The story mode continues from last year's game, in which your created superstar worked his way up the ranks from nobody to World Heavyweight Champion. Somewhere along the line, in customary WWE fashion, you got Roshambo'ed out of your title. But you got Stacy Keibler as your girlfriend. You win some, you lose some. More on the story mode later, because the first thing you'll likely want to know about are the visuals.
Apparently, Yukes pumped 25 to 30 percent more polygons into each character model, and it really shows. The shiny plastic look that made wrestlers look like their action figure counterparts in Day of Reckoning is gone. The create-a-wrestler has too much detail in some areas and too little in others -- why are there types of wrestlers to adjust instead of creating someone from scratch? It's distracting, but ultimately a minor beef against the rest of the visuals. The lighting effects and details look substantially better. Even the crowd looks well fleshed out and three-dimensional. There is no doubt that Day of Reckoning 2 is the best-looking WWE title to hit the GameCube.
And the presentation is exceptionally eye-catching. From the roster of superstars I used with special entrances, they were accurate and intact. JBL's limousine pulls up to the rampway as he exits. Carlito comes to the ring with his trademark apple. Even better, Eddie Guerrero's lowrider comes halfway down the ramp as it bounces side to side. The roster has added newer superstars, including Heidenreich, Chris Masters, Christy Hemme, and Carlito. The legends roster includes The Rock, Mankind, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, and Bret "Hitman" Hart. The pyrotechnics look as good as they possibly can on the system; there are some flaws here and there, but overall, this is the visual pinnacle of a wrestling game on the 'Cube. Looks, however, aren't everything; as most people who prefer the GameCube's WWE titles to more popular ones, such as SmackDown! on PS2, tend to make that preference based on gameplay.