Customer Reviews

WWE Smackdown vs Raw

5 star:		(101)
4 star:		(48)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(243)

 

 

I'm back again with all of the latest info for the upcoming wrestling game, WWE Smackdown! v Raw.
This is the FINAL CONFIRMED roster. All of the legends have been added, and the roster has been confirmed by THQ themselves.
Roster
A-Train
Big Show
Batista
Booker T
Bubba Ray Dudley
Charlie Haas
Chavo Guerrero
Chris Benoit
Chris Jericho
Christian
Chuck Palumbo
D-Von Dudley
Eddie Guerrero
Edge
Garrison Cade
Hardcore Holly
J.B. Layfield
John Cena
Kane
Kurt Angle
Mark Jindrak
Matt Hardy
Molly Holly
Randy Orton
Rene Dupree
Rey Mysterio
Rhyno
Ric Flair
Rico
Rob Van Dam
Sable
Scotty 2 Hotty
Shawn Michaels
Shelton Benjamin
Stacy Kiebler
Tajiri
Torrie Wilson
Triple H
Trish Stratus
Undertaker
Victoria
Legends
Animal
Bret Hart
Brutus Beefcake
Hawk
Jimmy Snuka
Legend Kane
Legend Undertaker
Mankind
Roddy Piper
The Rock
Yes, that is the final, complete roster. I can confirm that Eugene, Billy Kidman, Paul London and La Resistance will NOT be in. You will just have to settle with CAW.
When you look at the roster, it does seem quite impressive. Rikishi was removed due to his firing, though Sable has remained. We have much better legends this year, including Bret Hart and Andre the Giant, despite Brutus Beefcake being in. I think they make up for the losses.
~Online HAS BEEN CONFIRMED. So far, only single mode, and a couple of exhibition matches have been confirmed for the feature. It is almost certain that there will be no online season mode, let alone a two-player season.
Other confirmed features
~Chopping mode. Exchange chops with your opponent-Strength determined by a 'golf swing system'
~The infamous legend mini-rings have been taken out. Thank god.
~Licensed music will be playing in the background during matches and choosing a match type.
~Every single wwe superstar on the roster has their complete, official entrance music.
~Dirty, Clean and Neutral options now available. You can also pit two of the same against eachother. Low blows galore!
~Mini games at the start of a match. Shove battle, stare down and power.
~Much more popular legends
~Charisma has now been added to the attributes
~In caw mode, you actually take a picture of your caw, so it will show that at the character select screen, not some plain blue silhouette.
~The Parking Lot Brawl new match type
~Create-a-belt
~Create-a-PPV
~Choice for commentators, JR and King, Tazz and Cole
~Full voiceovers for wwe wrestlers in season mode.
~Many more moves have been added
~More polygons, wrestlers look even more realistic
~You can now break up submission holds, or break out of them and apply your own!
~New pinning animations as well as being able to put your foot on the ropes while being pinned
~ New, improved weight detection
~New ring angle, some like it some don't. Its still the normal fr the royal rumble
~More improved royal rumble, not as easy to win.
~Managers interract with referee and the crowd
~Realistic sounds
~Better graphics
~More caw slots
~Better and more realistic referee. You can argue, he waves his hands around and basically is like a real ref.
That's pretty much all i have to say. It is all completely confirmed. Anything else you hear from sites apart from the larger, trustworthy sites and lies.
Hope i helped.

--- The good...

The graphics are amazing. THQ continues to raise the bar on PS2 game graphics. The mapping of the faces is superb.

The create modes - wrestler, PPV, and belt - are all great. Though there could be a better option for facial features for the wrestlers.

The sound is great. Most wrestlers come out to their themes and gestures. There are a few themes that they just didn't have the rights to. Ah well.

The season mode is once again a great way to play the game with some continuity.

The specialty matches are well done.

The "clean" and "dirty" meters and the resulting power bump.

The greater endurance of the wrestlers. No more knocking someone out with an elbow. No more jumping back up immediately after being hit with a chair.

Many, many options for game play, etc...

Legends! The return of the Hitman and Andre.

--- The not so good...

The storylines are redundant. Once you've played a season, you've pretty much seen the stories. Plus, the initial stories don't portray the WWE Divas in the best light. Making different choices only means a slight alteration in the story.

Talk about redundant. The announce teams have about ten phrases that they rotate through several times per match.

The superstar voiceovers are a bit annoying. Only Vince McMahon sounds like he's putting anything behind them. The rest sound as though they were half asleep in the studio while recording.

--- Overall...

A very good game by THQ that seems to be limited by all of the cool things they tried to pack into it.

WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW is one of the most anticipated sports games of the season. Many new and re-done modes are in this game, such as the new Parking Lot Brawl or updated legends. This review with let you know about all of these and more.

First off, the new modes: One of the most wanted features that have been included this time around is online play! If you have an online adapter with a DSL or Cable connection, you can play your friends across North America. All of the matches from the previous game, Here Comes the Pain, are intact, but a new match has been added: Parking Lot Brawl. Yes, like the one Eddie Guerrero and John Cena were in in October 2003. It comes complete with interactive weapons, such as the cars you are encircled in. Also, in this games season mode comes with complete voiceovers for every, yes you read right, EVERY character in the game. The season mode is anticipated to be the same quality, if not better, as last years. At the beginning of the match, you can choose whether you are a "clean" or "dirty" fighter, which can give you special rewards in the match. Also, at the beginning of the match is a clever "test of strength" mini-game.

The create-a features have been expanded this year. Obviously, create-a-wrestler is still in, but two more create-a's have been instated. From SmackDown! Know Your Role, the Create-a-Pay-Per-View mode has been resurrected, and a new Create-a-Belt feature has been included. These two modes are going to be one of the ones that makes this game great. Don't expect the high-quality entrance creater that was in Day of Reckoning, however. It appears to still be GameCube exclusive. Other than that, SvR looks to bring a lot to the table in it's Create-a-Wrestler mode, like it does every year.

Now, we go to the elements of the Superstars in the game: Except for Stacy Keibler and Garrison Cade (and a few of the legends), all of the Superstars have their current theme songs. Even Randy Orton, with his brand new song performed by Mercy Drive. The majority of the models in this game are like their real-life counterparts, which is a plus. The Divas in this game, Molly, Sable, Stacy, Torrie, Trish and Victoria, look incredibly awesome, especially in the Bra-and-Panties. Unfortunately, highly requested Superstars like Eugene and La Résistance are not included, though former member Rene Dupree is in the game. The Legends roster is quite nice as well, with Andre the Giant, Bret Hart, Brutus Beefcake, Old School Kane and Mankind appearing as new legends, in addition to Animal, Hawk, Jimmy Snuka, Old School Undertaker, and Roddy Piper. Strangely enough, The Rock is a Legend in this game as well. Unfortunately, these men cannot be used in season mode.

The game really expands on the SmackDown! vs. RAW concept, with options of choosing referee Mike Chioda or Earl Hebner and using the announce team (yes, there is commentary!) of either Tazz and Michael Cole or Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross. Overall, the game looks to be wonderfully crafted. With competitors like Showdown: Legends of Wrestling and Rumble Roses (the upcoming females-only game, which oddly enough, uses a similar engine to the previous game, Here Comes the Pain), WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW certainly shines through.

EDIT: THIS GAME WILL STILL COME OUT, REGARDLESS OF THE JAKKS/THQ/WWE SUIT.

This new game from THQ and YUKES is full of improvements. The only new match is "Parking Lot Brawl."

There are also two new modes, Create a Belt, and Create a PPV.
The graphics are better, and all superstars now have voices recorded by their real-life counterparts. Plus, commentary makes a return in this game with Cole/Tazz and King/JR!

The roster is sadly missing current tag champs: La Resistance, Kidman and London, and also Spike Dudley, the Cruiser champ, Eugene, William Regal, Lita, and Hurricane. Despite this, the roster is still fairly decent. Unfortunately, Garrison Cade, Mark Jindrak, Sable, A-Train, and Chuck are in, even though the wrestlers above who are more important are not! This is the worst part of the whole game!

The legends have been greatly improved, however, with Old School Kane, Undertaker and Rock. Also, Bret Hart, Brutus Beefcake, Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, Andre the Giant, Mankind and Legion of Doom.

All mechanics, and controls have been cleaned up. There are many new minigames and exciting changes to overall spice this up.

The Create a Wrestler mode is slightly better, and various little requested fixed have been implemented to other modes.
Finally, the game WILL be online playable! BUY THIS GAME! Also, please send comments to Yukes, to help them improve NEXT years game!

Finally a descent wrestling game. This is what you will be looking for in a wrestling game. This game has a mission mode, where you can revisit some of the past classic matches. The royal rumble has a new enviornment to it. Wrestle with the legends(Bret Hart, Andre the Giant, etc...)and with the present(Triple H, Randy Orton, and more).For the first time ever, this game is finally online. So if you think you are the best, go head to head with others online. There is a create a ppv and belt and now there is real music to make the game even better.This game includes contests before and during the match such as stare down and chopping. Now there is commentary with tazz/cole or king/j.r. This game will be really worth it, so buy this game.

I can't wait to play this game! It sounds really cool, the Rock n Sock Connection are in it as legends, as well as Hawk and Animal, I have a bad feeling as far as it being up to date, like Day of Reckoning is. The legend Undertaker? Does that mean he's still the American Badass in the game? I also hear that the story mode is deeper. And you can create a championship belt and your own PPV. And as always a Create A Wrestler Mode, with more detail. There is also one new match, the parking lot brawl, all the old matches from Here Comes the Pain are back. Elimination Chamber, First Blood, Hell in a Cell, Hardcore, Iron Man, and others. I just wish there were more options to the Iron Man Match, like Triple Threat Iron Man Match, and Six-Man Iron Man Match, etc. (That would be awesome) For more information about this or other games, go to gamespy.com, or ign.com they have pictures, reviews, and facts, straight from THQ P.S. I only put 4 stars because I have not played the game yet.

Apart from the wack voice overs as you start the season mode, playing it from then is all good. You get to choose, start as either a chump competing in the low cards, or play as the superstars, who honestly have an easy path. I should know since i've chosen Booker T. Well, they hyped up the online mode alot, not that it's a dud but it's actually fun to ply. Single player is much better than expected in online mode, but the bad thing is there's no online headset chat compatability, and no records of the opponent you're facing. It basically you going into as room and challenging annonymous people, while you're annonymous yourself.

If you were looking forward to the Create a PPV mode, it's not like you actually get to detail the arena and stuff, it's just you summing up an eigth card battle, chosing your arena, and announce team. So now you can create the most memroble matches.

Create a Belt will take long to custom since you need to get money by preforming additional tasks in both season and challenge mode.

The voice overs was a bit shbby, not that it was bad, but some characters were really off, and others managed to get there act together, e.g. Triple H, Eddie Gurrero and Vince McMahon.

The commentary is up to date but can continually be repeated, even in season mode, as now for the first time, it's found throughout the game.

Overall, this game was great, atill going on in season mode, but other than that, the game plays well, with a great roster, good graphics, some good voice overs, challenge mode, commentary, original music, original entrances, and the best season mode in the Smackdown! series, there really is no reason why you shoudn't get this game.

First, let me tell you the one really good thing about the game. The Royal Rumble new feature is great. They have a new way of eliminating wrestlers with a "Ring Out" meter. You throw your opponent over the rope and when they land on the apron, you just start mashing your button to lower their meter and eventually push them off the apron. A bonus is that another wrestler can actually help you push them off. Another bonus is that a big wrestler like the Big Show can just do a body press and easily toss wrestlers out of the ring. For traditional fans, you can still beat the hell out of someone and just toss them out of the ring the regular way. Moving onto other things, the graphics (which isn't that great), the use of music, and the voice overs from wrestlers are all features I could have lived without. Because clearly this meant sacrificing other features I assumed we'd have like in HCTP. One of the most important features in season mode is eliminated. We no longer have the option of making our own Smackdown and Raw rosters. We also cannot request title shots, request transfers and basically we don't have much control over the storylines. Also the option to watch, skip, or play other matches during each week has been taken from us. The commentary during matches is repetitive, generic and sometimes it doesn't even match what's happening in the ring. The create a ppv feature to me is a waste of time. Its just a bunch of exhibition matches with no plot. The wrestlers chosen for the game is just plain weak. Yes, we get the big superstars of present day, but the supporting cast sucks. And some popular stars are left out because of legal reasons which isn't an excuse as far as I'm concerned. They should have fought harder for the rights. And if you want to create wrestlers, its much more of a hastle because of the menu design. It takes forever to go through the different options. Also, with the fewer wrestlers featured, there are still only 32 slots opened for Creating a wrestler. But a good feature about it would be that during the season mode you can build up a general pot of experience points and assign them to any wrestler you want whether it be an official roster wrestler or your own creation, male or female. As for the other match types, there's the new parking lot brawl match. I noticed way too many reviewers are just settling for second best. Its not as great as it sounds. Youre still just throwing your opponent against a car. There's a few added movie shots for effect, but it gets old quick. I also want to point out that the wrestlers get damaged way too easily now. Also, the controls are funky when it comes to changing opponents to wrestle during matches. Using the "automatic" option can be a pain when involved in matches with more than two wrestlers. I recommend renting before buying.

As a female gamer, I really enjoy the smackdown series of games. I was very excited about the release of this one so I bought it the day it came out. The problem that I have with this game is that you cannot create a female character and pick a neutral gender to be able to use it in season mode. So for me, it limits my options severely because being a female, I like to use a female character; not being able to use them in season mode, you can't build up their abilities.The game makers need to take this into consideration next time. Other than that, the game is pretty good.

Very few games (or game companies)can actually say without fear or conviction that their franchise series has grown even more successful with the release of the following sequels (GTA and Madden being the exceptions to the rule). Now THQ/Yuke's and their longtime partnership with the World Wrestling (Federation) Entertainment group has spawned 5 successful volumes in the SmackDown series (2 PS1/PSX games and 3 PS2 games) and can now say that they are batting 1.000 with the release of WWE SmackDown 6: SmackDown vs. Raw.

The game takes a few old favorites from the previous games and adds a few innovative twists. A roster of more than 40 WWE superstars are yours to get into the squared circle with, either through the Exhibition mode or through the newly designed Season mode. In Season Mode, you can take on the WWE Superstars to progress through a original storyline that finds you challenging for titles, being challenged by various Superstars for the right to take their Diva away from them, earn cash to buy items in the Shopzone area, and more.

New features include new unlockable legend Superstars (though why The Rock is one of them is a little odd...), the new Parking Lot Brawl (where you can use the cars that surround you as weapons), a Ringout Meter (during the Royal Rumble, this meter will decrease as someone tries to eliminate you from the match, or as you try to eliminate them, and refills if you succeed in an elimination), actual voice commentary from all the Superstars, Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler from Raw, Michael Cole and Tazz from SmackDown!, a new ability to create your own Championship, a new Online mode that also allows you to defend a created Championship, the ability to fight either fair or dirty, a revamped Bra and Panty Match system, the new Challenge Mode where completing certain objectives in Exhibition Mode will earn you more cash, and more

The only downsides are that several of the Superstars that we would have wanted in the game are nowhere to be found (Good if you are a Molly Holly fan since she has FINALLY been added to the series, bad if you are a Gail Kim fan since she isn't in the game). Additionally, Kurt Angle is the SmackDown GM in the game, even though he was fired from that position and returned to the active roster a while back. You would think that the programmers would have noticed this a while back.

All in all, this is definitely the game for those in your circle of friends/family/acquaintances who have a serious WWE bug with no cure in sight...