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Special thanks to Joshua Schwartzman for the
following review:
For years, the Smackdown! series has been
revolutionizing the wrestling generation and
proving that the WWE brand is more than just
cheap pops and lights. Since first appearing on
the PS1, the series has evolved drastically in
both the technical and visual aspects. However,
despite the exponential increases in every
iteration, it seems that wrestling is not as fun
as it used to be on the next-gen consoles, as
the series still struggles with control and
frame rate issues, something that should have
been noticed this far along in the series’
lifespan. Sure, the games are still fun to play
if you are a diehard fan, just don't expect to
be enjoying much from the latest offering.
WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw 2008, if anything, ups
the ante in terms of size. There are bigger
options available in the menu, more match types,
more options available when creating your own
superstar, and even a larger group of wrestlers
than last year. So with everything being sized
up for bigger thrills, why does this game feel
like a smaller version of last year's title? The
solution could be execution; Jakks Pacific
decided to focus more on in-ring content than
out of the ring ambience. The result, however,
is a poor combination of mediocre wrestling with
shoddy management and career modes, which makes
WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw 2008 only worthwhile in
short bursts.
The biggest change series vets will recognize
right off the bat are the controls. Instead of
mapping moves with button configurations,
performing moves is as simple as pressing or
holding down one of the shoulder buttons and
than flicking the analog stick in any direction.
Moves are much more accessible and the fluent
movements mean that performing skills in the
ring are no longer a struggle to master. Every
wrestler has his own unique style of fighting,
which can be used to gain advantage of your
opponent or utilize specific moves. While the
game does a good job of separating the specific
stars by class (such as high-flying for
wrestlers like Rey Mysterio to brawlers like
Kane), there is, more often than not, an unfair
advantage for the big-time wrestlers who can
master skills such as instantly reversing
grapples and blocking, a feat the smaller and
more athletic wrestlers cannot perform.
But since the game is very sensitive towards how
hard you press the buttons, there will be many
times when moves will be performed when you were
not ready, or just random skills will be issued
without command. Pinning an opponent for a three
count used to be as simple as pressing a button,
now it requires a two button combination that
many gamers can easily mistake for other moves.
Plus, it seems rather irritating to constantly
tap buttons when you are in a submission hold, a
feat that just gets tiring extremely fast. The
frame rate also seems to drop when there are
more than one wrestler in the ring at one time.
Moments when other stars run in to help you just
feel annoying due to the slowdown the game
issues and playing in tag matches and royal
rumbles is too much of a hassle to enjoy.
Securing victory can be as easy as just picking
the biggest star and unleashing hell on your
opponent until he can no longer move. While you
could go this route, utilizing all of your
skills is essential to surviving in later
portions of the game. If you want to stick with
your star for a long time, you can try your luck
at 24/7 mode, which mixes GM and Career modes
together. You can spend all of your time out of
the ring exercising, appearing at promos, or
talking to other wrestlers backstage. You can
skip through any scenarios you want as well, so
if you want to just wrestle and skip all the
nonsensical jargon, you can do simply that and
the computer will automatically calculate
estimated exercise times and publicity tours for
you. But what 24/7 mode makes up for in
originality, it lacks in structure. There were
multiple times when the game would tell us our
superstar needed to appear at a publicity tour
to help improve our image...only there was no
option for us to attend. Or when our wrestler
had an ultimately grueling match the night
before a pay-per-view and the game tells us to
relax, only to not give us the option and forces
us into a title match with a weak leg. It's
moments like this that will surely damper the
most patient of gamers who will try to spend
time making their wrester the best, only to be
bogged down by inconsistent structure and
options.
The cast of characters is great, with a nice
diverse set of high-flyers and hardcore
brawlers. However, many of the game’s lesser
characters are hardly even worth mentioning on
air, let alone in the game. After the notorious
steroid encounter, the WWE has suspended
numerous wrestlers; which include nearly ten
wrestlers in the game roster. Needless to say,
their roles on television are being hampered and
many fans may not even recognize who Charlie
Haas or Mr. Kennedy are. Besides, the game’s
cover has three well-known stars, but two that
have been out of action for months, a measure
that may turn off casual WWE watchers who may
not have even heard of the wrestlers on the
cover before.
The online mode still features the same problems
as the single player, but at least you have a
seemingly similar advantage against each
another. You can play through an assortment of
modes, including hardcore matches, submission
matches, and even tournaments to crown King of
the Rings. It’s definitely he highlight of the
series in terms of multiplayer, but its highly
reassuring knowing the problems that plague the
controls and lag.
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw could have been a great
game and a step into making the best wrestling
game to date. With so much potential that could
have been used, the game just feels a bit too
unbalanced at times. Controls will take some
getting used to and the 24/7 needs some serious
fine tuning. Fans will no doubt enjoy the quick
matches using their favorite superstars, but
casual watchers may not get as much out of the
game as they would have expected.
Overall Rating: 6.7
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