WWE Smackdown used to be one of my favorite games back on the PlayStation and the early PlayStation 2. But I stopped watching WWE and now, playing this, I just don’t ‘get’ it anymore.
We’ll start with the positives, a full roster of ‘sports entertainment’ superstars like John Cena, Batista and Randy Orton. What I liked is the inclusion of the legend wrestlers, so some of the guys I used to know are there like Stone Cold and The Rock. You can also create your own superstar and ring entrance from hundreds of combinations. Also the amount of match types available is good. 1v1, tag teams, royal rumbles, 3v2, ladders, cages, the list goes on. The game also looks decent so that’s a good point, and the option of 6 players on one PS3 is cool.
To the negatives then; I don’t understand what this Smackdown vs Raw deal is, sure it makes sense to WWE followers but to me it’s just confusing. Just seems to be everyone fighting everyone. The controls are so clunky it’s unreal, I can’t describe how the characters move in the ring, it looks so weird and unresponsive like it’s still on PlayStation 1. Unfortunately there are no tutorials how to play the game (or options screen to tell you the buttons), I was playing a weapons game where you grab weapons from under the ring. I pressed every button while beside the ring and didn’t manage to pull out a weapon. Grabs are done with the right analog stick and heavy grabs are done by holding R1 and the right analog stick. The grabs and throws work okay, though I seem to do the same ones all the time. The commentary is HORRIBLE, you hear the same phrases and sayings over and over AND over again. The game also has online play, which sadly nobody was playing when I tried to take it online.
As I mentioned a tiny bit earlier, the graphics look decent enough, character likenesses are very good and nicely detailed. Animations are well done, all the special moves and the taunts look cool.
The typical rock metal soundtrack is here and I say again the commentary sucks. So sound isn’t a strong point. Overall, I don’t know if it’s the fact that I don’t get WWE anymore or if the game is just old fashioned, but I just don’t like this game. I’m sure WWE fans will love it for the game modes and the wrestlers on offer but non-fans be sure to avoid.
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