WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth

"Layeth the Smacketh down..."

Want to lay the Smackdown with The Rock? Want to beat some respect into your opponents with The Undertaker? Want to hold young talent down with Triple H(Although I don't recommend it)? Any wrestling fan with a PS2 MUST get this game. It might not be perfect, but it is a blast, both single and multiplayer.

Summary

First off, I have a GameCube and recently bought a Playstation 2. The reason I bought a PS2 is, on top of all other PS2 games I want, Shut Your Mouth. I am a wrestling fan, and even though I'm very disappointed with the WWE as of today, with the stupid angles and storylines(Necrophilia angle, lesbian angle, racism angle...), I enjoy wrestling games. I played Smackdown 2: Know your role on the good ole Playstation. I was excited about Shut Your Mouth, and played it at a local GameSpot. Now I have this game, and bah gawd, it rocks.

Aside from Rock, Taker, Triple H and Austin, wrestlers like Rob Van Dam, Booker T and Brock Lesnar are here. RVD has the beautiful five-star frog splash, while Brock Lesnar has the devastating F5. Not only that, you also got the new, bald Kurt Angle. WHOO!

They really paid attention to detail in this game, especially in the entrances. Undertaker comes out in his bike, while Kane has the flames coming from the turnbuckles. And on season mode, depending on who has a title, their entrances will be different. Taker will still come out on his bike, except that now he has the belt around his neck, just like he did during his Undisputed title run. The attention paid to detail is amazing.

Season mode is improved, now including the draft extension(Ric Flair owns RAW, and Vince McMahon owns SmackDown), and has both WWE and original storylines(Nope, no Katie Vick or HLA crap), and if you win a match in a PPV event, you're rewarded with a bunch of cards, and you can select one, unlocking new attires or foam hands or the arena of the PPV you were victorious in and much more.

The types of matches in the game are astronomical. Hate Triple H? Then put him against three other wrestlers in a handicap match. Want to relive the original TLC? Put the Hardys, Dudleys and E&C in a ladder match, and go whip out a table and chairs from under the ring. Want to relive Armageddon 2000? Up to 6 can battle in the Hell in a Cell match. Feeling more technical? Then pit Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit in a ultimate submission match. It doesn't matter how you're feeling, this game delivers.

Create a Wrestler only gets better and better, since now not even your imagination is the limit with the CAW option in Shut Your Mouth. You can create WCW, ECW or other wrestlers like Goldberg, Sabu or Jushin Lyger, or get original and make goofy CAWs.

This game rewards you for accomplishing feats like getting 100 KOs in the slobberknocker. You can unlock special RVD and Divas videos in Theater mode.

Now let's take a look at some of the other aspects in the game:

Graphics

The best graphics yet in the Smackdown franchise, and it still has room for improvement. Most wrestlers resemble their real-life counterparts except for a few including Undertaker, who looks like Apollo the Lion from IWA, only that he looks a little more evil. The worst problem with the visuals is clipping, especially when you do the Undertaker's Guillotine(Put chair in opponent's throat and force the chair down, choking the opponent), it clips when you put the chair in the throat, and sometimes it looks like he puts the chair in the mouth or even the forehead. Aside from that, it's all good.

Score: 8.7/10

Sounds

Again, it has mixed results. On the good, most of the entrances have the music currently used by the WWE superstars. The Hardys, for some reason, have pretty generic and bland music, even though their titatron remains the same.

On the bad, commentary is still a questionable effort. It's better than the commentary in JBI, but that doesn't mean it's good. Jim Ross and Jerry ''The King'' Lawler replace Tazz and Cole, and instead of play by play, they make random comments about the wrestlers in the match, tell people to go to ShopZone.com, and call the move done by a wrestler. No, you won't see JR go all ''MAH GAWD! MAH GAWD! CARNAGE'' if you do things like jump off the Smackdown fist. The reason the commentary is not that damn good is because of timing. The King, for no reason, randomly goes all ''RHYNO IS BACK! GORE! GORE! GORE!'' everytime Rhyno is in a match, and when Vince McMahon is in a match, King says that Vince is beating the hell out of the opponent even though it's Vince getting the hell beat out instead. For the next Smackdown, they should either improve the commentary or just don't implement it in the SD games anymore.

Score: 5.9/10

Control

The controls are like the Pac-man games. Simple to learn, difficult to master. Attacking is done with one button, and you still press L1 to lay the smacketh down when he's groggy. One new thing is how targeting is done. Instead of pressing R2 and having to keep pressing it until you target the opponent you want, you target the nearest opponent pressing R2. It can get annoying especially in heated 6-men battle royales, but you'll get used to it. Great controls.

Score: 9/10

Season mode

Well, it took them 4 games, but they got the formula right. First Smackdown introduced a highly disappointing Season mode. The second barely improved over the first one, but titanic load times ruined it. The third lasted for about 2-3 matches. But finally, four is the lucky number as the Season mode in Shut Your Mouth is the best.

It starts with the draft extension, and you can choose to edit the RAW, SmackDown, or both brands at the same time. After that, it's time for action. If you are the Undisputed Champion at the beginning of season, be prepared to defend your title against others. If you're an upper-mid carder to main eventer, then Vince or Ric will give you the opportunity to win the title by putting you in number 1 contender matches.

If you're playing as a CAW, then you will obviously have to work your way up. Winning matches on Heat will impress McMahon or Flair(Depending who you're working for) and you'll end up on RAW or SmackDown, where you will work your way up some more before you end up in the big ones.

The storylines are great, and don't involve HLA(Torrie/Dawn), necrophilia(Kane/HHH), or racism(D'lo/Jeff/Referre). Instead, you can make friends or enemies and feud for titles. You can also get in suspension matches, which will sideline you for up to a month, so be ready!

Best storylines ever. Period. End of story.

Score: 10/10

Gameplay

Ah yes. The most important thing in a game. Good gameplay, which is what this game has. It's simplistic, but complicated at the same time. If you're playing as Taker, then you will be able to deliver a good brawl to your opponent, as his punches are powerful. As Angle, you have a variety of submission moves, including the signature Ankle Lock. Rock has the charisma and all the people behind him. Triple H... well, he has the ability to hold people down. DAMN HIM!

You can reverse suplexes, backdrops, finishers, or counter normal moves into finishers, like a clothesline into a Rock Bottom!

Selling is now in the game, and you can injure your opponents long enough so that they lay without moving, allowing you to do suicidal aerial moves from the top of the HIAC and Smackdown fist! Yet they eventually get up, so don't expect them to lay dead forever.

Score: 9/10

PROS

Rock. Taker. RVD. They're all amazing in the game.

HUGE variety of matches.

Best season mode ever.

Controls.

Gameplay.

Different things to unlock.

CONS

Commentary is still questionable.

Clipping problems.

Triple H. I HATE HIM!

Buy/Rent/Run away - This game is a must get for ANY fans of the sport.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/20/02, Updated 12/20/02