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.

When I heard of this game and heard it described by it's creators I was expecting a huge improvement over Here Comes the Pain. What I got was a game that did take 2 steps forward but also took 1 step back. In other words there really isn't anything about the game that knocks my socks off. Sure the Create-a-Belt and PPV functions are great but there are some additions I think they could have done without. First being the voiceovers of the superstars. They are obviously scripted and sound like they were recorded in a box. The match commentary is mundane at best and a bit detached but it is something that can be overlooked because you can tune it out. The improved story lines are pretty good so far in season mode and are a lot like what you see on WWE television which is a plus but a big minus in season mode is the inability to take part in any matches that your season superstar isn't in himself. I found this great in HCTP a little perplexing that you can't in this version. A surprising omission in Raw vs. Smackdown are the tag titles. This is something I don't understand. Sure you can create them but why create a championship that should already be there? Couple that with the fact that to create 2 tag belts will take a tremendous amount of Smackdown dollars which take a long time to accumulate. I think Yukes/THQ dropped the ball on this one. What puzzles me about this is that in HCTP they had the Hardcore title which was long gone by the time Shut your Mouth was released but this time around they decided to omit an existing championship.

I do like the dirty/clean aspect because it can sway a match either way. What is strange, however, are the weapons. You only get 4 hits with each weapon then it disappears and you have to go back out and get a new weapon. This doesn't make sense. I have never seen a chair just disappear after 4 hits so why this was put in I don't know.

Another aspect of the game I do like is that if you are to have a manager, he/she will accompany you to the ring and play a big part in your match. If you are about to be beaten you can call for your manager to jump on the apron to distract the referee or you can have them get you a weapon. This is also a realistic part of what we see on t.v.

One of the much talked about features was the ability to fight your way back during the Royal Rumble. This is both good and bad. The good is that if someone tosses you over, you can get back into the ring as long as you have enough left in your bar. The bad is that this also goes for NPC wrestlers which makes for a very long match. I've yet to watch a full Rumble because it takes so blasted long. Another bad point is that I've been in 2 Rumbles and have been eliminated although I had at least 50% on my elimination bar but again, as long as you don't get yourself into that position I'm guessing you can eventually win but so far I find this more of a hindrance.

All in all it's still a good game but if I have to rank it I would have to say that HCTP is still the best in the series. Although the graphics are better here total gameplay is about equal. Do I feel cheated? No, it's still worth the money only because you have new story lines to play with but I have to say that I'm just slightly disappointed in this game. If I have to rank it I'd give it a 7 out of 10.

Awesome game, great new features also very exited about peer 2 peer gameplay only on this version of wwe game ps2. Graphics were awesome considering the fact that i have most of the WWE games id like to state that this is the best wwe game from WWE production

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!

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