WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth

"More of the same"

After the dissapointment that was Smackdown:Just Bring It, fans of the WWE expect a major improvement for this years installment of THQ's popular Smackdown franchise. Let's see how it shapes up then ...

Graphics - 9/10
You have probably seen screenshots or movies of the game and can see for yourself that the graphics in this game are quite spectacular, the character models and arenas especially. Previous problems with the graphics in Smackdown games, namely the lacklustre vehicle models, have been fixed so that now the wheels on cars actually move. The only thing stopping the graphics rating from getting a 10 would be the flat 2d crowd. Games such as Legends of Wrestling boast a realistic looking crowd, while Smackdown is left with cardboard cut-out esque figures.

Sound - 5/10
All wrestler themes save the Hardy Brothers, Maven and Stacey Keiblers are present and correct so top marks to THQ for fixing the licensing problems that have been a problem in the previous games.
Unfortunatly that is the only area of the game where sound is really put to use, It is painfully obvious in season mode that voice-overs provided by even just the main characters (Ric Flair, Mr. McMahon) would make this game a lot better. After playing through games such as GTA:Vice City and Max Payne, it is obvious that the PS2 can cope with large amounts of speech in games, so why must we sit and read through lines of text?
Commentary, while not as bad as last years dismal offering, fails to add much to the in-game experience.The inane lines of Chatter from the King and J.R are spoken so litte however, that you would hardly even notice they are commentating. Apart from the rare shouts of DDT by JR, most of the commentary seems to be taken up with Kings mindless jokes that are funny in WWE programming, but just annoying in the game. Still, at least theres no Micheal Cole.

Gameplay - 6/10
It's Smackdown, what do you expect? There is really nothing new on offer here, but the simplicity of the Smackdown games has always been it's selling point. However it is sad to say that after 3 previous games with little change the game itself is starting to feel a little stale. At least with (the admittedly not very good) Legends of Wrestling, Akklaim tried to incorporate something new into wrestling games with the move counter feature, but with Smackdown the newest features we have are the ability to steal your opponents finishing move and a finishing move with a weapon (not even any worthwile new match types this year either), hardly worth shelling out £45 a year for is it? To me it is plainly obvious that some areas of the game need a rethink, submission moves being the most obvious change needed.
Despite these criticisms however, to really get the most out of this game you have to play it in multiplayer mode. There truly is no better game out there with a better use for a multitap than this. It is here that the simplicity of the games controls can be appreciated, as you can have a decent match with anyone as they can just pick up and play as the controls are so instinctive.

Longevity - 8/10
The longevity of this game can be described best with three words .... Create, A and Wrestler. This feature has been the best of the previous games and does not dissapoint this time round either. By far the most extensive of the previous games, you can pretty much make anyone without encountering many problems.
Season mode is the Biggest improvement from the previous game. Where thae last game lasted for a measly 4-5 matches, this game gives you 2 full seasons with a fair amount of unlockable bonuses to keep you playing over and over again. Add to this random storylines unlike the pre-planned route you had to take about 30 times in the last game and it all makes for a better gaming experience.

Other stuff
+ points
Improved Hell in a Cell, now surrounds the ring
Quicker loading times
Memory card space WAY down from last year

- points
What happened to the CAW passwords? a great feature that has been left out
Gameplay gets very boring very quick
No ''hidden'' characters to unlock

Overall 6/10
I would probably have rated this a 6.5 if the GameFAQ's rating system allowed it but it doesn't. This review is basically here because every review so far of Smackdown has been positive, whereas I feel that the game has some major flaws.
The biggest problem with the game is that it gets boring. It is not a good thing when after a week of owning the game you dread having to actually play the matches because they get in the way of the story, it almost feels as though I am just playing the game for the sake of unlocking everything at times. With previous Smackdown games I didn't really have this problem, I was able to play the first 2 installments right up until the next ones came out, but with last years and this years games there is so little innovation that it feels like ive been playing the same game for the last 4 years.
Bottom line is that this is the best American Wrestling game available, but it is certaintly not the best game available for the PS2. I, like many others, had high hopes for this game when I seen the previews and listened to the hype, but after removing some features that really could have improved the game (CAW passwords) and not implementing rumoured ones (create a move) it is really just more of the same, only with an updated roster and a bit of polish on the graphics and story mode. If thats what you want then thats fair enough, but I was expecting a lot more .....

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/21/02, Updated 11/21/02