WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 (PS3)

Author's product rating:   

Gameplay/Playability	Excellent - great gameplay & playability
Graphics	Good graphics
Sound	Good sound effects & music
Value for Money

Advantages:	Great game play, realistic(ish) moves, nice graphics
Disadvantages:	Difficult and timely to unlock all characters and options

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I never watched wrestling when it was big, when everyone had a favourite wrestler, a favourite 'brand'. Apparently my boyfriend did though. When he bought a ps2 last year the first game he bought was WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007, it didn't take long for us both to become totally addicted to the game. With various modes, fighting styles, etc. the game can be played by anyone as much or as little as you like, a real momentous game for the ps2. However, my boyfriend has recently been hassled by Littlewoods, letter after letter and eventually he gave in and opened an account, his first purchase was of course a ps3, which he has been raving on about for ages. As games are expensive he decided to get a package deal with a game, however WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 was not including. I spent a few days but I soon found the game at a bargain price on ebay, £15.50 delivered, unbeatable.

The first thing I noticed when the game arrived was how much smaller the cases for ps3 games were than the ps2 games, this is due to the lack of need for a memory card holder. I also noticed that the graphics even on the case were fantastic in comparison to its ancestors. So, I put the game in…

The game begins with the same screens, copyright information, etc; this is all very boring, once again you also need to press the start button to initiate the game. The menu options are then slightly different to the 2007 game…

Play Now
This gives you the option to engage in a match; however the selections available are very limited, this is really a shortcut to a one on one game. You simply select your wrestlers and then begin, you can change the match rules and the arena in which you play if you so wish. Changing the arena gives the game slightly different options; some arenas have weapons, etc, other than this changing the arena is of little consequence to the match.
This is probably the first option most players will click on to see which characters are available to use, how the game generally works and what the gameplay graphics are like.

Exhibition
This allows you to choose from a far more varied list of matches.
• One on One - including hardcore matches, ECW (extreme championship wrestling), parking lot brawl
• Two on Two - including tornado tag, TLC (tables, ladders and chairs), steel cage
• Triple Threat - including hell in a cell, table, ladder
• Fatal-4-way - including battle royal, extreme rules
• 6-man - including money in the bank, elimination chamber, hardcore triple threat tornado tag
• Handicap - one on two, one on tag, one on three, one on trio, tag on trio
• Royal rumble - 10 man, 20 man or 30 man
Each speciality match has different rules and objectives, e.g. in a parking lot brawl you cannot pin your opponent, you must instead knock them out, in a steel cage match you must beat up your opponent until you have the time to climb the cage and be outside before they can and in a royal rumble you must throw your opponents out of the ring by Irish whipping them or alike until you are the last remaining player.
There are of course many more specialities than listed above but to be honest, the full list would be very boring if you have no idea what the game is like.

Game Modes
These are the events and challenges which allow you to unlock special characters and move sets; you can also earn money to buy things from the WWE shop. There are several different modes
• 24/7 mode - You can play this as a wrestler or as a manager. As a wrestler you are provided with a calendar, a mobile phone, a laptop and a magazine. The aim of the game to become a legend by building your attributes and popularity. You live as your wrestler through the calendar, each day you can perform activities to improve your traits, such as strength training; you can improve your popularity by staring in movies, this will of course wear you out and occasionally you will need to take a day off, not to mention fighting the matches. You are set trials and contests by other wrestlers and your manger, for instance you may be told that must win your next 4 matches to get a shot at a title. This information is communicated to you via your mobile, once you have completed aspects of the storyline this will appear in the magazine. You can also track your current statistics through your laptop.
Play as a manager to make money for your company, using the same principles you can gain valuable experience. Once you have built up enough experience you can create characters and crank up their attributes immediately. This can become very useful as created characters can be a lot more fun as you can change their move sets, entrances, etc.
• Tournament mode - You must select your tournament, choose your character, set your matches and ultimately win the tournament. There are different factors to consider as your play through your tournament. There is a King of the Ring tournament which requires a win at each stage to knock of the current King in the final, if your chosen character manages to win this contest, you must then choose a Queen. There is also a Beat the Clock tournament in which you must win your match in the shortest time to get to the final, the final is a normal match. When completing these matches, you must consider the next round and how best to ensure that your chosen character can win the tournament overall. It is not necessary to play each match; you can simulate a match if you wish however this can be a risky strategy.
• Hall of Fame - To complete the hall of fame you must complete a number of challenges, each symbolising an actual match recorded in the WWE hall of fame. There are some direct challenges which is very helpful, however you must have completed other aspects of the game to complete all the challenges. The majority of these challenges are played on legend difficulty, which makes it must more interesting. As you complete more challenges your rank increases in the hall of fame.
• WWE shop - This is your opportunity to spend the proceeds of challenges and different modes; from here you can purchase the characters, move sets and arenas which are unlocked throughout the challenges.

Create Modes
This is the option that allows you to create new characters. This is great fun, but unless you have completed the game in it's entirity you can only create players with poor attributes, which then need to be built up. This mode can be as easy or a difficult as you make it depending on how much of a perfectionist you are. My friend created a large number of characters in the 2007 who we are now all missing, the best of which being Amish John, with the killer catchphrase 'Amish'd!!!', we are all now working on Amish John's attributes in the new game

Online
Once you have registered with playstation online you can play against other characters online. Personally this doesn't appeal to me, but it is an available option on the game. If you have not registered online this option will appear in grey on the menu screen.

Options
Using this option you can set the difficulty of the game by setting the match rules, A.I. settings, etc. Once you feel comfortable with the easy mode you can then move on to normal, hard or legend, altering other settings as you feel necessary. You can also alter the sound settings, which includes music on the loading screens to the announcers throughout the match. It is also within the options menu that you find a manual save button, as well as saving options.

General Game Play
The general game play options have not changed a great deal from the 2007 version of this game. Grapple moves are performed using the right analogue stick, strikes use the square button, the left analogue stick controls movement and the D-pad can be used to taunt at your opponent. Reversing an opponent's move uses the L2 and R2 buttons depending on the type of move being performed.

Running has changed a little, in order to run you must press L1 and move the left analogue stick in a direction, this was previously controlled by the triangle button; though this may sound more complicated it is actually easier to understand when in the game. Irish whips are also easier to perform; these are now controlled with the circle button rather than X, down on the right analogue stick and the desired direction on the left analogue stick.

The triangle button is now pressed to use your finisher once your HDD bar is flashing, however when you store a finisher, it changes to your fighting style. Each player has two fighting styles, when selecting your character you must choose which of these to use. Once you have engaged your fighting style using the L1 and L2 buttons you have 30 seconds in which you cannot be countered, depending on your style. The styles are brawler, showman, high flyer, hardcore, dirty, submission and technical, each style has different attributes, for example a showman can steal an opponent's finishing move or a hardcore player can grapple with a weapon.

Another big difference in this game is that there is no stamina metre, this is ok if you have the stamina turned off, but if you play with stamina turned on it is near impossible as you cannot tell how you're doing. Even if you do choose to turn off the stamina it can still run out. If you perform an ultimate control move (strong grapple) for too long, i.e. holding your opponent in the air before performing your move or repeating a striking move too many times you are inclined just to fall over.

There are far more weapons available in this game than in the predecessors, there are chairs, ladders, kendo sticks, sticks with barbed wire and bins are available from under the ring. In ECW matches by using a finisher you can set a stick or a table on fire to increase the damage of the weapons.

The loading screens also now tell you the names, statistics, career highlights and did you know info of the players including the divas and legends. There is also additional guidance on match types and move sets, this is very useful especially when starting out on the game.

Graphics
The first graphical impact that this game makes is that rather showing you computer generated images on menu and loading screens, this game uses photos; this is very impressive, especially when viewed in HD. The character movements in this game are excellent, very realistic with very few continuity areas. In the previous addition of this game, grapples could be performed while holding thin air, if your opponent was shorter than your character. The one thing that agitated me most about the graphics in this game is that despite having a 1080i TV this game only plays in 720p, vastly reducing the clarity of this game. This may not be the same with all systems?!

Sound
The music in this game is a few rocky tracks, these only play during the menu and loading screens, despite getting you in the mood for a fight, their limited play time is disappointing. There is a lot more sound in this game than in the 2007 version, when fighting a female character she screams when she is hit and when weapons are used they each have an individual noise, this is a nice touch by THQ who produce this game. There is also a definite sound when you have obtained your finishing move; this is a helpful element of the game.

Instruction Booklet
I have read through the instruction booklet, it is not a great deal of help. It is also very difficult to read as the pages are dark with dark writing and pictures.

Overall
The game is easy to learn and play, can become highly addictive, if you don't have anything better to do. The game is not very original as there have been so many different versions before this one and I am sure that there will be several more after this one. The graphics and sound on this game are very good, if not entirely realistic. I think that this is the sort of game that could be played for a very long time as there is no need for training or missions, you can just fight or you can complete challenges or tournaments.

One last tip, my boyfriend has created himself and me on this game and when we have had a row, instead of having a huge argument you can just sit down and beat each other up, it's a guaranteed ice breaker. It could save your relationship, now surely that is worth £40 brand new, or as little as £10 from ebay.

I would recommend this game to anyone with a short attention span and the need to let out a little frustration. It is good fun for anyone, over the age of 16, I didn't realise that video games were now certificated.

Sorry that this review is so haphazard and random, all written in one sitting, please let me know what crucial information I have left out

Hope to have helped

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