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Developer: Yukes
Players: 1-6
Rating: Teen for violence, blood, sexual themes and language.
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Smackdown Vs Raw
The Review
Smackdown games are known for having many game modes. It has all of the game modes from the previous game with the addition of Parking Lot Brawl and create a Pay Per View. Parking Lot Brawl is basically a hardcore match with cars. The objective in this mode is to simply smash your opponent into the cars surrounding you. Its a nice little mode to blow some time. The Pay Per View mode is new to the Smackdown series but really serves no purpose. Within the ppv mode is the option to create your very own title, which you can defend against a friend. The only catch is that your friend must hav ea memory card of his own before you can actually defend the title. Of course you can defend your title against the computer but you can't assign a specific wrestler to your title. This was a little dissappointing as this mode had alot of potential. New features have been added to some of the other game modes in the game. The Royal Rumble has changed slightly in this version. Each wrestler that enters the ring has a "ring out" bar that drains each time you are hit outside of the ropes or when a wrestler tries to push you off them (similar to a tug of war situation). Another cool feature that has been added is the ability of larger wrestlers picking up smaller wrestlers and throwing them over the ropes. Of course, what would a Smackdown game be with a season mode? SVR gives you a season mode with actual voice overs from the actual wrestler! Don't get to excited though. Some of the wrestlers didn't put too much effort into their lines. Which is a shame because we watch wrestling for the exciting story lines and the performaces wrestlers give. However, some of the wrestlers did a pretty good job with their lines. Most notable would have to be Vince Mcmahon. He even the the "You're fired!" line perfectly! Season mode in SVR is similar to Here Comes the Pain's with few exceptions. There is the voice-overs and the lack of interacting with other wrestlers. You can still gain experience points to make your wrestler (or others) more powerful in matches. Superstar points are still there and they determine which title your wrestler can go for. However, the game only lets you go for the title at certain times. This year's season mode is also shorter then last years so it will take a good three hours or less to finish it. This is a real dissappointment because the season mode is the main draw for the Smackdown! games. Last but not least this verison features online play. For the first time you can go online and this game with Smackdown fans anywhere! However, the online mode is limited to just two match types and there is lag. SVR does contain the same core grapple system from HCTP. This is a good thing and a bad thing because they use the same engine the game plays exactly like the previous one. Thankfully they added some new features to the system. You can now reverse certain submission holds and charge up a special guage that gives your wrestler certain abilities. These nice little changes do add some depth to the matches.
SVR's graphcis are much improved this time. The visuals are much cleaner and wrestlers do really look like their real life counterpart. However, some of them look a little off like Chris Benoit and Shawn Micheals to name a few. Arenas look even more detailed then before and the crowd looks more lively this time around. The entrances in this game are as authentic as they could get it. Of course, by the games release some wrestlers have either changed their music or look altogether.
SVR uses liscensed music this time around. We get music from Breakin Benjamin and Public Enemy to name a few. The ingame music is your usualy rock and roll, something you would expect in this type of game. Each punch, thud, and grapple sound sounds as real as the real thing. SVR brings back commentary that was missing from the previous installment. However, it hasn't improved much since SYM. The commentary in this game just isn't very fluid. There are times when they won't say anything at all or repeat what they said two minutes before. We do get commentary from both King, Jim Ross, Micheal Cole, and Tazz.
In conclusion, Smackdown vs Raw is a small improvement over the previous game. It may play the same, sound the same, and look the same in some places it is still a fun game. The roster is slightly smaller as well but the only missing wrestlers are low carders like Hurricane for example. If you are slightly interested in wrestling games or a huge wrestling fan give this one a try.
80