WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain

"A great game"

WWE Smackdown 5, Here Comes The Pain Review
By ZeldaTheLlama

Now, as you all know, Here Comes The Pain (from now on shortened to HCTP) is a wrestling game from 2003, making now, quite dated. Now, when it first came out though, it was all the rage. Now, I will be reviewing this from a combination of then, and now. Don't worry, it's not as confusing as it sounds. Now, on to the review.

Graphics- 7/10
For those of you have seen this game, you might think that this is a bit on the high side, you are probably right. This game, is four years old, and in the graphics department shows it. Now, it is not to say that it is bad, the graphics are not muddy for lack of a better term. However, this does bring up my first point against this game, the character design. Now, if you look at some of the biggest names like The Rock, Stone Cold, or for that matter, Lesner *shudders* but, when you look at some of the lower card talent, such as Rhyno or the Dudleys etc., you start to notice that they look no where near as good as the upper cardsmen like what I have already stated above. Also, for some reason Kane looks like he was beaten with the ugly stick a few too many times (even for Kane) and looks just dreadful, especially in his masked costume. Now, this was probably done to save time, because they all can't be beautiful, or it would have taken longer than Duke Nukem Forever to make. Still, for many bad character designs and how dated it is, this gets a 7

Sound- 8/10
Now, the sound is really rather good for this kind of game. While there is no voice acting (thank god) it also doesn't really have much music in the game at all. While I, (and I'm sure many others) find this good, unless you really love the Raw, and Smackdown themes, during story mode you really will want to have your own music playing. And nothing is better than the music you, yourself can provide. Now, the reason that this score is so high, is mainly because of the entrance music of the Wrestlers. Almost every wrestler has his or her own music in the game (unless they are in a stable that shares music, then they share), with the biggest glaring omission being Rob Van Dam's "One of a Kind" by Breaking Point. Now, it honestly makes no sense to me on why it shouldn't be in here, as it was in the last game, and it is in the next in the series (Smackdown Vs. Raw) That is one of the main reasons that this didn't score higher. So for great entrance music (without RVD's) but almost no other music in the game, this gets and 8.

Roster 8/10
Now with 62 wrestlers in the game, that is a lot of possible matches. Now, you should note that 11 of theses are legends, so you have to unlock some of them, you don't get all of the wrestlers right at the beginning, and you do have to buy some of them. Now, the weird thing is, that despite that looking like a huge number for a wrestling game, it really doesn't seem like that much when you are playing. Only the most dedicated will use half of theses guy most of the time. Even I only use around 20 of these guys most of the time. However, you do get Ultimo Dragon, who is really nice for those of us who like him; it means we don't have to create him. And yes that is a segway, thanks for noticing. For a large, yet almost unusable (wholly) roster, the roster gets an 8.

CAW-10/10
Now, I'm sure someone out there is asking “What the heck is CAW?” Well, Caw stands for Create A Wrestler. I think that in the newer games, it's become Create a Superstar for some reason. Now, what's great about the CAW system, is that it is really simple, once you get your bearings on what you need to do. The part list is huge, and you can either make some really unique CAW's, some real wrestlers (Go Hayabusa, KENTA, and Kenta Kobashi!) or your typical gangster CAW (what I saw when I played online…creepy). There are parts to do almost anything you want in CAW, and the system is far better in number of parts then it's so called successors. For a great and comprehensive CAW mode, this section gets a 10.

Movelists and Movesets-9/10
Now, honestly, this is one of the best parts of the game. The Moveset pool is huge, spawning mostly American moves, but a few Japanese and Mexican moves thrown in for good measure. If you're favorite high card wrestler from this time period from the WWE has a move, it's probably here. Notice I said high card wrestler, because when you get to the lower cards, you start to lose moves, to the point that some of the lowest carders, have they're own finisher, and moves thrown together from the high card. This gets really aggravating if you're favorite wrestler, isn't on the high card. Now, for move sets, this differs from the movelist, in that this is what each wrestler has as there own, picked moves. Now, once again, this is a mixed bag, with many of the high carders having they're moveset nearly perfect, or to the low carders, with there moveset that makes a fan look at it and wonder “what idiot could be stupid enough to think that this would be a good move for him/her!” and will require, a LOT of attention to fix. The fact that Piper starts with one of his back moves as a spanking, is not a good thing, not a good thing at all. However, overall the movelist and sets are good and really deserve this score, if you are willing to put the time and effort needed to make some of them work.

Gameplay-10/10
This is where the game is made or broken, and for this game, it is what makes it a legend. Despite having 3 sequels out at the time of me writing this, it is still the most fun in my humble opinion. This is in part due to the WTF factor of this game. What I call the WTF factor, is just the sheer randomness (for lack of a better term) that can happen when you play this. Let's say that you are playing as Rhyno (I like Rhyno) against Kurt Angle in a Hell In A Cell match. You're playing, and playing, when suddenly you get Angle Slammed OFF THE CELL! Then, about 10 minutes later, you are once again on the top, and you suddenly GORE him off the cell, without falling yourself. The latter games have this, but I have found that (at least for me) it is easier to do in this game, then any other that I have ever played. Or let's say that you are fighting Eddie Gurrero, in a hardcore match and are fighting on the top of the two story building in time square, when suddenly, Eddie goes for the three amigos, and with the last one, suplexes you off the building. Those are examples I've had and there are many more, that are just itching to be unlocked. Now, despite that strong aspect, there is a good technical aspect to the game two. This is the game that brought in the damaged limbs system to the Smackdown series, which has stayed throughout since, and with it, an improved submission system to go with it (once again current standard). Now one of the things that sets this game apart from Smackdown Vs. Raw, 05, 06, or 07, is that the AI, is actually not brain dead, and even on the lower difficulties will counter often, which can lead to some interesting counter sequences, the like of which I have yet to see in the sequels. Unlike the later games, where the AI, will almost always set up their finisher in the same way, in HCTP, they all have at least 2, usually 3 different ways to “getcha”, especially if they have a running finisher (GORE GORE GORE!). Now for great and unique game play, this section gets a 10
Replayablity-9/10 Or 7/10

As you know, wrestling games are almost always better if you have friends who play them too, and this is a big part of this game, as if you play enough, you will get to the point, in which you will always beat the com, even on the highest difficulty settings (which unlike the newer games, actually means something) and the game will get boring. Now, if you have friends who play this, it is a LOT more fun. With a friend, you can have a huge rivalry, or a great tag team match or someone other than that damn Lesnar with the F5 to beat up.

Overall-9/10
This score is not an average, or anything stupid like that. It is what I truly think about this game, and if you disagree, go right ahead, I really don't care.
For great replayabilty, (if you have wrestling fan friends) Gameplay, CAW mode, and Movesets. Even with the somewhat bad graphics and music this game still gets it's highly deserved 9 out of ten.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/29/07