Being a fan of wrestling on the TV Being a gamer I thought I'd purchase a wrestling game to play when WWE isn't on. I'd played a WWE wrestling game before and wasn't very impressed thankfully WWE is a good game and helps pass the hours maybe a bit to quickly !!
Having played the Smackdown series before I knew what to expect of it and I was actually very impressed, there are all the original modes and car park brawl in which you slam the opponent against cars though the damage models are poor ( Def Jam: Fight For New York does this better ) the game was suprisingly fun and playable featuring 40 WWE wrestlers to wrestle with and the option of fighting clean or dirty which changes your reputation depending on which style you use. There are some gameplay issues though when you play the Table matches your wrestler seems to slide around like on an ice rink !
Some nice features are included in this game for example when you try and pin a wrestler who is high on health he or she will throw you off with force instead of just managing to tip you off, the referee will signal for a long 2 count which is a great aid, you can kick your heels out and the ref will stop the count ( this works both ways ) and my favourite if you are the champ you can use your belt as a weapon ! Now lets not forget you can also chat the ladies up backstage ( fun but pointless ). You can also create new Belts to wrestle for.
The grappling system is slightly tricky to get to grips with as before you can attempt your main grapple you have to you need to do a prilimenary grapple even for a basic wrestling move like a slam. There is a new way of fighting and that is with the analog stick which you swing to shove or hit your enemy in a frenzy. When you master all aspects of the game it plays like a dream with you calling the boss to keep the ref busy while you slam your oponent with a chair ( or bottle or table or even food ). You can also make your opponent give into you by submission which you can acrivate by continually attacking the same body part.
The sound is good with all the wrestlers being called in to do voice overs for the game, The in game commentary is slightly dissapointing as it is often mis-timed which can sound slightly odd, no very odd when they start talking about a move you did 30 seconds ago. Another thing is there are very few unique commentary phrases for each wrestler only usually about 2 and one more for them if they perform a dirty move. The in game music is nice if not a bit repetitive sometimes.
The graphics seem well done and polished nicely with all the wrestlers looking like there TV selves. There are a few small glitches in the graphics though, the wrestlers hold on to invisible ropes and the grapples dont always connect. The crowd is a fantastic improvement with all the people waving there signs and hands about in 3D a very nice touch.
The AI is good and bad they act like they do on TV with some wrestlers genuinely hating others, but the wrestlers seem to miss you an awful lot earlier on in the game when you are familiarising yourself you may breathe a sigh of relief but later this can get annoying as you don't feel challenged when wrestlers dont follow through with an attack or flail at the air next to you.
The multiplayer mode is immense fun as you take on a mate head to head in many different modes, bear in mind there is no need to split the screen. Online is not so good as all you can do is a one on one match with the only other option being you can use the lady fighters this dissapointed me slightly as it could have easily been so much more. This game will last you a long long time and provides limitless enjoyment.
This is a good addition to the Smackdown series which takes a while to fully master a must for all mature gamers.
If it is a lighter fighting experiance which is easier to pick up and play you are after try Tekken 4.
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