WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain

"Here comes the pain? More like here comes another decent game"

Just so you know, I'm really wishing to give this game 8.5 points out of ten, making it well above the average. But, due to GameFAQs rules, I'm forced to give it an integer score. So why not a 9? Simple- this game does not deserve an 9.

Before I'm hunted down and eaten alive by the many people who gave this 10/10, I'll explain my reasoning. Right now, in fact.

GRAPHICS: 9.5/10

The game starts of with a rather long loading time (at least for me), and I'm apprehensive at first. But then, when I see the title screen, I'm kind of- impressed. There's a wrestler, a different one every time, so amazingly reproduced true to life, staring back at me and looking pumped up. Maybe I should be worried about HOW pumped up, but... I'm not. So I just start any match, and gaze in awe how great all of the Wrestlers look (especially the females- YOW!) This was sure an improvement on the nice but blocky-looking wrestlers of the last game. And the animations are smooth and look just right. Still, there are a few collision detection issues with the new ''rebound action'' mat that haven't been ironed out from last year, and sometimes, during really... twisty moves, some of the wrestlers' limbs may accidentally sink through another's rib. Yet, no screaming in pain. What gives?

The stadiums are also faithfully reproduced, or as much as I can guess, because I never went to any. But I've watched them on TV... quite a few times, and I can say I'm pleased. About 1/5 of the crowd is fully 3D, and they animate well. I'm just confused about the fact that no one seems to have a... wait, I won't say it. The crowd also holds up your wrestler's signs, and they hold them up well. But someone must have pressed really, REALLY hard when drawing those signs, because the writing on the signs will mysteriously be displayed through the back of the sign JUST as clear as the front of the sign. Except backwards. Hmm... but that's not important. Overall, great graphics. Just great.

SOUND: 8.5/10

Yet another year, and STILL, the Wrestlers DON'T talk. Really, you can't even get a few realistic SHOUTS or GRUNTS when they get hit!? But no, they'll still be flapping their mouths saying absolutely nothing while text appears on the bottom of the screen. And, when you look closely... their lips DO NOT match the text. Sigh.

Well, the music is... good, I guess, for those of you who like music. But the sounds of wrestlers slamming onto the mat after a mean Superplex? So real, I almost said ''ouch.'' But still, they leave sound out at too many places and fill in unrealistic sound for quite a few events or happenings, that I'm forced to rate the sound lower than it should have been.

GAMEPLAY: 7/10

Oh, they had it going SO good, and then they missed the bucket of great games with a few key mistakes.

First of all, the main focus this time around is grappling. Last year, you could only press grapple and a direction. So, you had four moves, right? Well, this year, once you press grapple and a direction, you then start ANOTHER grapple, depending on what direction you pressed. From there, you have four moves for each different direction. Each direction controls a different type of grapple, like speed or submission, and the four moves you have are always under that category. So this year, you have SIXTEEN grapple moves.

Don't worry, everything else is basically the same, with x striking, and triangle running. Once you've hit an opponent enough, you gain smackdowns, which are basically special moves with wicked camera tricks added to them. You can also pick up many, MANY weapons, hit with them, throw them, or even do a Smackdown with them! And, new this time around, are body points and blood(!). Repeated Rock Bottoms will destroy your body section, and arm wrenches all night will turn your arm red in no time. And, really, must I explain blood? The only thing about blood is that it takes LOOOOONNG to draw it. Overall, a great, solid job.

Oh yeah. And then there's countering.

Countering last year was a NIGHTMARE. Hitting square right before the move starts should be EASY, right? WRONG, son, DEAD wrong. You have to be EXACT to counter. Half of the time, you'll hit square too early, and the other half, too late. NOTHING was easy about countering, AT ALL. So, basically, when facing a computer that's actually GOOD, unless you had fingers of fury, or had, somehow, inconceivably mastered countering, you had NO CHANCE of winning fair.

I guess the makers realized this, so they tried to make it more efficient. But they've made a fatal mistake- THEY'VE INCREASED THE OPTIONS WITHOUT DECREASING THE MAIN PROBLEM.

Now, there are TWO counter buttons, one for strikes, and the other for other things. And, guess what? You still have to hit it as EXACT as before.

Now, you don't have to JUST worry about the actual countering, you'll ALSO have to worry about hitting the right button. Suddenly, mashing square seems so easy now...

Season mode returns, along with a GREAT opening, at least by my opinion. But- there's one big problem. Last year, when you started your season, the wrestlers started off very easy, gradually became easy, then medium, then jumped STRAIGHT into hard. Now, the wrestlers start off medium. Yes, medium.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LAST TWO DIFFICULTIES!?

It seems that this game company thought that EVERYONE played their last game, (and face it... they were almost right) and mastered it. So, technically, medium WOULD be very easy. But... what about the people who JUST NOW jumped on the bandwagon!? Huh!? I STILL wouldn't have any problems with this if I hadn't underestimated the difficulty so much that I took a freshly created wrestler (low stats and all) in to fight, and walked out beaten just about every day. Aargh.

There are many more special events this time around, including... the ultimate showstopper, the Bra and Panties match. If you don't know what this is, please go back under your box. It's where two WWE Divas get in the ring and fight, ultimately stripping at least one of them down to their bras and panties. Note that I said Divas- don't get too excited to see Stephanie McMahon with her top off. And why would you want to, anyway? I'll admit- the clothes ripping off look good.

And, if you're not the type of person who would enjoy that match, you have many, many others, including the new ''Elimination Chamber'' and First Blood. You also have the standard match where you can go to outside areas, and this time around, the outside areas are much more innovative. Now, it's not just a matter of what new weapon is in each area, it's a matter of terrain, what ways are there for a quick KO... AND which new weapon is in each area. Really, I almost gasped at the innovation when I realized that running into that steel cage with your opponent TRAPS YOU THERE until one or the other wins. Or that getting onto that really, REALLY high shelf-thingy means that your fight temporarily turns into a battle of who can stay on the shelf the longest. The loser suffers major bodily damage... not just from falling, but also from the winner using his/her body to cushion their fall.

Overall... the Gameplay would be solid, if not for countering and high (actually, medium) difficulty levels.

REPLAY ABILITY: 8/10

Old-School Undertaker? That's all I need. But all of you can get plenty of old school...ness with other legends, like Sergeant Slaughter. You can also unlock many, many other ludicrous things and stuff by playing long enough, but, can't you do that in every game? No, what they needed are more MAJOR things... like more wrestlers, not more clothes. This time around, you don't get secrets by winning matches, you purchase them with Smackdown Dollars... which you get by winning matches. Hmm... It may seem ludicrous, but that's actually an improvement. Last time, when you won choice matches, you could only choose from a few secrets, this time, every secret out there that can be bought will be- as long as you have enough Dollars, though. Overall, the replay ability is... mediocre, or decent, at best.

FINAL SCORE:

Hey, the averages of my scores came out to 8.25! Keen!

Sadly, GameFAQS forces you to round. So, here we go...

So, if you're rounding, this game would deserve an 8, as I scored it. Upon reflection, if I were given the chance to use decimals, I WOULDN'T have given this an 8.5/10. There are many pros to this game, but the cons slightly outweigh the pros. Hence, a 9/10 is out of the question. I hope my review has explained this clearly.

BUY OR RENT:

Okay... here's the toughie. I say that if you like wrestling even A LITTLE BIT, even the TINIEST bit, or not even wrestling if you like ACTION a LITTLE BIT, this game is a buy. If you love wrestling, this game is a must buy. But if you dislike wrestling AND action, rent. You may like the game.

Of course, if you hate both wrestling and action, run away. Now.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/25/04