Review: Smackdown Vs RAW 2010
Game: Smackdown Vs. RAW 2010
Format: XBox 360
Developer: Yukes
Publisher: THQ
There are a number of things that happen every year to alert us to the fact that Christmas is coming. Recently daylight savings came in to effect, granting us all an extra hour in bed, and bringing with it increasingly dark evenings. The shops are starting to put up their Christmas decorations, and irritate us all with their poor taste in Christmas themed music. And in recent weeks we have seen the release of the latest versions of the yearly video game franchises FIFA, MADDEN, and SMACKDOWN VS RAW.
Being yearly franchises you cannot really expect the developers to implement massive changes year after year, can you? You could be forgiven for thinking that, on a superficial level, SMACKDOWN VS RAW 2010 is mostly the same game as the 2009 version, with a few additions and gameplay tweaks. Sure the basic controls are pretty much the same, the graphics are consistently good for the most part, and it has all of the usual modes you would expect, however there is a new focus on creating user generated content in this game. The Create A Wrestler mode has been improved upon, offering more in depth customisation, the Create A Finisher has been expanded to allow diving finishers to be created, and an all new Create A Story mode has been added. It is the addition of this Create A Story mode that has the most potential, as any story you create can be uploaded online and downloaded by any other player for free, which could add hundreds of hours of story missions for you to play.
You can tell that this is the latest version of the game, as Chris Jericho is wearing trunks!
As for the on disk content, there is a fairly decent offering of game modes. The Road To Wrestlemania mode returns with storylines revolving around Edge, Mickie James, Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, the tag team of Triple H and John Cena, and a specific storyline dedicated to your created wrestler. You can unlock various wrestlers, arenas, and costumes by completing optional objectives in this mode, which adds a bit of challenge to it. Most of the challenges involve either beating an enemy within a set amount of time, or without using finishers. Between matches you return to the locker room and can check your phone for messages. Amusingly each wrestler has their own theme tune as their ring tone, which I hope is the case in real life. The quality of voice acting in this mode is fairly uneven, with Triple H and Santino Marella offering particularly good performances, as opposed to the stiff wooden performances from some of the other wrestlers, who clearly sounded as if they were reading off of cue cards in a recording studio somewhere. The commentary is far better in this mode as the commentators talk about the specific events of the storyline, rather than just randomly saying “and a hard kick from that superstar there!” or other such generic statements that have plagued wrestling games in the past. Some of the cut scenes in this mode are interactive, allowing you to choose what you want to do. For instance, in the created wrestler story you are prompted to decide whether you will hit Santino Marella with your microphone, or take him out with your title belt. As far as I can tell only a choice made in the Mickie James storyline actually effects the direction of the story, but either way it’s a nice addition to the cut scenes. The only real downside to the Road to Wrestlemania mode is that some of the outcomes to the matches are predetermined, so if the storyline demands that you lose, you will lose, no matter how good you are at the game. It would have been better if these moments in which you lose were cut scenes that you had no control over, rather than having you play a match in it’s entirety and still leave you unable to win no matter what you do.
Oh the age old dilema, what to hit him with, the mic or the belt?
The Exhibition mode returns, allowing up to four players to compete against each other on one console. There is one new match type this year, the Championship Scramble match, in which five wrestlers compete against each other for a set time limit, and the last wrestler to get a pinfall or submission becomes the new champion. Older match types, such as Hell in a Cell, Inferno Matches, and ladder matches return with very slight improvements. For instance, in a Ladder Match, a pillar of light shines down from the title, which is suspended above the ring, giving you a clearer indication of where to set up your ladder. Other basic tweaks to the gameplay include an overhaul of the Royal Rumble mode. If you throw an opponent over the top rope on screen button prompts appear, instead of the random button mashing demanded of you in previous games. The Career Mode returns this year mostly unchanged, tasking you with fighting your way through a number of opponents in order to become the number one contender for various titles. The goal of this mode is to earn all of the titles, defend them, and earn a place in the WWE Hall of Fame. There is no storyline in the career mode, and your only objective is to put on the best match possible. Each title is unavailable to you until you earn a number of stars by putting on good matches. After earning fifteen stars you can fight for the number one contendership. Once you become number one contender, you must face the champion for their title. It is perfectly competent, but can become a little tedious after a while. Online multiplayer this year, as ever, is a mixed bag. Sometimes you will be unable to play due to the incredible problems with lag, only to find that the next match you play works perfectly well.
This year features a Diva focused Storyline.
Where the game truly shines is in the creation mode. Using last year’s highlight reel, in which you could record some of the best moments from your matches and save the video, you can now create your own entrance videos. Couple this with the ample Create a Wrestler mode, and the Create a Finisher mode, and you can create something truly unique. The newly added Create a Story mode is bristling with potential, allowing you to script episodes of Smackdown, Raw, ECW, and the monthly pay per views. You can create your own cut scenes, using any character on the roster including created wrestlers, with custom dialogue that you type out yourself. There are some stock scenarios for you to use, such as a scene in which a wrestler is run down by a mystery driver, or something less dramatic, like a conversation taking place in the locker room. There really is the potential to create anything (within reason), you are only limited by your imagination and dedication. The option to upload your storylines and download the storylines of others is fantastic, and could keep the game fresh for months to come so long as the community supports it.
REVIEW ROUND UP:
GRAPHICS: 4/5 Some of the wrestler models look incredibly realistic, while some of the Diva models, and created wrestlers, can sometimes look less than spectacular.
SOUND: 3/5 A decent soundtrack made up of mostly wrestler theme tunes is coupled with some mixed voice acting. Some of the sound effects are quite satisfying, such as the thud from hitting someone over the head with a steel chair.
GAMEPLAY: 3/5 For the most part the gameplay is the same as previous games in the series, however there are a few welcome tweaks made, particularly to the Royal Rumble match. The Road To Wrestlemania mode features some interesting matches, including one in which the only objective is to escape the ring and make it safely to the back before the Undertaker tears you apart. Multiplayer is pretty uneven, as ever, with the online mode being plagued by lag.
LONGEVITY: 4/5 There is a fair amount of content to unlock by playing through the Road to Wrestlemania mode, and some stories may require to play it through twice in order to unlock everything. Disappointingly, once again there is no General Manager mode this year. However the addition of downloadable storylines could potentially keep this game in your consoles for a long time, so long as the community support is there.
OVERALL: 4 Chokeslams out of 5. While it is still recognisably a SMACKDOWN VS RAW game, a number of small changes to the way the game plays, and the addition of new modes and matches make the game feel fresh. If you are not interested in the Create A Wrestler/Finisher/Storyline modes, then you may not appreciate this game as much.
[starreview tpl=16]
The last WWE game I played was “Here comes the pain” I think. I LOVED the CAW feature then. I might see if I can pick this up cheap for the PS3.
Here Comes The Pain is probably the best Smackdown game ever. I loved the hundreds of storys, and interesting matches in it. While I welcomed the introduction of voice acting in the series, it did severely limit the scope of the story mode. In a way the Create A Story mode has the potential to at least match, if not better, the story mode in Here Comes The Pain, as it’s all text.