WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain

"Triple H must have used his "political power" backstage to convince others that this was a good game."

Over the past four years I have enjoyed the Smackdown! Series to a very high degree. From the PlayStation incarnations of the initial game and its sequel, “Know Your Role”, to its PlayStation 2 versions, “Just Bring It!” and “Shut Your Mouth,” the series has been an enjoyable endeavour that has been easy to get into. The games falter few times, and the players, going head-to-head with others, feel like they are getting as close as they can to witnessing an actual WWE match. Well, unfortunately, the party stops here, as not only is “Here Comes the Pain!” difficult to play, it also suffers from the simple truth that it is not fun to play.

Having been a fan of WWE (formerly the WWF) for years, I, unlike the casual fan, have a high expectation from a WWE product. When I order a WWE Pay-per-view, such as Wrestlemania or the Royal Rumble, I expect to be entertained from not only the performers, but also the workers who put their heart and soul into the product to put it on the air and in the stadium. If the presentation of the Pay-per-view isn’t up to scratch, then I have no desire to pay thirty-five dollars to watch it. The same goes for “Here Comes the Pain!”. Even though I wanted to enjoy this game, it simply contained too many flaws to be worthy of my full time.

The game, to start off, looks beautiful. Each character looks and sounds like their WWE superstar counterpart. From Brock Lesnar’s pecs to the detail in Ultimo Dragon’s mask to the Undertaker’s motorcycle look very similar to the real deal. The stadium, while not very flashy, serves its purpose compared to the old WWF/E games where the stadium wasn’t even shown. The audience members are a little blurry, but given what the PlayStation 2 puts out in its capabilities, the audience also serves its purpose.

Recently, the WWE used footage from “Here Comes The Pain!” to showcase possible scenarios for the outcome of the real match. If, say, Chris Benoit and John Cena were to wrestle a match on Smackdown! they might show footage of the game of Cena giving the F-U to Benoit, or Benoit putting Cena in the Cripple Crossface. This was done to show the detail within the match capabilities within “Here Comes the Pain!”. Each wrestling move looks as close to its real counterpart as possible, and when you are watching the match within the game, you feel that you are indeed watching a real WWE match. With the exception of a few flaws, the graphics of the video game are very well done and showcase the best of THQ and Yuke’s.

The sound is a mixed bag, to say the least. While the sound effects within the game are well done, the music within a match is the same old, same old. Even though you have more choices for music while you wrestle, the music sounds like re-mixed versions of Just Bring It! And Shut Your Mouth!. The entrance music is done well, though, like past versions, some of the music is noticeably out of date. Being a fan of Rob Van Dam’s “Alliance” theme over his “One of a Kind” music, I don’t have a problem with that not being present. However, the music of the Dudleys, Stacy Keibler, Lita, Kane, and others are still not current, and it is frustrating to hear from Yuke’s what accounts to laziness. Also, the commentary is gone, completely removed from the game. Even though the series in the past has problems with stilted commentary, “Here Comes the Pain” feels empty without it.

The main problems within the game consist of the actual matches themselves. While I may have said that matches were beautiful to watch, they are in reality a nightmare to play. The new game-play system promotes the fact that you can now do sixteen moves standing up with your opponent instead of just four, but the complications that follow as you try to input the correct command to perform one move is mind-boggling. Also, within each match, if you want to perform a high-flying move, for example, your opponent can be in the craziest position, and the move will still be executed correctly. It comes to the point where you as the player want to throw your controller in disgust, and simply walk away from the game. However, the worst part of the game is yet to come.

That is, quite easily, the computer AI. The game computer AI is quite simply, atrocious, and the main reason why this game deserves such a low score. While it may be fun to get your behind handed to you time after time to some people, it’s not to me. If you make one mistake while wrestling your opponent, your character is never able to recover, never able to catch a break. Also, the game balance seems to sway to whomever is in the lower position at the time. If I am able to actually get some offense in, that momentum is quickly destroyed by my opponent or another wrestler. Finally, if I beat up on my opponent for the better part of twenty minutes, delivering four finishers to him, I might be able to manage a two-count, where my opponent can spring up, give me a finisher, and pin me. It is this sense of unbalance present within the game-play that just beckons me to break the disk in two.

Most of the regular match types within the game are the same as years past, with a few noticeable differences. New to this year’s version are the First Blood match, the Bra and Panties match, and the Elimination Chamber match. The focus of the Bra and Panties match revolves around the game’s new submission system, and is therefore viewed as a novelty match that is not worth anyone’s time. The Elimination Chamber is probably the most interesting concept to the wrestling world in a long time. For those who don’t know, the Elimination Chamber match contains six wrestlers, two of which start in the ring. Every five minutes (three-ish in the game) a new wrestler enters, and the last wrestler surviving wins the match. In the match, however, there is no way to control the order of the wrestlers, so whether you sit through about nine minutes of waiting or start right off the bat is completely random. The “Create-A-Wrestler” and others are not really worth talking about, because they are practically the same as “Shut Your Mouth”.

THQ and Yuke’s did a lot correct with Here Comes the Pain. The graphics are very well done, the sound is decent, and the game feels like a WWE game. However, it does not matter how beautiful the game is if it is no fun to play. Most players understand that the game is not to be played like “Virtua Fighter 4'', but they should be able to have no trouble trying to handle a decent fighting engine. However, “decent fighting engine” and “Here Comes the Pain” do not mesh together well. A player wanting less may enjoy the game, but as a true fan, I wan extremely dissapointed with “Here Comes the Pain”.

Pros:
-Good Character Selection
-Looks Beautiful and Sounds Decent
-Good Create-A-Wrestler

Cons:
-Horrible AI
-Difficult Play Mechanics
-Simply Not Fun

Buy It If You: are not expecting a world class fighting game, and are looking for a game that’s fun with others.
Rent It If You: are looking for quick thrills and are a fan of the product
Burn It If You: want a game that you can enjoy as a true WWE game for a long time.

Final Score: 4/10
Thanks for reading.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 12/23/03