WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw

"Overall, a Rather Lacking Sequel and a Weak Attempt"

Last year, THQ/Yukes' WWE Smackdown!: Here Comes the Pain was released to great reviews, sales, and fan appreciation. Most regarded it as a true step forward for the series. After the disappointing Smackdown!: Just Bring It, it seemed as if the series had hit it's stride with two largely improved games in a row. Dated Gameplay and lack of online mode were some of the negatives of HCTP brought up by the fans, but it was widely believed that with the sixth game in the series, WWE Smackdown! vs. Raw, that Yukes would solve these base problems.

Unfortunately, they did not.

So how exactly did THQ/Yukes fail this year? Why exactly is this game a disappointment of almost JBI proportions? It's all about misguided priorities. Read on to find out what these are.

Gameplay:

This year gameplay seemingly has taken a backseat to graphics and presentation, and it's painful to play at times. One touted feature this year are the new mini games: a shoving contest, a staredown where the first person to hesitate gets punched in the face, a spanking for the divas, a chop battle, and a test of strength. The games are fun, but they hardly add anything real to the gameplay, and in some cases they sort of weaken it. The spanking is rather pointless, and it only can be done in everyone's least favorite match, the bra and panties match. The chop battle only disrupts the flow of the match and is also rather pointless. The mini games should be kept as pre-match events only, in my opinion. At least there it adds to the gameplay rather than detracting from it. Also, there is plenty of opportunity in the season mode to add mini games. It would make more sense to have them there than in the actual matches.

A new grappling position has been added, but by god if it isn't completely useless. You can now force a player to sit up, and from that position, you have a grand total of two(!) moves which can be done: a generic sleeper hold, or a cruiserweight-style dropkick to the back. This position is completely worthless and once again, it detracts from the gameplay. You can no longer pick a guy up with his back to you because of it. Not only that, but the two moves make it hardly worth the effort of sitting someone up. It's stupid to see guys like Big Show or Kane doing a cruiserweight dropkick to the back, and there are already thirty different sleeper hold variations in the game...plus the one you can do from the sitting position is already animated as a ground grapple! Completely baffling.

A new submission system has also been put in place, but it's more of a step backwards. A bar slides across the meter; stop the bar in the middle, and you escape the hold. The bad is that you cannot reach the ropes like you can in the button mashing submissions, and some moves like Flair's figure four use this system. So, no more dramatic battles to reach the ropes while in the Figure Four. Now, you have a timeframe of about five seconds to stop the ball in the middle, or you tap. More of a step back than anything. Yukes should have simply kept the button mashing sequences for all finishers. The good thing is, this new system is only in place for a very small amount of submissions. More bad news, however: many submissions still do not have any submission system at all in place. What this means is, you can be having a great match, and all of a sudden tap out when in the clutches of a "vicious" front facelock. The majority of submission moves still have the two second animations with no system, yet retain the ability to make you tape out...and there is nothing you can do about it. No button mashing, nothing. Why they aren't just simply restholds with no ability to make you tap is beyond me, and it detracts severely from the gameplay. After six games, you'd think Yukes would do something about these.

Also, weapons do too much damage. Perhaps Yukes was aiming for realism here, but something should have been put in place to balance the weapons out. As it stands, if you're hit with a weapon only three times, you'll probably be severely damaged and bleeding. This makes any hardcore match or match with weapons short and lacking in the fun quotient. The weapon damage was fine before, it was realistic enough and managed to not be exceedingly cheap.

The wrestlers are back to barely selling your moves. This is confusing, because in all other areas, it seems like Yukes was making attempts to slow the game's pace. The newer moves are slower, the wrestlers animations are slower, etc. However now, they barely stay down after moves are done, even when they are damaged. Finishers only keep a wrestler down for a few seconds at best. Once again, in HCTP, the selling of the moves was more realistic and fair. Why Yukes decided to slow down most other aspects of the game yet take the selling back in an arcade direction is beyond me.

The weight system has been slightly improved, now extending to finishers as well. The negative to this is that unlike other wrestling games, if your weight class doesn't allow you to lift the heavy wrestlers, you never will. There is a struggle animation and then you fail. They should have allowed you to have a chance by button mashing. Also, the weight system still does not extend to ground moves or turnbuckle moves. So, Rey Jr. can still superplex the Big Show, and Victoria can deliver the Black Widow to Andre the Giant.

Perhaps the worst offense of all though, is that almost no match types have been improved. The HIAC is laughable at best, compared to other WWE games on other systems. It's unrealistically small, you're only granted access to two weapons which lay haphazardly outside the ring, and you get the same canned Smackdown 2 animation when you put them through the top of the cell. Even worse, and more inexplicably, a pinfall or submission can be made anywhere during a cell match. So, you can take a wrestler out to the rampway and pin him on the stage if you want, or even pin him on the announcers table. This has never happened in the WWE, and it cheapens the cell match quite a bit. Beyond the cell, the cage match is also still the same as it was five years ago with Smackdown 1 on the PS1. No cage moves, no escaping out of the door. Nothing beyond a button mashing fest to climb over the top. As for the rest of the modes, they all remain the same as well, with no improvements. Except for the hardcore match, now you have only one backstage area to fight in...one which is not even accessible from the main arenas! Also, the last man standing match has been ruined. The ref counts insanely fast for some reason, and in this match, the wrestlers suddenly remember how to sell moves, because they remain laid out forever after a strong move is done to them. On the players end of things, button mashing does nothing to help you get up, so once you are on the ground, nothing can be done.

The only plus is that the Royal Rumble has been improved greatly. There is now a ring out meter, which is drained when you struggle to stay in the ring while on the apron, but can be refilled by eliminating other people. The only other way you can be eliminated without draining the meter is if you have a red body part(you can then be thrown directly out), or if a super heavyweight military press slams you over the ropes.

Graphics:

The graphics have been greatly improved, and it shows. Lighting effects are much better, as well as textures and polygon counts. Some of the wrestlers do not look right, however. Chris Benoit looks nothing like he should; odd because he looked spot on in all of the other Smackdown games. Randy Orton also looks, well, like he got in a car accident. For the most part though, the graphics on the wrestlers are an improvement. Some, such as Ric Flair, look almost photo realistic. The animation is also improved, not so much in quality(it was already fine)as in realism. There are more counters to moves now, and most of the new animations are not as cartoony as they once were. You no longer roll halfway across the ring when standing up. All in all, there has been a big improvement in the area of graphics.

Sound:

This year's game features a licensed soundtrack. I'll save the diatribe on the variations of nu-metal and rap/rock in this game. Obviously they are attempting to appeal to a certain demographic, one of which I am not a part of. My musical tastes run along completely different lines. The good news is, it can be turned off, and I am sure many WWE fans will be happy that these tracks are in, instead of the generic music we had before. Almost every wrestler in the game, including legends, has his real theme this year too. The only exceptions to the rule I can think of are Stacy Kiebler, Roddy Piper, and Jimmy Snuka. However, those three all have passable generic renditions of their themes.

The punching and mat sounds are all good, as usual. However, Yukes still cannot do decent crowd noises. The chants are all very quiet, and most of them do not make sense. During a Benoit vs. Bret Hart match, I can hear chants of "USA!" and the like. The crowd is also largely uninterested in the match compared to other WWE games, such as Day of Reckoning. This detracts from the experience.

Another big addition this year is voiceovers for season mode. Unfortunately, the voice work is terrible in almost every case. The recordings are low quality, and for most of the wrestlers, the acting is very wooden and emotionless. It doesn't sound like it does on television. I'd rather they just stuck with text if this is our alternative.

Features:

Create a PPV has been added back in. Unfortunately it's not all that great. You don't get rated on your PPVs anymore, and the customization is limited. They should have included options to change set colors, lighting, ring aprons and colors.

Create a Belt has been added, and it's actually a pretty good mode. The negative to this is that defending your belts is lackluster. Only the CPU may defend in the match, and if you pick the current champ, the belt defaults to his CPU opponent. This makes the mode ineffectual. Also, you cannot create tag team belts, only singles titles. You also cannot put belts up for grabs online.

Create a Wrestler is back, but more limited than before. There are less options, and less layers. You still cannot create an entrance, but have to settle for the already premade entrances in the game.

Much was made of the online mode, to the point where it was one of the game's main selling points. Unfortunately, the pattern of lack of effort made it's way into the online aspect as well, because you can only play two match types online: singles match, and bra and panties. This is simply inexcusable. Not only that, but you cannot, as mentioned, put created belts up for grabs online, and the online features are barebones at best, and practically nonexistant at worst. There is no stat tracking, nor any support for USB headset. On top of that, the servers for gameplay are laggy and make it a chore to play at times. Very disheartening.

The season mode has taken huge steps backwards. No more entering CAWs in season to keep it fresh; you're limited to one, that one being you. Also, you cannot edit the rosters of the shows, and each show only has two title belts: IC/US, and the World Title. On top of that, the story is very linear, only giving you choices at certain points, and often giving you no choice at all. Plus, you cannot customize faces or heels, enter legends in season mode(or play as them), and stat tracking is gone. The season mode took a big hit; anyone claiming it is an improvement does not understand the concept of "season" mode.

Final Word:

So all in all, despite a few improvements, mostly in the areas of graphics and presentation, this game is a huge disappointment. Online mode is a joke, the season has taken away all the freedom you had, the CAW is worse, the gameplay was left untouched and in some cases was made worse, and the new features, create a belt and create a ppv, are both poorly implemented. There's always next year, as they say. We recieved better graphics, some voiceovers, and improved presentation. Unfortunately, the cost we payed for those is that the gameplay remained completely stagnant. A problem indeed, as it is starting to show it's age. On top of that, all the modes added were done half-heartedly. Tossing tons of sundry, lazy features and adding more glitz and shine do not a good game make. This series' gameplay is stale as five year old bread.

My verdict is: don't waste your money. If you are a Smackdown!/wrestling fan, I suggest to wait for a price drop, or perhaps even more sensibly, wait for a better game. This one reeks of mediocrity.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/10/04