Smackdown vs. Raw 2008

Rating Teen Genre sports Publisher THQ External Links www.thq.comOfficial THQ Website

Nothing I say is likely to change the mind of someone who’s bought the last several incarnations of WWE Smackdown vs. Raw. Simply put, either you’re a big fan of wrestling games or you steer clear of them. As a reviewer, I don’t get to choose. I get assigned titles. It’s kind of a double-edged sword. I often have to plow through games I normally wouldn’t be interested in, but it pays off every now and then when you find that gem. In any case, I try to approach every game with an open mind and review it as a newcomer. This wasn’t too tough for WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 since my wrestling fandom days were back during the time of the Iron Sheik, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, and the first go round of Hulkamania.

At first glance, it’s somewhat apparent the developers aren’t expecting much of a new crowd. It’s probably not a bad business decision if you know your audience and know that you’re generally going to have the same demographic buying the title year after year, but it does make it tough for those of us that are new to the series. There’s essentially no tutorial to speak of and that’s a problem because the controls are somewhat complex. Even some veterans of the Smackdown vs. Raw games are complaining because apparently the controls change from year to year. When you’re new to the game and there’s no in game training, at least none that I can find, you wind up doing a lot of ineffective button mashing.

At its core, this is essentially a fighting game. As with any fighting game the key is learning the controls, learning the combos, and perfecting the timing for all of the moves. With no help other than the bare bones in the manual, this is tough. Never mind the fact that there are eight different fighting styles and that the controls and moves will vary depending on the style. Ultimately, it means there’s a very high learning curve. Vets will be fine, as they will have a head start. Big wrestling fans that are new to the game will likely have the dedication to learn the system. For us outsiders though, it’s a lot of frustration.

Beyond the gameplay, it sounds like the game has taken other steps backward from previous years, based on other reports. The number of wrestlers has been trimmed and the depth of the cutscenes is also lowered. There’s enough eye candy in the beginning, but there is plenty of room for mindless repetition to set in. Add to that the fact that some of the cutscenes don’t seem to match up at all with the other events happening. For instance, after initiating a big rivalry you’ll cut to backstage where you and your new hated enemy are giving high fives and otherwise acting normal. Since the game also includes the ability to create and manipulate storylines and use storywriters, maybe it’s just tacit acknowledgement that it’s all entertainment anyway, but it does come off as weird behavior or the game just picking cutscenes at random whether they make sense or not.

There are plenty of options to give the game some depth. You can play in 24/7 mode as a superstar where you fight your matches and also spend your off days either training to build your abilities or doing other tasks. You can also play 24/7 in GM mode where you manage a stable of wrestlers, set the lineup cards for the televised events and schedule the training and publicity opportunities. The goal of course is to build your brand, increase their popularity, and ultimately win GM of the Year. This mode brings in more of the management side, but you can also take control for any of the scheduled matches or training opportunities to get in some gameplay.

WWE Smackdown vs. Raw is one of those long running series that’s just tough for a newcomer to get into. The Madden titles and, really, almost all of the sports games are similar, so it’s not really a knock on the series itself. There’s probably enough here to keep the long time fans happy and that’s really what it’s all about. However, there does seem to be a lot of rumbling from series vets and that should cause concern for the developers. If the faithful are starting to get restless, maybe it’s time to take a step back and try to reinvent the game for 2009.