When designing our campaign(s) we are always looking to the future and the potential to have multiple single player campaign types.
As such we have named our first and main story mode: "Legacy Career".
You can play this mode with any of the game's wrestlers (if unlocked) or with any created wrestler.
With Legacy Career, you will experience the life of a professional wrestler.
The story mode will be split into decades and you will begin your wrestling career in the 1980s. You can wrestle for one or many different promotions across the USA, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Continental Europe, Japan and the UK - with stopovers at venues all over the world.
Each promotion will have their own unique challenges and opportunities so you'll never quite know what you're getting until you walk into that locker room and shake the hand of the promoter. And some of them? Well, all I'm saying is you better check that pay out again...
How you manage that is up to you.
Maybe you'll be a charismatic machine that rolls through the industry like a titan, headline bouts, collecting eye-watering pay cheques and winin', dinin' and limousine ridin' - or maybe you just love wrestling and want to take your skills somewhere they'll be appreciated; somewhere you can earn the hearts and minds of those honourable, insane, extreme or slightly smoky fans, maybe somewhere with the big boys.
Or maybe just where people who like to watch you bleed. Somewhere warm and sunny? Maybe cold and wet. North? South? Maybe the
Mid-West? So many choices, but the clock is ticking and everyone wants to take your spot. Hard times ahead...
It's not all bad on the road, though.
Throughout your career you'll have plenty of chances to make new friends, reunite with old ones, impress a promoter, hire a manager and find yourself a tag-team partner - and sometimes you'll need a few mates to save your skin when the wildest fans turn or help even the odds with a timely run-in when your back's against the wall.
But their friendship may come with a price: are you willing to change up your look to be part of the team? Not everyone looks good in a suit. Absolutely nobody looks good in a chicken suit.
Be careful not to steal anyone's moves either, or you might see a good friend turn to a bitter enemy in the blink of an eye, brother.
But, hey, if that doesn't work out...
You can always turn heel and betray them all!
You can set down roots and grow your popularity in one location and become a living legend in one region, company and country. An ambassador and hero, a holdout or just a fan of repetition.
But when things aren't going your way, when the heat gets too much or you just find yourself jerking the curtain to cold crowds rather than living the rock 'n roll show you were promised, then it's time to up sticks and take your baggage to a new promotion in a different part of the world. There will be many ups and downs throughout your career and the more you explore the world of UPW the more goodies you will unlock. Your very own wrestling treasure hunt. Good luck.
It's all about the gimmicks, dude.
Your creativity will be in demand too - will you be the wrestler to take advantage of this boom in the industry? Design your own t-shirts and merch to hawk at the concession stand and get another run on that poster they can't get enough of on mail order. Did you remember to get your head shots? Creative want you to take a look at their latest music and video ideas. And did someone say action figures?
I just hope your business acumen is as good as your submission skills.
Each decade will be released in a new story pack after development is completed - but you'll have to play through the previous decade first to experience what they have to offer. No peeking.
Here's a wee example:
Once you battle your way through the highs and lows of the crazy '80s for the first time and the downloadable content pack for the '90s becomes available - you will unlock the next decade.
From here, you can continue playing as your previously selected wrestler or you can even start an entirely new '90s career with a different wrestler in a different starting promotion - hell, you can even go back and try a different direction starting from the '80s!
On completion of one decade, you will unlock the ability to customize the promotions/wrestlers/belts/anything you like from that decade.
Ultra Pro Wrestling is an ode to the action, the drama and the masterful storytelling of the greatest sport in the world and those who made it all possible. So maybe you'll notice a familiar storyline unfolding or a unique angle that rings a bell - that's because characters and feud elements will be inspired by real world wrestlers and historic moments. I mean, who jumps through barber shop windows anyway?
Tie that to the creation suite and you can relive and reimagine any scenario in wrestling history.
Your career path will not be linear or pre-determined.
Everything that happens in your career will happen dynamically based on a great number of factors such as your character's popularity, morality and in-ring skill. How big you get, how low you fall and just how many adoring fans sing your name in arenas around the world?
Well, that's up to you.
You've never played a career mode like this before.
Unequalled depth, detail, customization and creation all at your fingertips with a progression system that keeps track of every little stat you could ever want (or not..) across thousands of matches and decades upon decades of a career. A ground-breaking system built from the ground up specifically for Ultra Pro Wrestling (tied to the one-of-a-kind Ultra Pro Engine that captures the feel of the classic N64 games) that will combine your in-ring and backstage actions with a progressive, engaging storyline with no dead ends and no Game Overs.
This is no short ride, believe me. You'll need to buckle up those boots and tape those fists because you're about to be tested by a gaming experience unlike any other - THIS is the career mode you've been waiting for.
Oh...and it doesn't end when you retire...