WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain

"Not exactly groundbreaking, but a definite improvement in the series"

The WWE’s SmackDown! games have a reputation for being the best WWE games since the legendary No Mercy for the N64. Here Comes the Pain has been touted by THQ as the wrestling game to overtake No Mercy. The comparison is difficult to make, though, since No Mercy was a pure simulation and HCTP has more of an arcade feel, but the fun level of HCTP is certainly comparable to No Mercy’s.

GRAPHICS: 8/10. HCTP is absolutely gorgeous at a casual glance, but after a few hours of playing, some graphical problems arise. Most of the character models are absolutely spectacular, particularly those of the Rock and Goldberg, who look about as close to real life as one can expect from a video game. A few character models are less than optimal – Sean O’Haire is far too skinny and Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka is without his trademark bare feet – but there isn’t much to complain about. The only trouble with the fantastic character models is the contrast between them and superstars spawned from Create-a-Wrestler mode; it is painfully obvious which characters were pre-made and which characters were made by the player. The only big problem with HCTP’s graphics is the clipping. Good Lord, the clipping. The clipping problems from WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, HCTP’s predecessor, have carried over to HCTP, though they aren’t quite as glaring. Still, it takes away from the experience when you can see your wrestler’s limbs pass through his opponent’s body.

SOUND: 5/10. HCTP’s biggest failing is in its sound. Some impacts don’t make the sounds they should, and a number of the coolest entrance themes (Rob Van Dam’s, Kane’s, the Dudley Boyz’, Victoria’s, etc.) have reverted back to their less-exciting WWE-produced versions, which is a big disappointment for players who want their experience to be as close to real life as possible. In addition, there is absolutely no match commentary; the feature was taken out entirely. Though match commentary has traditionally been pretty bad for WWE games (anyone remember the performance of Tazz and Michael Cole in WWF SmackDown! Just Bring it?), removing it altogether is nothing more than a step backward. These problems can all be ignored with minimal effort, though. What [I]can’t[/I] be ignored is the grating, god-awful background music played during matches. A lot of it is lame rap-rock beats, which is bad enough, but then it gets even worse when accompanied by random, frenzied screaming. No lyrics, just screaming. It is very distracting and even more annoying.

CONTROLS: 10/10. The controls have been changed slightly since Shut Your Mouth, and it’s all for the better. Counters are no longer limited to one button, instead being spread out across the buttons on top of the controller. This puts a little more strategy into matches instead of just making them contests to see who can jam the “counter/reversal” button faster. The system of giving each character four grapples, with each grapple having four moves of its own, sounded on paper like it would make the game needlessly complicated, but it actually flows very well. The new button-mashing submission system is a little bit tough to get the hang of, but the addition it makes to the realism is well worth the potential thumb blisters.

IMMERSION: 6/10. While the SmackDown! series of games continues to increase in realism, nagging elements still hamper it. Some ideas weren’t implemented into the game enough. For instance, the weight detection system now prevents the 155-pound Rey Mysterio from picking up the 500-pound Big Show, but it also prevents Shawn Michaels from picking up Test, who is only perhaps 30 or 40 pounds heavier than Shawn; it increases the realism in some respects, but decreases it in others. Also, still present are assorted opportunities for superhuman feats: leaping from the ground to the top of the trailer of a semi truck, for example, or taking a flying leap from the top of a three-story building to land on a downed opponent. The game’s storylines are also not as immersive as they could be; they’re an enormous improvement over Shut Your Mouth’s storylines, which were the same every time through, but many are still either menial or ridiculous (I hesitate to give specific storylines for spoiler-related reasons, but you’ll know them when you see them).
That’s not to say the game isn’t immersive in many other aspects. Other elements of realism are welcome; no longer can non-wrestling eye candy like Stacy Keibler hold their own against unstoppable monsters like Brock Lesnar. The clear delineation between faces and heels (good guys and bad guys, for those unfamiliar with wrestling terminology) ensures that your wrestler won’t be entering a furious rivalry with an ally. And the numerical values for each wrestler’s attributes are a much-needed addition; now you can have a breakneck-paced ladder match between the WWE’s quickest competitors or a brutal hardcore match between its biggest hulks. And while some of the storylines in Season Mode are boring, a few exciting ones do stand out (once again…spoilers, can’t be giving anything away), keeping the mode fairly interesting.

ENJOYMENT: 7/10. Even with its problems, HCTP is still a game that, once popped into the PS2, is tough to stop playing. Even if Season Mode starts to get boring, the Exhibition mode is – while a tad unrealistic – loads of fun. With enough friends and enough controllers, there are some epic battles to be had; get together five of your closest friends and lock yourselves in the brand-new Elimination Chamber, where competitors will be – well, eliminated – one by one until only the best remains standing. Or round up three friends and start up a more-frenetic-than-ever four-way TLC match (that’s Tables, Ladders, and Chairs). And if you can’t find any friends to join in, you might as well give in to the guilty pleasure that is the Bra & Panties match – stick two women in the ring and have them battle until one has ripped off the other’s clothes. And if you’re just playing a regular match, it is enormously satisfying – in a somewhat perverse way – to be able to make your opponent bleed.
However, the game’s enjoyment is docked for one reason not previously detailed – the AI. The AI is easily the most frustrating part of HCTP. Computer-controlled opponents are, for the most part, fairly intelligent. However, when they [I]stop[/I] being intelligent, that’s how screaming and thrown controllers happen. There is nothing more frustrating than losing a multi-wrestler match because one of the other opponents won’t save you, even if said opponent has as much to lose as you. Even when it helps you win, it’s irritating; there’s something incredibly empty about winning a hard-fought Ladder Match against three other men because they all suddenly decided to stand perfectly still and let you climb the ladder to the belt unmolested. Even tag team partners seem unwilling to help out; I can’t count the number of times I shouted, “DAMMIT, ORTON!” at my screen when my tag team partner (Randy Orton, in this case) absolutely would [I]not[/I] save my character from being pinned, no matter how much I told him to. For all its enjoyable factors, the frustrating AI delivers a devastating Jackhammer to the enjoyment.

WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain may not be as immersive as it might have hoped to be, it may have frustrating A.I., and it may not be the end-all be-all of wrestling games, but it is what it is – a new WWE game that is a solid improvement over the previous one. If you’re a casual fan of wrestling games, you might want to pick this one as a rental and see if you like it enough to buy it. If you’re a hardcore WWE fan, though, and you’re wondering which WWE game to buy, HCTP is the clear front-runner. And that’s the bottom line, ‘cause…well, you know the rest.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/01/04