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WWE SMACKDOWN VS. RAW 2009 XBOX 360 REVIEW |
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Wrestling is
back! While this may excite a few WWE fans, some
believe that the Smackdown vs. Raw franchise is
down to its last leg, in terms of its potential
to grow and its ability to progress. Many will
be surprised, however, to find out that this
year’s installment of Smackdown vs. RAW 2009 is
still an impressive wrestling program. With the
latest gameplay innovations that include a brand
new tag team experience and an exciting feature
called Road to Wrestlemania, this is the
wrestling game to beat! Of course, there are
also a few lingering issues worth mentioning
about – like wonky target detection and slow
load times. Despite these small setbacks, you’ll
definitely appreciate the new streamlined
approach to the single-player components – more
action, less tinkering. No matter what the
others say, the Smackdown vs. RAW franchise is
still alive and well – and far from the
frightening “pinfall” people had perceived it to
be!
The great part about this year’s performance is
the revamped single-player modes. The career
portion has been renovated to run at a much
faster pace – eliminating the micromanagement
factor such as silly training exercises that
prevent your fights from achieving Wrestlemania
fever! You start your career either as a custom
character or your favorite superstar. Then you
choose a branch of WWE from which you’ll
establish your humble beginnings. It’s nice to
see that players are given more control with the
way they could progress through the ranks within
their club. You can decide to brawl your way in
a hurry, leading up to the championship match.
Or take your sweet time beating each opponent to
a bloody pulp. With the latter side, you’ll
receive exciting medals – by successfully
pulling off various maneuvers – and gain
valuable points towards maximizing your
athlete’s potentials. In addition, you can
decide to change the type of bout on the fly; it
can be a steel cage, a TLC match, or whatever
turns you on.
Depending on your performance in each match, you
will be rated on a 5-star scale. Obviously,
punishing your opponents with advanced
“technical” moves and pumping up the crowd with
your showmanship will net you a better rating.
Obtaining these stars is an integral part of
becoming the number one contender, as you are
required to complete a set amount of stars to
advance to the next division. Collecting all of
them is a slow process but exploring different
tactics encourages players to get into the
wrestling. The nice part about the career mode
is that once you have acquired the title belt
for a particular club, you can quickly change
path and take on an entirely new WWE branch,
let’s say the ECW division. Unlike last year,
the choices in your career are mostly
pre-defined and it seems to take forever to get
a title shot!
Road to Wrestlemania is another exciting feature
in this year’s edition of Smackdown vs. RAW. It
offers six unique scripted storylines,
heightened by a testosterone-ridden melodrama
that’s always going on within the WWE business.
You play as your favorite WWE superstar and beat
up all oppositions, including rivalries you pick
up on the side, as you work your way into
Wrestlemania stardom! The matches are full of
WWE action and the preliminary “trash talking”
set the stage for firing up the personal
vendetta. This soap opera-like atmosphere
captures many of the thrilling aspects we see on
live WWE programming, and Road to Wrestlemania
is just the fix those hardcore WWE fans need to
satisfy their wrestling appetite.
While the latest single-player components
provide a brand new take on wrestling
experience, it is the gameplay that gives the
franchise the coveted punching power. The latest
improvements to the fighting mechanics have
revitalized the very action of the game. One of
the most interesting additions is being able to
create your own finisher. Traditionally, a
finisher would include two to three frames of
animation. An example of a three-animation
finisher would be to stun the enemy first, pick
him up behind your back, and finish him off with
a signature move. Thanks to this new feature,
you can have as many as 10 animations, which
allow you to open up a series of cheap blows
before annihilating your opponent with a special
move at the end! It also gives you a way to
combine your favorite finishers from various WWE
superstars. |
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PRODUCT
OVERALL RATING: 8.0 OUT OF 10 |
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The best
highlights of Smackdown vs. RAW 2009 are found
in tag team matches. Most of us like to have
partners in our corner to cover our backs. And
so THQ has put extra effort this year with
regards to cooperative elements. It’s much
easier to perform tag team moves this time
around. When your opponent is dazed at the
turnbuckle, simply point the right-stick in one
of the directions, and your partner will
automatically come out of his post to rally up a
vicious double slam! To get the action fired up,
turn off the “DQ” on the menu before the match
begins. When your partner gets in the ring with
you, the referee won’t shove him back to his
corner for interfering. Now you and your partner
can unleash an endless variety of tag team
maneuvers. Of course, we are talking about
traditional tag team match here. If it were a
tornado tag, you wouldn’t have to turn off the
“DQ” because all wrestlers are in the ring at
the same time.
One of the nicest features about the multiplayer
co-op is the innovative “hot tags”. Use this
technique to bail yourself out of tight
situations, particularly when your character
becomes completely winded out! Have your partner
hold up on the directional pad to build up the
hot tag momentum while standing in the corner.
As soon as the meter lights up in flame, move to
your partner and press the RB and Y buttons
together. Your partner will turn into this
raging bull as he enters the ring, and is
momentarily invincible. It’s interesting to see
the action during this adrenaline charge, as
most of his attacks will take place in
matrix-style resolution, with twice the damage
effect in clobbering both enemies. However, he
has only a few seconds to do his evil bidding
before his aggression wears off, so he has to
make all his hits count.
You’ve heard of the phrase what happens in Vegas
stays in Vegas. In Smackdown vs. RAW 2009, there
is no escape from heavy beatings. In fact, what
happens in the ring also happens all over the
concrete floor! The competition can get ugly at
times with heads getting busted wide open. The
main reason the game has become quite ruthless
with the attacks is its expanded control scheme.
Players would soon discover a number of exciting
special maneuvers hidden in their fighting
arsenals. Each wrestler can now carry two
signature moves and two unique finishers. If you
think unloading one of these heavy artilleries
is enough to torture your opponent, then you
guess it wrong. THQ has incorporated the ability
to steal finishers and signature moves that
guarantee to subdue any opposition six feet
under.
The game is jam-packed with several other great
wrestling commodities. You can remove the covers
from turnbuckles to smash your opponent into;
hammer his face relentlessly while he's still
lying on the ground; or go for broke and perform
a devastating high-impact finishing move with
your partner! Graphically, the game looks
impressive. The animation is so good it hits
close to home! From Summer Slam to the Survivor
Series, each arena is decorated with authentic
design of their counterpart. Character models
and the multitude of fans cheering the match
look excellent. The special effects on finishers
are incredible where you’ll see the screen
shatters into small pieces after pile-driving
your opponent hard on the canvas. The audio
system delivers a solid convincing tone for
every slam and hard hit. The announcers have
improved quite a lot; no longer will they
overwhelm you with pesky play-by-play
commentaries.
The Smackdown vs. RAW franchise still packs
plenty of heat behind its wrestling package.
This year’s version just proved there is more to
the gameplay than anyone else has anticipated.
The latest effort to expand the tag team concept
turned out to be a good investment, yielding
twice the return on entertainment. The improved
fighting mechanics – that include abilities to
steal opponent’s signature moves and create your
own finisher – have certainly provided an
immersive WWE experience. Many will find the
action reasonably satisfying and the
behind-the-scene drama true to its source
material. However, the game suffers a bit from
awkward camera angles and unstable targeting
system. Needless to say, the incredible
presentation set the stage for a brilliant
Wrestlemania fever! Though there are some rough
edges to this year’s performance, WWE Smackdown
vs. RAW 2009 still captures the beauty of a full
combat sport. |
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