WWE Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain (thoughts?)

[Leo656]

I know we have a few wrestling video game fans around here, anybody play this yet? It's the newest WWE game for the SmackDown series on PS2. I've been looking forward to it for a while, and I can definitely say I'm not disappointed. Well, for the most part.

When you start the game, one of the first things you'll notice is the graphics, which are much improved over last year's rather impressive offerings in almost every way. Some people, like Kevin Nash, only had minute changes made to their attire, while others like Chris Jericho and (thankfully) Christian look like they were reworked from scratch. On comparison with Wrestlemania XIX for Gamecube, the graphics are sometimes better, sometimes worse. Collision detection is better in WMXIX, but the CD in this game is way better than last year's, particularly coming off the top rope. There's a bit more clipping than in WMXIX, and there's some occasional slowdown in multiplayer matches but I've only noticed it happen once or twice. The Matrix effect now happens randomly with certain moves. Some finishers look truly spectacular: when playing as Goldberg and setting up for the Spear finisher, the camera zooms in on Goldberg's face as he crouches like a tiger and watches his opponent slowly stagger to their feet, then zooms out as he runs them over. Visually, the game is fantastic.

Second thing you may notice is the music. Here's one of the game's few flaws. Many licensed themes, like Rob Van Dam's, Victoria's, and the Dudleys' theme, have all been replaced with their WWE stock music versions. The number of different themes has been reduced by a lot as well. Ric Flair doesn't have his trademark "Also Sprach Zarathustra" theme from "2001: A Space Oddyssey", instead coming out to the Evolution theme. Neither Eddy nor Chavo Guerrero have their individual themes, only their team anthem. It would have been nice if they had done like last year and included different variant themes, if for no other reason than for help in the Create-A-Wrestler (more on this later).

The new controls take some getting used to, but once you do you'll be right at home. The changes made are minor; L2 and R2 are used for blocking punches and grapples, respectively, with the Square button now used for picking up and dropping weapons and climbing in and out of the ring. You can still block Specials (now by pressing both Block buttons at once), and it no longer costs you a Finisher icon to do so. The biggest difference is that you no longer simply lock up with your opponent; instead, which direction button you press along with the lockup button determines what kind of grapple you do: Quick (right and O), Strong (Up and O), Submission (down and O), and Signature (Left and O). This brings the total number of front grapples per wrestler to 16 rather than 12. After a few minutes getting used to the new grapples (and the somewhat spotty Reversal buttons), control is just as easy as the last SD game. The biggest difference is, that between the new, smarter A.I. and the new Damage system, mashing buttons and doing the same move over and over again will not get you a win. Instead, you must target specefic parts of your opponent's body (a small outline of a body appears next to each name, flashing yellow and red according to where and how bad the damage is) and hit your finisher accordingly. When playing as Goldberg against Steve Austin, Austin hit me with two Stunners in a row, but I kicked out before even a ONE count because he had been attacking my body and not my neck.

Season mode is much improved. There are more choices for you to make along the way, and talking to someone in the back is worth a lot more than it used to be, almost always having some effect on your progress, either by making new alliances, earning Eric Bischoff's trust, or gaining or losing Superstar Points which determine your ranking. As you pick up wins, you earn Smackdown Dollars to use in ShopZone where you can purchase things like movesets for use in CAW, new Load Screens, and a few of the Legends like Ted DiBiase. Wins also bring up your experience points, which is one of the coolest features yet in Season mode. As you gain experience, you can increase your Strength, Speed, Technique, Submission and Endurance attributes between matches. Your character actually improves as he goes along. This is a great addition, and it's mandatory for your CAW, but can also be a bit of a pain.

Now, onto the biggest disappointment in the game, the CAW. Very little has been added this year, in fact many things were removed. For everyone who got used to making Sting and Bret Hart, you need to work a bit harder this year: their outfits are gone. A few new hairstyles were added, but they aren't very good (still no "normal" ponytail) and a few were taken away like Bret Hart's hair and Booker T's dreadlocks. Many new textures were added for clothing, but most of them are worthless plaid and multicolored patterns that no one is going to use, and it seems like half of the clothing options are for women's clothes. Some people like Scott Hall and even Hulk Hogan (notoriously one of the hardest CAWs to make in ANY game) are still easy to make, as all their stuff was kept in (even the nWo logo). Again, lack of music hurts, as there is no nWo theme, no Voodoo Child, no Real American, and only about 4 new custom themes added to the same ones they've used for the last two SD games. Way less custom Entrances as well, and even people whose movesets were put in the game (Hogan for example) don't have their entrances included. No Create-An-Entrance. When it comes time to give your characters moves, however, you'll be pleasantly surprised, as the SD games are almost on par with the Fire Pro series as far as mind-numbing amount of moves. There are a TON of moves to choose from... like 20 DDTs, over 20 different Power Bombs, 3 different Sharpshooters, even 3 or 4 different versions of the Rolling German Suplex. Overall, the move variety is nice but CAW is very weak compared to WMXIX or even last year's SD game.

Finally, the three new features everyone's been buzzing about: The Legends, the Bra and Panty Match, and the Elimination Chamber. The 12 Legends are nothing special, though it is nice to have the Road Warriors in since Hawk just passed away. The Legends come to the ring in the little carts the WWF used for Wrestlemania 3 and 6 many years ago, and have no theme music or TitanTrons. The Bra and Panty matches are kind of lame overall, but they make nice use of the new Submission system. The Elimination Chamber, however, is nonstop fun. 6 participants are involved, two randomly start (it's not always your character), and every 60 seconds another random Superstar is released from a chamber to join the fray, and everyone fights until there is only one man left standing. The presentation is literally just like TV, with the flashing blue lights and all. You can climb the side walls of the chamber, climb up the plexiglass mini-chambers and leap off, throw people through the glass... overall the best Match option in a wrestling game in a long time.

On a scale of 1-10, I give it an 8.5. The two things it has over WMXIX is the Season mode and the variety of moves, while WMXIX has a much better CAW and a bit smoother control. Unlike last year, where SD was way better than X8, this year both games are really good. I'm sure I'll be playing both for at least the next year, but next year's Smackdown game has its work cut out for it. An updated roster won't be enough to make it worth a purchase if the CAW isn't vastly improved.