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Every year THQ and Yukes deliver us the officially licensed WWE Smackdown Vs Raw video game, but year after year they have always seemed to either miss something, miss someone, add glitch upon glitch, make Jim Ross sound retarded or create an online lag fest. This year however it is evident they put alot of thought and consideration into the series.


Likes
*A great roster.
*The game runs great even on the Playstation 3 this year.
*Career mode is addictive.
*The Creation tools are great to play with.
*You can edit and manage the roster how you like.

Dislikes
*Online could still be better.
*Cant put logos on your created characters if you wish to use them online.
*Some cut scenes and rivalries in Career mode would have been nice.
*No implimentation of Trophies.

Gameplay

This year the game play has taken a major jump into improvement, both Smackdown veterans and new comers will be happy to know the controls are as simple and smooth to use as they have been in years. Not just that but the game feels a lot less clumsy, the physics still feel a tiny bit broken here and there but this is something Yukes will only fix if they change the engine completely.
Also 2008’s version of Smackdown Vs Raw ran really poorly on the Playstation 3 compared to the Xbox 360 version, this year however the game runs beautifully all around the board, so no matter what version you play you’ll be getting the best experience.

Graphics

Still no major step up in graphics but the game looks as crisp as it can do for now considering THQ stil wants the game to be on Playstation 2, PSP and DS. I am sure however if they just focused on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 vesions they could create a graphical masterpiece. What we have here is no where near bad however, wrestlers sweat, their facial features change and are distinguishable, and even the crowd looks alot more solid.

Sound

The sound track for the game this year is a mix of your usual rock and metal songs as well as the official WWE Theme songs. Commentary seems improved but still could be better. But I have to acknowledge the referee as he now has his own voice and talks to the wrestlers, throw your opponent in a submission and he’ll ask them whether their ready to give up. This is a nice touch as it feels like the referee is a lot more involved.

Creation

I can tell you already that I have wasted so much time on the creation tools, it feels great to know you can get your characters exactly how you want them. The create a wrestler itself is pretty much the same deal but its the fact that you can now create your own finisher that is outstanding. Its not even that complicated to make a decent one either, it allows you to choose how you wish for your character to punish your opponent in each sequence of the move. You can have up to 6 sequences per move but I doubt you’ll even use that many. Another thing im happy with is this year, even on the Playstation 3 you have the ability to chose a custom theme song straight from your hard drives mp3 collection.

Story

This year they have split up the story and career into two separate modes, story wise you have Road To Wrestlemania. Road To Wrestlemania allows you to be one of 7 WWE Superstars (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, John Cena, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Rey Mysterio and Batista) who each have their own unique story complete with voice overs and cut scenes. The stories have to be some of the best storyline work seen in a WWE Smackdown title in years, it’s just a shame they couldn’t fit more superstars into this mode.
There is also a careers mode in which you can choose any superstar you like (a created one would be best) and build up their stats based on how you wrestle in matches. I love the building up system this year as it automatically advances your superstars skills based on how you wrestle in matches. If you reverse alot, your technical attribute will raise significantly for example. This mode allows you to follow a path for each championship in the WWE one by one. The only catch is, there is no story or cut scenes in career mode.
With that being said I am really happy with this year’s story and career modes.

My WWE

Every year there are complaints from the fans about the rosters not being accurate, not being on the right brand or the title holders not being correct. Yukes have come up with a smart solution by adding My WWE, which allows you to edit and change the whole roster as you please. The changes you make will only effect what happens in Exibition mode so do not worry about messing up your career mode by doing this. This really gives you the satisfaction of making the game how you want it to be and with this tool I think this game will defiantly last fans the whole year.

Matches

All the favorite matches are still there with the addition of the Inferno Match, I remember there being an inferno match in another wrestling game a while back but this one is very well done. Every move you pull off with a strong impact will raise the temperature and strength of the flames, when the flames reach the highest temperature (300 degrees) you can then drag your opponent into the flames to set them alight, Expect them to resist of course.
Also this year the tag team mechanics have been improved, you can now perform a hot tag after being beaten up for a good portion of the match. Also your partners AI (if you are playing with a computer operated partner) is more responsive. Once you pull of a signature or finisher move they will jump in the ring to prevent the other tag partner from interfering, way before you even go for the pin. These new changes make playing tag matches much more fun, as previously they were very annoying and a chore to play.

Overall Verdict

It seems this year Yukes and THQ have set out to fix all the things that held Smackdown Vs Raw from being a great game. This years edition seems almost flawless. The online is as good as it can be for now so no complaints, all other aspects of the game have been improved, the only let down is i wish they could have included trophies for us Playstation 3 owners. Other than that I can proudly say that this is the best Smackdown Vs Raw Title i have played in years, and with the ability to change the game how you want it, I can see myself picking it back up and playing months down the road when the flood of other games grows tired.

9.5/10

Written By Gary A Swaby

Deeper than the words embedded in somebody's wedding ring

1. allan harju says:

   December 19, 2008 at 9:41 am

   can you change the roster for career mode as well?

   Reply
2. ygor says:

   January 8, 2009 at 1:40 pm

   Surpresa da Fa

   Reply
3. John says:

   January 23, 2009 at 11:55 pm

   Hey, can you work harder on the psp games? make it kind of like on the Xbox 360. o and nce pictire of John Cena keep rocking.(YOs)

   Reply
   • tiny fuser says:

     February 19, 2009 at 8:49 am

     yhyh they should and they should work more on psp game forget ds and ps2 just ps3 x box360 n psp just a lil touch of graphics for psp make it more realistic we know u can

     Reply

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