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Submitted by Stanman on Thursday, November 18, 2004 at 7:16 PM EST
"Letdown Vs. Raw" A Review Of PS2's Latest WWE Video Game Welcome everyone to my latest column. Ever since I started writing wrestling columns back in 2001 on LoP Forums, I've prided myself in putting out my best effort. And after three long years and several hiatus' later, my work is finally being acknowledged with a COTM win. Sigh. At this rate, I can expect my next accolade... when I'm dead. I am, of course, Valleyboy. And for this column, we're going to have ourselves a good ol' fashioned review of THQ's annual offering to the wrestling world, WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw (the latest video game for PS2 from the publisher). I'm an old school wrestling gamer from way back. All the way from NES' Wrestlemania: The Game, to Wrestlemania Challenge (NES), to WWF Wrestlefest (Arcade), to Royal Rumble (SNES), Monday Night Raw (SNES), WCW/nWo World Tour, WCW/nWo Revenge, Wrestlemania 2000, WWF No Mercy (all N64), Smackdown 1-5 (PSOne and PS2), Wrestlemania XVIII & XIX (Game Cube), and probably other games too that escape memory... I've played them all and either loved them or hated them with a passion. Wrestling games aren't the only ones that have garnered favor from me though. Grant Theft Auto and Need For Speed are a couple other franchises that have become must haves for me from way back as well. God, no wonder I'm single right now. And speaking of being lonely, that must be how Test is feeling right now. Ol' Andrew Martin was finally given his walking papers this past week (ironic considering he's only now walking normally again after neck surgery), along with several other wrestlers and "superstars". All tolled, we've seen Rodney Mack, Jazz, Chuck Palumbo, A-Train, Johnny The Bull, Billy Gunn, Rico, Gail Kim, and Nidia get the axe from Vince McMahon. A majority of these guys I will not miss (Test included), but even I have to shake my head at the "releases" of Gail Kim and Rico - two performers with talent and potential, and were fairly over with live audiences. It didn't hurt that Gail Kim was hotter than most frat boys' Asian fantasies. Word has it that these firings are all cost-cutting measures for WWE as they reach the end of the fiscal quarter. I think the only thing that I might have done different is wait until AFTER Christmas to throw these people out on their ass. Then again, Vince has never been one to consider such things when it comes to business. If history is any indication, Vince McMahon would fire his own family members if it meant that it would save him money in any way. Maybe, just maybe... and I'm just throwing this out there... Maybe the next time Vinman feels like giving away pink slips to WWE employees, he should start with the creative team. Because even a retard with a speech impediment could tell him that the creative team has been anything but creative lately. But enough chit chat, let's get to the review... Letdown Vs. Raw (So close to the real WWE, even the game is half-assed) I think it was around June when I learned that this game was coming out in the fall. And after routinely renting last year's edition (Here Comes The Pain) on any weekend where I could spend time playing games, I made up my mind almost immediately that I should invest in just straight up buying the new game as soon as it was released. Then the days wore on, and turned into weeks. Then weeks turned into months, and I gradually came to realize that THQ and Yuke's weren't looking to greatly advance the series with this year's edition. No, they were going to use a classic WWE marketing tactic - make a couple of modifications and hype the hell out of them to the masses. And you know what? I think it's worked. Vince would be proud, I believe. Smackdown Vs. Raw is a fun game to play, but I'll say right now that it is nowhere near as fun to play as THQ was hyping it up to be. My scepticism of what to expect has now crept from WWE wrestling to WWE video games. And all it took was one sub par sequel... not even Vince could jade my opinion that quickly. But I'm jaded for good reason. THQ's developers were all too happy to hype details of the game as it was in development. Several of which did not make it into the actual game. Their excuse? Not enough space to fit everything in. Not enough time to get everything done. Not enough cooperation from WWE. The bottom line is that WWE, THQ, and Yuke's ALL share the blame in everything that is wrong with this game and everything that is great about it. In the meantime though, it looks like each company will be more than happy to pass the buck to one another. But enough of corporate bickering... we've got a game to dissect. So let's touch on a few of the different aspects of the game and see how they measure up. Graphics If this game can rest it's hat on anything, it's the fact that the graphics are the best that they've ever been. And considering the achievements that they made in this department for last year's Here Comes The Pain, that's saying something. "Graphically, it is the best wrestling game I have ever played." - LoP Forums columnist, Stinger "The graphics are slightly better, but not really that noticeable, thus making you wonder why in the hell they cut the roster so much." - LoP Forums columnist, The Monkey The character models are less rigid and have a smoother texture to them. Movement has been improved for entrances as well, and with a three dimensional crowed, ring entrances are quite a sight to behold now. THQ touted that the polygon count had been upped this year by 40%, but as good as the graphics are 40% can be a somewhat misleading number. The graphics have improved greatly, but not to any mind numbing degree. Sound In the sound department, the sound effects are nearly unchanged and if they are it's not very noticeable. What is remarkable is the amount of licensed music in the game. LoP Forums columnist, Morpheus, was kind enough to provide a listing and some comments on this section, including this list of the songs that appear in the game... "Breaking Point One Of A Kind Breaking Benjamin Firefly Breaking Benjamin Polyamorous Core The Angle Lo-Fi Depth Charge Our Lady Peace Whatever pre)Thing Cant Stop (22nd century lifestyle) Powerman 5000 Last Night On Earth Powerman 5000 The Way It Is Powerman 5000 Riot Time Powerman 5000 When Worlds Collide Public Enemy & Anthrax Bring Tha Noize Shocore Bonecracker Styles Of Beyond - Superstars Swollen Members Bottom Line Tantric Chasing After Zebrahead Alone Zebrahead Falling Apart "There are a couple of other songs scattered throughout the game, but these are the only ones that are listed in the game credits... I have played every SmackDown! game since the first one, with the exception of Here Comes The Pain, and I have to say that this one ranks up there among the best. I like everything about it, even if I do wish the roster was a bit larger. The one thing that stands out in my mind about this game though is the amazing soundtrack. Never before has a wrestling game had such a wide array of great music to get your blood pumping while you play. The genres of music in this game range from metal to rap, with lots of stuff in between, and keep a very good beat going in the background that drives the game play forward." - Morpheus Characters It was barely a week after the game was officially released that several of the WWE Superstars in the game were as well. Aside from A-Train, Chuck Palumbo, Sable, and Rico being fired from WWE just prior to the release of the game, the characters that do remain are some of the most prominent characters that are on WWE broadcasts right now with the exception of Hardcore Holly perhaps. Of course there are also the wrestlers that are currently inactive on the roster suck as HBK, Garrison Cade, and Matt Hardy, but the developers can hardly be held to blame for that. "The roster lacks in comparison to HCTP, but it has all the wrestlers I would care to play as or go against on it, so no complaints. Legends like Bret Hart and LOD are a nice addition." - Stinger The models of all of the characters appear to have been given a little more attention to detail this year besides the 40% polygon increase. Former ragged looking characters such as Edge and Shawn Michaels actually look realistic now and not nearly as rushed in the past. Vince McMahon, however, is inexplicably mutated in the game and looks far less like his real life counterpart. But hey, noone is perfect. Right? Gameplay In my opinion, the gameplay of Here Comes The Pain was the second best grappling engine of it's time. No Mercy for N64 was unbeatable for gameplay a few years ago, but now that we're beyond that console Here Comes The Pain reigns supreme. That is... until now. Everything about the actual gameplay in matches has been carried over from last year's game and has been polished a fair bit with new moves, reanimated moves, a new submission meter, new reversals, meaningful attributes, and (my favorite maybe) mini games. The mini games include prematch staredowns (shoving match, sneak attack, and test of strength), a chopping meter in the corner, and the heel/face meter adds to the depth to the matches that has been long overdue. For the life of me though, that submission meter is killing me this year. Unless you're using a character that has a high submission attribute then you are going to be hard pressed to make use of that meter to any expertness. Collision detection is another thing that needs to be worked on a lot, but was ignored this year. Characters fall and collide at times in the most ridiculous and awkward manners that it defies all suspension of disbelief. I've never known a wrestler to get kicked off the top turnbuckle to fall flat to the ringside area and roll immediately to his feet as if he merely tripped. The aspect of the game has been lacking for years now and next year has to be the year to get all the kinks worked out. Season Mode This is the selling point for my with any wrestling game that is on the market. If it doesn't have a good season mode or storyline mode, then it isn't worth my time or money. This game squeaked by in this category, but barely. Allow me to explain. Firstly, the lack of the Women's, Cruiserweight, and both Tag-Team titles detract from the game's storylines in my opinion. The storylines instead seem to focus solely on singles action (and repeatedly trying to gain Divas as managers). Voice overs add a welcome touch to the storyline mode, but they become just as repetitive after a few seasons as the text did. Unlike the last two games though, there is no backstage wandering or even the option to talk to people backstage. All cut sequences are predetermined by choices made and matches won. The one good side to that is that there is always a storyline going on for your character, instead of month long hiatus' from stories. And the storylines themselves are improved over last year's horrendously bad ideas (a tag-team arguing over who has to drive to the hotel? C'mon.). Word has it that WWE writers actually played a role in writing several of the storylines that appear in the game, so don't be surprised if you find them as nonsensical as some of the ones that you see on television. It's one year long again, which is a draw back slightly since I preferred the two year format from Shut Your Mouth two years ago. Also there is no stat tracking in Season, so title changes and alliances are pointless in following. The biggest drawback of all in my opinion though is that once a season has ended and you wish to start another with a new wrestler, all titles and rosters revert back to the original defaults without any ability to edit rosters, alliances, or sides. Oh, and Legends aren't included in Season Mode either, so if you were looking forward to taking Bret Hart through a career in WWE you can forget about it unless you created him yourself in CAW. Create A Wrestler If you've enjoyed the CAW feature of Smackdown games past, then you'll probably enjoy this one just as much. The graphics are better for CAW (if a little more cartoonish) and the options are laid out in a more straight forward manner than ever before. Some of the options for your character have been simplified some with fewer choices in designs and patterns, but it's not too much to take away from the whole experience. Attribute points for your wrestler can even be purchased from the Shopzone section so you don't have to take your CAW through endless seasons to build him up properly. The moves that are included for CAW are quite good and there is a wide variety of moves and styles with only a handful of moves removed from previous game and an equal or greater amount of moves added to the game. If you're looking for the Five Knuckle Shuffle or French Tickler, you're in luck. CAW has also been improved greatly thanks to the music listed above for entrances along with more realistic entrance animations like Goldberg, Hogan, and Stone Cold instead of the outlandish and cartoonish animations that Yuke's has long used over the year's for their wrestling games. Heck, you can even create a proper Bushwhacker tag-team if you so choose. Online Play Unlike most of you people, I still live in the dark ages of Internet use with my lowly dial-up connection. Therefore, I have no ability to try out the brand new feature of SvR, Online. But there are plenty of other people who have, and despite having only two options of matches to go through (Singles and Bra & Panties), we've still got a good idea of what to expect from this new facet of the game. The existing roster and CAWs are usable for online play, but created belts cannot be defended online. Nor is there the capability of voice chat. Final Thoughts "If I had to give the game a grade overall, Id have to give it 4.5/5 Hourglasses, but if I focus on just the soundtrack, it gets a perfect score." - Morpheus "This game was a huge waste of money. Here Comes the Pain eclipses this game in every department except the graphics department. The gameplay is slower, online gaming is restricted to two types and the story mode went faster than Kanes WWE Championship reign AND it was just as disappointing. Its not that good at all and Id recommend people to rent before buying." - LoP Forums mainstay, 2TX "Great game, and out of 10, I'd give it an 8.5 which is higher than I would give any other wrestling game. Now if the new one for the X-Box would hurry up and come out, I'd be set." - Stinger As for my own final thoughts on the game, it's definitely a fun one. I have my fair share of complaints about the game, but I tend to dismiss them since the game was a gift instead of something that I had bought for myself. If I had spent my own hard earned money on the game though, I would surely have been more critical and more annoyed with the things that are missing from the game this year. That being said though, the game is absolutely worth a rent (whether you're a wrestling fan or not). But to buy the game you'd really have to be a fan of the series or failed to play the previous Smackdown titles on PS2 to really appreciate it as much. A score? How about 8 out of 10, since that's what I gave Here Comes The Pain... and this game ends up being about par with that game as far as I'm concerned. Minimal Subliminals (Short Rants & Smart-Ass Comments) - Hardcore Holly injured Carlito Caribbean Cool during a match over the past weekend. I guess Bob got bored with getting injured himself, so thought he'd try breaking someone else's arm for a change. - Macho Man, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Diamond Dallas Page, Rowdy Roddy Piper, and Jimmy Snuka all made appearances in the last week in TNA. And who says the elderly can't contribute in the workplace? I hear that Jim Duggan is a greeter at Wal-Mart now. - The Game is concerned that Gene Snitsky may challenge him for the World Title after Survivor Series. Frankly, so am I. - After hearing that Randy Savage chickened out of a confrontation with Hulk Hogan, I realized that Grand Master Macho is the Ja Rule to Hulkster's 50 Cent. - TNA Superstars recently greeted WWE Superstars at Universal Studios with cookies and balloons. Are these national wrestling promotions or Chucky Cheeze franchises? Atleast Batista probably felt at home. - Trish and Lita will get it on at Survivor Series this weekend. Maybe the numbness is Trish's hand lately has been because she's been carrying Lita through those promos on Raw. Yikes. - Tough Enough champion, Linda Miles, has been no showing events and training sessions lately. Hey, Linda. When you decide to be a bitch to your employers, maybe you shouldn't do it when they're in the middle of a firing spree. Just a thought. - Former ECW star, Chilly Willy, has signed with WWE. That's not cool... that's fucking chilly. - Kevin Nash has been putting over AJ Styles backstage apparently at TNA. Run, AJ! Run! The last time Nash put over a cruiserweight was when he put Rey Mysterio over... his head... and lawn-darted his ass into a trailer. The End Well, that sums up my column this time around. Thanks to all of you who actually read through all that. It had to have been a chore, I sure. I'm not sure when I'll write my next column for the LoP Forums, but if you don't see my work there then there are certainly plenty of writer's in there with the talent to hold your interest. Heck, even the plagiarists that show up from time to time atleast copy some of the best material on the net. Bwah hah hah. I'd also like to extend my appreciation to 2TX, and fellow columnists; Morpheus (Enter The Dream Realm), Stinger (A View From The Rafters), and The Monkey (Skipidy Do Da & The Eyes Of A Monkey). You'll find their columns in the LoP Forums as well and they just happen to be three of the best writers that aren't on the main page right now. But give them time and I'm sure they'll all soon find themselves taking over Lords Of Pain eventually. And if you feel like giving me a little feedback, then all you have to do is send an e-mail to valleyboylop@hotmail.com So until next time, folks... keep reaching for that rainbow. Valleyboy *NEW GALLERY* Amazing UP CLOSE Kelly Kelly Tease Photos! MUST SEE!
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