Acclaim strategy guide for Warzone and they had an interview in it where the developers said that they “fought” to keep guys like Bret Hart, British Bulldog and Ahmed Johnson in the game. Apparently, some people tried to have those wrestlers removed because they wanted the game to appear more current, but those developers who fought to keep them won the argument.
The beta models appear to be better than the actual final models of the wrestlers? It must be because they ran out of room having to adjust everything else that the models suffered.
If I had to guess, the beta probably wasn't running on actual hardware. Then the jump to PS1 and N64 probably created terrible lag. Those being the top consoles at the time, they probably had to remove some polygons and change the camera angles to allow the game to run smoothly. The beta animations look more like a simulation, whereas the final has a more arcade look. I could definitely believe they wanted to speed up the game play. It's definitely interesting that beta Steve Austin here looks the best he would look until next generation consoles.
Had this game been released as scheduled in late 1997, we would’ve seen more wrestlers that had been in the WWF at the time such as Vader, The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal), Sycho Sid, Brian Pillman, Crush, Savio Vega and the Godwins.
Excellent Ive been looking for something like this for about 6-7 years and that WWF '98 video was out on youtube but just disappeared....anyways hope you do smackdown 1 next
I remember seeing a screenshot from an article of the game during the WWF 98 stage, of some guy in a red long sleeve formal shirt and white-ish pants, and from what I can remember the article said something about Ken Shamrock being that guy or something.
So game was developed around after mania 13 and took 2 years to come out geez no wonder we never got red white n blue ropes or blue cage I remember from commercial
this explains why the Road Warriors werent in it. ive always wondered why they chose the Headbangers over the more popular LOD. the game was developed way before they arrived.
@wrestlingvideogames I know that there are several wrestlers like ultimate warrior and Mr perfect and the mountie left out in the SNES super WrestleMania also interview segments.. if you find That would be gold..
I remember back some time before this game released, I came across a screenshot in EGM magazine for this game that showed a match up screen with the two wrestlers in front of an In Your House logo. That made me think that different arenas would be in the game (a first at the time). I was disappointed when the game came out and the only arena was Raw is War.
What I'd like to know is why somebody has not modded the games acclaim made 4 games attitude, war zone and 2 ECW games which where all the exact same game. It's a shame somebody can't combine all 4 games together. To make one big massive game if the games are the exact same games except for slight changes like different items in creation mode and stuff it would probably be simple to put them together could you imagine the creation mode would be so big there would be so many match types and wrestlers.
The beta version is set in mid 1997 While the late version is set in late 1997 early 1998 Dx came in 1997 and the pose was in there Jr and vince calls him rocky maivia Which they did in 1997 Vince mcmahon stopped commentary in 1998 And he was commentating in 1997 which the game is loosely based on The name hunter hearst helmsley Was givento triple h in the early years of his career and the name hhh ended in late 1997 Kane arrived in wwf in 1997
@@WrestlingVideoGames I agree especially some of the beta looked amazing like even WWF Attitude looked better in beta when I was reading Nintendo Power when that one was being made
If some of the clothing parts that appear in CAW are any indication, there may have been some characters they planned on that didn't make the cut. There are masks for The Patriot and Vader, Jeff Jarrett's 1997-early 98 attire (the white/green/orange NWA outfit), and outfits that look a lot like Brian Christopher and Taka Michinoku's.
The controls make sense with the beta given it looks like a game that was made for them while the finished game looks like the controls should have been like the aki games and the first two smackdowns
No it wasn't. They did some fuckery with their official TV ratings listings where they'd be classified as two different shows. 9-10 was "WWF Raw" and 10-11 was "WWF Warzone". The Warzone hour was more adult-oriented. But it was always either "Monday Night Raw" or "RAW is WAR". There never was a time where it was called "Monday Night Warzone".
Derek Taylor First one is called "We're All Together Now", second one is "Thorn in Your Eye", both by WWF Superstars and Slam Jam (a makeshift band put together for Full Metal: The Album)
I don't think they even completed half of that game. I remember the article in gamepro or some magazine back in the day. It was supposed to be on ps2. Unfortunately, the days of World Tour and Revenge were over and we were getting Mayhem and Backstage Assault. I still would've bought it cuz I was always a WCW fan, but I don't think it would've held up very good.
They should have used the beta version lol. Why we got was good but it was a mess controls was wtf everything had a button code to pull off moves. Got it for my 15th bday my dad spent 76.75 on it. We played the hell outta it still but man remembering the combination to hit a stunner was a bitch
The most interesting part seems to be the game started development before the attitude era, as a lot of the screenshots/wrestlers were more new generation era.
You're right Larry!, it was originally a different game, they latter changed everything from scratch, Fun Fact: The Blue Blazer was supposed to be in the game, but after Owen Hart's death, they scrapped him entirely (except Owen himself is in the game already), but there is also an Owen armabnds that are in the game as a homage to Owen Hart.
@@KirbyVanPelt That's WWF Attitude you're thinking about. Warzone came out a year before Owen's death. Attitude was slightly delayed because of Owen's death.
I think they started working on it in either April or May 97. If you look at Goldust's face paint and hairstyle in the FMVs, it's exactly the same face paint and hairstyle that he wore back in the second quarter of 1997. The reason why I say April is because that was when the Vader Kuwait incident took place, as he was initially supposed to be a part of the video game. After all, his mask is available in the create a superstar feature of the game. And the reason why I say May is because that was when Goldust started to change up his face paint.
The Beta looks so much smoother and polished than the actual release gameplay wise
So true they should have added 4 attires for each wrestler
Most 64 games were like this, because the games didn't run as well on the actual 64, maybe also for Nintendo Power promo pictures.
Wow, the wrestler models actually look better in the beta version. The shape and textures in the final version look too smooth and their bodies look too bulky. In the beta, their bodies look alot better proportioned.
They are using the golden era/new generation ring colors and the crowd looks like late 80s/early 90s crowd. I wonder if there a rom dump of this beta anywhere.
I hope there is
The beta is set in 1996
So that's interesting that they have "Destiny" Rock, "Blue Blood" Trips and "Kliq" HBK but in the finished game, it's DX Shawn & Trips and NOD Rock...yet they left in the things about their past gimmicks in the grudge promos, Rock talking about being a third gen wrestler, Trips talking about how he'll get his lawyer in and HBK talking about the Kliq
XTheVideoGamerGirlX I'm sure they where already so far into production and close to release that only certain slight changes could be made
XTheVideoGamerGirlX imagine if the Beta version had “Destiny, Ode to Joy and Sexy Boy” as Rocky’s, Hunter’s and Shawn’s entrance music respectively.
Also Shouldn't They Have Undertaker's Previous Gimmick Which Was The Original Deadman
Production of the game was probably in early 97' that explains the outdated content...I've always wondered the same in games like WWF Raw,WCW Mayhem,SvR 05' E.T.C...All those games I've noticed had major outdated and missing features,now I know why,it's because they was in production early of the year before...
@@futuregohan4837 yep😎
You're doing the "Beta vs. Final" thing again? Awesome!
I'll be damned, the Beta DOES look better in some ways!
I've noticed that the Beta version seems to be based off the late New Generation Era, while the final version is Attitude Era
i always thought it was strange that they chose the Headbangers over the Legion of Doom, and this explains why. LOD wasnt around yet lol
Wow, I never knew footage of WWF '98 existed. Fucking cool dude.
Motka There was more footage posted on UA-cam a few years ago but it was removed shortly after. That one had gameplay featuring Bulldog and Mankind I believe.
I’m trying to find any footage of it and I can’t except here now
@@curtiswilliams5223 Did you ever find anything?
@@MBM1117727 No unfortunately I did some more digging and it’s lost footage, only could find screenshots
@@curtiswilliams5223 Damn, the uploader must have got that from somewhere.
Crowd definitely looks better in the beta version. They probably had to scale it down for framerate/stability reasons.
The biggest improvement was for Rock. Definitely gave him more focus and large presence. His photo alone is such a huge improvement.
I still can't understand why they made the mat piss and nicotine stained yellow. It annoyed me then and annoys me now!
It looked like that in the n64 version, the ps1 version looked alot better.
and top kek i thought it looked like piss too.
It never annoyed me.
I think it was to emulate stage lights more than anything.
@@Larry IMO Beta Version looks way better than the final version.....
I hope someone ROM dump this game
@@cysper479 have you checked hidden palace?
oh my the beta version create a character looked like a alien
Cuz2114 😂😂
I like a final version of ps1
Thank you so much. Many great memories. Never been more excited for a game in my life. CAW literally had me giddy. Barely slept a wink before release day!
I seem to remember there being an image of wrestlers on the ramp during a match, too.
that turned out to be a fake, i believe
Really? That's kind of surprising given it was nearly 20 years ago!
ECWDanSelby you may be thinking of attitude the sequel lol
It was definitely War Zone. I remember seeing the images during the build-up.
@Justin Urhead Thanks
The beta looks dope the blue cage (would've been cool to include the ropes) looks cool and the red and white blue ropes looks awesome should've been a arena options
That HBK pose you could pull off all you had to do is press triangle + X together and he did it
Why was there never a demo of the Beta version? I'd love to play it.
My guess is they never got one out before they had to redo the game due to the Attitude Era.
Wow in all honesty I like the camera angle for the regular match in the beta version it showed more depth in terms of field view but the final showed more facial photo realistic features I guess smh
the old hbk taunt was indeed in the final version. c-down +B did one taunt, c-left+A did the other taunt in michaels' case.
Seems like the developers made the game too far in advance and couldn't keep up with all the changes the WWF was going through at the time. They changed the ring design and some ring attires and ring names to match newer gimmicks (Hunter to Triple H, Rocky to The Rock), but still by the time the game came out it was very outdated: Bret Hart, British Bulldog and Ahmed Johnson were gone, HBK was out for the next few years, Faarooq was out of the Nation and The Rock and Triple H's promos were from previous gimmicks.
More so that both this game and the sequel Attitude went through development hell at Iguana West and both games were released about a half year after they were initially slated to ship. This game was meant to be a very early '98 release. But undoubtedly they were handed a tough task with the on screen product entirely changing from what they initially started making
You can see the actual wwf logos on the turnbuckles unlike the finished version
Audience in beta version looks like wm arcade game in 3D format
1:14 They even used the Beta pictures for the Game Boy version of WWF Warzone
The Beta gameplay/motions remind me alot of All Japan Pro Wrestling King's Soul for ps1.
The Beta has that WWE Smackdown look on the PS1
Does anyone know the story to why Bret Hart remained in the game? Bret Hart was gone from the WWE in late 1997 this game didn’t come out until July 1998 which is several months after the Montreal screw job there was definitely plenty of time to of taking them out of the game.
TheSSUltimateGoku Idk if they still do it...But around this time,WWF and WCW would make video games of that year,but the game would be based on the year before...EX:WWF Warzone was made in 1998,but the game was based on the year 1997 simply because they started working on the game in 97'...
I bought the Acclaim strategy guide for Warzone and they had an interview in it where the developers said that they “fought” to keep guys like Bret Hart, British Bulldog and Ahmed Johnson in the game. Apparently, some people tried to have those wrestlers removed because they wanted the game to appear more current, but those developers who fought to keep them won the argument.
@@davidnec571 Dang😀We need Bret Hart
The Shawn Michael classic pose at 2:13 was included as a second thought in the ring but that was the only one it was used for.
Thank God we all got The Final Version of WWF War Zone.
weird time for games, weird time for WWF. very interesting i love seeing the betas of old early 3d games
I would have liked to seen the red white and blue ropes feature in the game and the different camera angles for the cage matches
The beta models appear to be better than the actual final models of the wrestlers? It must be because they ran out of room having to adjust everything else that the models suffered.
If I had to guess, the beta probably wasn't running on actual hardware. Then the jump to PS1 and N64 probably created terrible lag. Those being the top consoles at the time, they probably had to remove some polygons and change the camera angles to allow the game to run smoothly. The beta animations look more like a simulation, whereas the final has a more arcade look. I could definitely believe they wanted to speed up the game play. It's definitely interesting that beta Steve Austin here looks the best he would look until next generation consoles.
It's almost like some of the graphics were better in the beta. But that might be the blurred photo quality
Had this game been released as scheduled in late 1997, we would’ve seen more wrestlers that had been in the WWF at the time such as Vader, The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal), Sycho Sid, Brian Pillman, Crush, Savio Vega and the Godwins.
Yeah they have Vader mask in the create a wrestler menu.
I never knew that exist the beta version of Warzone
The only game to go include Rocky Maivia(the Heel version before becoming the Rock)
Excellent Ive been looking for something like this for about 6-7 years and that WWF '98 video was out on youtube but just disappeared....anyways hope you do smackdown 1 next
Wow never noticed the difference, usely into games without caring bout the graphics this is a good video 💪
Beta version Owen Hart looks better than the Final Version
What if they had kept the WWF 98 name? Would HCTP be WWE 04 etc.?
The crowd in the beta version was a lot better. I wonder what happened with that.
Stability, fram rate issues maybe.
I remember seeing a screenshot from an article of the game during the WWF 98 stage, of some guy in a red long sleeve formal shirt and white-ish pants, and from what I can remember the article said something about Ken Shamrock being that guy or something.
sounds like brother love with his jacket removed lol
There was a video on UA-cam before with a lot more beta footage, but the guy deleted it for no damn reason.
Whoever deleted that video, why did you do it, asshole?
That shawn michaels pose is in the game
Awesome video dude
So game was developed around after mania 13 and took 2 years to come out geez no wonder we never got red white n blue ropes or blue cage I remember from commercial
this explains why the Road Warriors werent in it. ive always wondered why they chose the Headbangers over the more popular LOD. the game was developed way before they arrived.
At 1:18 they also have those Beta pictures on WWF Warzone Gameboy Color😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮
Are you going to do the "Beta vs. Final" thing for WWF Attitude?
I will get round to it eventually. It's definitely planned.
Could you also do a "Beta vs Final" For Virtual Pro Wrestling 2 please?
Shit cant wait for that one
Speaking of which, someone does have a copy of the beta version of WWF attitude, he posted footage of it
m.ua-cam.com/video/KqZdch9ns3s/v-deo.html
Yep. Complete with Blue Blazer suit for Owen, which was posthumously removed per Martha's wishes most likely following the tragic incident.
The music brings back so many memories 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Keep the beta crowd,ropes,arena and this would've had the TV feel on point
I wonder if it is possible to download the Beta Version of WWF WAR ZONE "WWF 98" ??
The early beta create a player head was like alien
@ wrestlingvideogames do you have any footage of the beta version of super wrestle mania or wrestle fest?
@wrestlingvideogames I know that there are several wrestlers like ultimate warrior and Mr perfect and the mountie left out in the SNES super WrestleMania also interview segments.. if you find That would be gold..
Is it me or does early version look better
The beta is set a year previous from 1998 or it is set in 1996
Never got why cage match made ropes disappear
I remember back some time before this game released, I came across a screenshot in EGM magazine for this game that showed a match up screen with the two wrestlers in front of an In Your House logo. That made me think that different arenas would be in the game (a first at the time). I was disappointed when the game came out and the only arena was Raw is War.
What I'd like to know is why somebody has not modded the games acclaim made 4 games attitude, war zone and 2 ECW games which where all the exact same game. It's a shame somebody can't combine all 4 games together. To make one big massive game if the games are the exact same games except for slight changes like different items in creation mode and stuff it would probably be simple to put them together could you imagine the creation mode would be so big there would be so many match types and wrestlers.
I wish they would have kept the red white and blue ropes
I agree, would have been nice to have a second ring just to change things up
@@WrestlingVideoGames yeah the animations for the moves looked better too
The beta version is set in mid 1997
While the late version is set in late 1997 early 1998
Dx came in 1997 and the pose was in there
Jr and vince calls him rocky maivia
Which they did in 1997
Vince mcmahon stopped commentary in 1998
And he was commentating in 1997 which the game is loosely based on
The name hunter hearst helmsley
Was givento triple h in the early years of his career and the name hhh ended in late 1997
Kane arrived in wwf in 1997
The moves in the beta looked more fluent than the released game
Creat a wrestler looks like an alien.
Love the red white and blue ropes on the beta
It's a shame they couldn't leave them in as an alternate arena to unlock, or something.
@@WrestlingVideoGames I agree especially some of the beta looked amazing like even WWF Attitude looked better in beta when I was reading Nintendo Power when that one was being made
Oh Baby How did you Get These Beta Versions of the old Wrestling games before it came out!! Amazing job though 😁😀😎🤑🗻🌏🌐
Wonder if there are hidden codes still to be found or even caws?
The beta version looks better than the final release. The wrestler models look better, and the move animations look smoother.
How did you get access to beta version?
I think there was a left out charecter right?
Daniel 316 yea Vader among others smh
My guess is they removed him for legal reasons.
If some of the clothing parts that appear in CAW are any indication, there may have been some characters they planned on that didn't make the cut. There are masks for The Patriot and Vader, Jeff Jarrett's 1997-early 98 attire (the white/green/orange NWA outfit), and outfits that look a lot like Brian Christopher and Taka Michinoku's.
Do anyone actually owns the beta version? I am super curious if someone actually has it. Maybe can upload it?
The controls make sense with the beta given it looks like a game that was made for them while the finished game looks like the controls should have been like the aki games and the first two smackdowns
I forgot! Monday Night Raw before RAW IS WAR was originally called Monday Night Warzone
No it wasn't. They did some fuckery with their official TV ratings listings where they'd be classified as two different shows. 9-10 was "WWF Raw" and 10-11 was "WWF Warzone". The Warzone hour was more adult-oriented. But it was always either "Monday Night Raw" or "RAW is WAR". There never was a time where it was called "Monday Night Warzone".
My childhood what I played this game, it was awesome.
Also crowd is way better looking in the beta
What are the name of those songs and who performs them?
Derek Taylor First one is called "We're All Together Now", second one is "Thorn in Your Eye", both by WWF Superstars and Slam Jam (a makeshift band put together for Full Metal: The Album)
all together now was by Anthrax
Any one ever get their hands on a WCW 2000 game that never came out because of the WWF buying them out?
I don't think they even completed half of that game. I remember the article in gamepro or some magazine back in the day. It was supposed to be on ps2. Unfortunately, the days of World Tour and Revenge were over and we were getting Mayhem and Backstage Assault. I still would've bought it cuz I was always a WCW fan, but I don't think it would've held up very good.
the beta is better than the final version smh also in this game he wasn't the rock he was rocky maivia 3:24
Who was the last a character to be added to the game?
The beta version had a much larger crowd.
The beta version actually looks better IMO.
So basically it was just all round better looking 😂
Show the secret characters of WWF War Zone
Where to get the war zone beta version?
Keep it up with these beta videos 👏
There's definitely more coming in the future 🤘🏻
How did people get ahold of the beta?
i love these
So the beta is actually the final version 😂
The Bata looks better
They should have used the beta version lol. Why we got was good but it was a mess controls was wtf everything had a button code to pull off moves.
Got it for my 15th bday my dad spent 76.75 on it.
We played the hell outta it still but man remembering the combination to hit a stunner was a bitch
The beta version was better 💚
That music....
2:09 beta looks like an alein!!!
This whole game was a “beta version” lol
Lmao that's so true
PlayStation didn't have the Royal Rumble
Only good music 🎵 and videos
Gameplay wise the N64 was definitely the superior version.
Hated this game, the AKI wrestlers were so much better but gotta say, the beta looks way better than the final version. Shame.
The First Beta Shawn Micheal look way better he evn have is wrist armband !!!
I want to play this
Should of Went with the Beta Version👑🤗😁🍺🍻🤑🤨😎😎😀🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭💖💖💖💖💖💖
🗣️🗣️🗣️BETA VERSION IS BETTER ""
I hate this fucking game 😂😂
this game is awful