WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW

Smackdown vs Raw is definitely, hands down a great game. But how great? Let's see.

THE GOOD. Clean-dirty tactics. This really captures the flow of a match. Being a hardcore WWE fan, I love it when wrestling games are realistic.

Season. Not as long as the other games, but in my opinion that is a huge improvement. I was sick of long seasons. Also the story lines are fresh and original.

Create a PPV. Ahhhhh.... it's good that THQ finally put this back in. It's really detailed.

Entrances. The thing that most people look over. I personally think that these entrances are awesome and I love the fact that they even went as far as to make your manager walk out with you for your match.

Detail! I love the fact how every match has been improved on (for instance you can tell your manager to get a weapon, and you can argue with the ref).

THE OKAY. Royal rumble. The royal rumble is still really fun and great, but the meter is a little odd.

Challenges. I thought this was gonna be great, but the fact that some of the challenges are really tough and you don't get paid that much, just does not really make me excited. Still pretty cool though.

Create a wrestler. As usual, pretty much the same, just with more options.

THE BAD. Online. OH MY GOSH!!! THIS MODE SUCKS!!! GET IT UPDATED PLEASE!!!!!

The menu screens. The fact that divas are the menu screens is just stupid. Especially the fact that everyone thinks that I did that on purpose.

Hardcore matches. Multiple interactive backstage areas you will be missed.

So that's my review. Hopefully this will give you some thoughts on if you want to buy this game or not.

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

The WWE's flagship programmes,WWE SmackDown! and WWE Raw,are brought together for this ultimate match-up.Competitors from both shows may play against each other.Players may also take advantage of the opportunity to create their own Tag Team match-ups,as well as handicap matches,play in the simulation of actual real life WWE PPV matches and much more...

I was never a big fan of wrestling as I grew up.Even from a young age,I could tell how carefully chereographed it all was and had trouble taking it seriously.But over the past year or so,I was able to take it for what it is a bit more and find it more enjoyable.And now,I have the opportunity to play this game from THQ.

Once you're in the wrestling ring with your selected competitor,it's a little hard to adjust to the controls at first,but once you get in the swing of it,things get much better (even if you aren't able to deduct quite how you made your character perform certain moves!)The graphics just about cut it as adequate,but are certainly far away from brilliant.None of the characters seem to come out with any of their signature catch-phrases either,which is a bit disappointing.The non-stop roaring rock soundtrack will either get you pumped up and in the mood for all the slamming and throwing or start to grate on your nerves somewhat after a while,depending on your mood.The character's title music that they come out to the ring to blares out in full glory.

There's a number of competitors to choose from.As well as modern reigning giants such as Triple H,John 'Bradshaw' Layfield and Randy Orton,there's a selection of wrestling legends such as 'Superfly' Jimmy Snuka and 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper to pair against the more up-to-date fighters.Some by-gone characters,such as The Rock,appear 'Locked' and that's too bad...You can even get male characters to compete against female fighters,such as Torrie Wilson and Trish Stratus (if the thought of a man getting his ass kicked by a woman is your kinda thing!...)

Overall,this isn't a brilliant game and it certainly ain't as great as it could have been,but it's certainly not as bad as it could have been,either and you certainly won't be bored playing it.***

I had high expectations of this game for many reasons. After playing through a season of season mode, and countless matches online, as well as doing many challenges I have come to the opinion that while Smackdown vs Raw is a good game, it could have, and should have been better. First lets start with what should have been one of the bright spots of the game, Online mode. I will give THQ and company credit just for finally putting it in, but that's as far as I will extend the praise. The problem is that it has many little things that I can pick apart about the Online mode. There are only 2 match types to choose from, Single and Bra and Panties. I was hoping to have more variety with online mode. The next problem with it was that for a considerable amount of the time, the matches were very laggy and had poor frame rate, at times making play unbearable. This did not happen all of the time, but enough for me to become angry and take notice. The Online mode also has no ranking system, which while it is not a crucial part of an Online game, I still like to have one. I must say that the soundtrack to the game was just awesome, and easily beat any of the soundtracks to previous Smackdowns. CAB and CAPPV were also added for the first time since Smackdown 2 and it is a feature that I and many others really enjoy having. You do need a substantial amount of money to make a belt, but I still feel it is worth it. The story lines in season mode are very interesting so far. I have only played one complete season, but I must say that with the past two Smackdowns the season mode has greatly improved as far as the story lines are concerned. You are sure to find original stories that are not stolen from the real life WWE broadcasts, although there bound to be some real ones thrown in for fun, no harm there. I also like the improvement of the weapon damage because it is now as close to realistic as has been reached in any of the other Smackdown games. I should also mention the addition of the dirty/clean meters that will reflect how you work the match. You fill up either bar and each one gives you something special to do as a result. You can also elect to be 'neutral' and work the match any way you want, you just don't get any special thing to do for it. I will now move on to my other big gripe with the game, besides online play, which was the the new 'ringout meter'. The point of this meter is when you are in a Royal Rumble instead of being punched or kicked out of the ring so quickly like in previous games, this bar must be emptied before you can be knocked out. It is very simple, you engage in a grapple when the opponent is on the ring apron, and the bar starts to go down, when the bar empties you are knocked off. The problem with this is it doesn't work like it is supposed to. I have played in two royal Rumbles so far and each time I have been punched off of the ring apron when my bar is at full. This angers me because the point of this bar was to prevent these quick exits from occurring any more. I would not be angry in the previous games because this kind of thing in Royal Rumbles was common, but this 'ring-out meter' was supposed to change all of that, and it failed. Oh, if I have not mentioned it earlier in this review, the graphics are the best yet in this game and really deserve praise. In conclusion, I really like this game but I feel that it could have been better than it was. Here is my scoring on this game:

Graphics: 9.5

Story (in this case season mode): 9.0

Difficulty: 9.0

Controls: 10.0

Fun Factor: 10.0

Tilt (my personal feeling): 8.5

Total: 56/60

Overall: 9.3

The last installment, HCTP was dire. They changed the grapple system to an annoying double button pressing style that had ruined older WWE Titles such as Attitude (PS1) and Warzone (PS1). This game has the same grapple system, yet is infinitely better. The weight detection system mean't smaller guys couldn't lift bigger guys, which sounds good. Unfortunately it wasn't applied correctly and Shawn Michaels couldn't lift Kane, even for a suplex or power-slam. For an addictive, quick fix of WWE action, this is definitely a fantastic game. What a welcome addition the Challenge mode is. I suggest expanding this part of the game, and having up to 100 - 150 challenges to play. It definitely helps prolong the fun of the game. Also the create a PPV is a welcome return. I always was a fan of this option, and craved for its reintroduction since it disappeared after Smackdown 2.

The only complaint is, as ever, the roster. We all know todays WWE has an ever changing roster of talent, but the games always seem to throw up some mysterious questions over the roster. Chuck Palumbo and the A-Train, whilst they were drafted to RAW a few weeks before the roster cut-off point, had not featured on TV, and therefore shouldn't have been in the game. Others who were on TV for a few months before the cut - off, such as Eugene, Luther Reigns, Tyson Tomko, Kenzo Suzuki, even Mr. Ass (Billy Gunn) could have been included. I also think the tag team belts should have been included, as it gives a bit more realism to the story mode. A build up throughout the year winning first tag team gold, then IC Gold/US Title Gold then finally your brands gold should be the way story mode is done. Plus there is always the old option of losing the belts due to your tag partner, then turning it into a feud. La Resistance should also have been included, even thought the characters would have been pretty generic.

I always think the way to ensure longevity is to include lots of different characters to play as, rather than allowing loads of create a wrestler places. I would suggest releasing an add on around march time for around £9.99, allowing you the option of using up space on your memory card to upload new characters from the WWE into the game. That way, Gene Snitsky, and any of the others who are playing a big part in proceedings could be added to your game.

If the developers keep the same mould, and ditch the poorly applied online play in favour of more game-play options, I believe 2005's installment should be great. Also, if the game wants to include true WWE Legends, give us who we want - Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ultimate Warrior, British Bulldog, Mr. Perfect, Jake "the Snake" Roberts, The demolition, The Natural Disasters and Razor Ramon. I appreciate the legal wrangles with guys currently under contract to other organisations/currently active wrestlers in the business, but for the sake of the game, could the developers/Vince not make an exception (if the price is right) to get them in the game.

Other than the usual few grumbles, a great game!

Average wrestling game. This game walked so the rest of the series could run. Only play if you're a completionist -- otherwise, skip it.