WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 Review

Earlier this gaming season I had the misfortune of playing the first TNA game to hit the store shelves. Like most wrestling fans, I was looking for my cyber smackdown fix. Alas, it did not come in a six-sided ring. But there was hope on the horizon as ign.com started the annual SmackDown Countdown, hyping up the eagerly anticipated 10th anniversary installment of THQ/Yukes juggernaut franchise. After playing the game for two weeks now, I can say it was worth the wait and my PlayStation 3 is finally getting some use.

CM Punk introduces Chris Jericho to his boot.

The game play is solid. At times someone could mistake the game for the real product. Heck, even John Cena's character model in the game uses the exact same 5 moves the real Cena does! The controls are very user friendly and much easier to adapt to than the TNA game. The series introduces a new feature in match called Signature Moves. Each superstar has two moves that can be used by storing a full momentum meter. These two extra moves change the game and can be instrumental in winning a match.

It's time to play "The Game!"

The other great feature added to the squared circle is the use of abilities. Last year, every superstar had two fighting styles that determined what abilities they had. This presented a huge problem, with superstars doing moves and acting in ways they never would! (When is the last time you saw Jeff Hardy bust himself open with a chair to show he's hardcore?) This has been remedied as each superstar has up to six abilities. They can be something simple like the ability to double stack tables or something more complex and character specific like stealing an opponents finisher. And the A.I. is much more refined than ever before. Big Show won't go for top rope moves like a cruiserweight, Rey Mysterio takes to the air in ways that will leave you scratching your head. It really adds to the value of this game.

Randy Orton is one of the most dominant in the game.

The most hyped feature this year is the increased focus on tag team matches. In past years, being on the apron waiting for the tag was a very boring part of the game. And if your friend was being a jerk and hogging all the ring time, chances were good you were going to be bored and pissed by the end of the match. Those days are over. Now the man on the apron is as much a part of the action as the guys in the ring. From the apron you can grab the opponent to hold him open for a cheap shot by your partner, distract the ref, and pull down the top rope when your opponent is coming towards the ropes sending him tumbling to the floor. Even the momentum meter is changed for tag matches as each team shares a meter. This really adds strategy to the matches, especially if the illegal man wastes the finisher at a crucial moment in the match. The hottest feature of tag matches is the Hot Tag. This is when your partner is getting beaten to a pulp and needs to get out of the ring. The guy on the apron gets the crowd cheering him on, then the partner lunges to make the tag. The fresh man comes in fired up, taking down the opponent and then knocking his opponent's partner off the apron. This feature is a lot of fun, and since it is only good once per match, adds to the strategy.

Taker's Road to WrestleMania dabbles in the supernatural.

The bread and butter of any wrestling game is story mode and create mode. The story mode is two seperate modes. The first is the brand new Road to WrestleMania mode. You start by picking on of 6 characters/stories: John Cena, Triple H, Undertaker, Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Rey Mysterio & Batista. Then, the game launches into the mode, getting you familiar with the superstar before going to a well-done cutscene of the opening pyro and announcer voice-over for the show. The announcers will actually progress your story along, a huge plus in my book! Then, you get some cutscene that is fully voiced-over to prepare you for your match. During the match, the announcer will provide insight into your story! No, I don't mean, "He needs to win the match." I mean, "If Chris Jericho is going to find out who is responsible for that vicious attack two weeks ago on Monday Night Raw, Shane McMahon must be covering for the man responsible. Why else would he put Jericho in a match with Snitsky tonight?" See how much better that is? Jericho's RTW story is without question the best in the game. The twists and turns that one took had me guessing until the very end.

Cena has never been a fan of the catering.

Almost all of the unlockables in the game come via RTW mode. However, Career Mode is needed for the final unlockable. I'm going to skip Career Mode for now because it ties in directly with Create Mode. Let's get into the creating! The standards of the series are back, Create-A-Superstar, Create-An-Entrance, & Create-A-Moveset. CAS, or CAW mode, is basically the same song and dance from past games. If you've played any of the last four games, you will be familiar with everything there. That's not a bad thing, but a little bit of improvement could have been put in here where the most replay value comes from. Some new entrances have been added this year, including an unlockable for Cena and one of my favorites from John Morrison. Seriously, have you seen his slow-mo entrance? That helps make him a star. The big news on this front for PlayStation 3 owners like myself is the ability to add your own music. That's right, Triple H is coming to the ring to Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl!" Take that, "King of Kings!"

Imagine the possibilities with Create-a-Finisher.

The new feature in the Create side is one that fans have been asking, craving, &/or demanding for 10 years, Create-A-Finisher. The finisher you create is up to you. Do you want to go from a powerbomb pick-up into a fisherman's suplex, with a DX crotch chop thrown in? Or would you like to string every low blow together into a Ric Flair special? (And if you do, for the love of God don't take that online!) There are some very unique possibilities, as of this writing, however, a decent Canadian Destroyer is impossible to create. Think of this year's version as a beta test, as the only finishers can be created from a standing front position. The groundwork is in place for great things in the future from this mode!

Make videos better than the guys in Stamford.

Another exciting new feature this year is the Highlight Reel. I was unsure of this mode when I first played the game, and with all the customization it nearly got lost in the shuffle! But when I finally did get the chance to use it, I was simply blown away. To use this feature, you must first save some video clips. By pausing the game during a match and selecting Highlight Reel, you can see a 30-second replay from your match, change angles, and more. If you like what you see, you can save it in one of 30 slots for later use. This replay mode is one fans have been asking for since day one, and its ease of use is fantastic.

Jeff is not going to like where that boot ends up!

After the match, you go into Highlight Reel mode, and the fun really begins. From here you can add clips together to make a video package complete with music (both in-game music & your own music on the hard drive.). Or if you're really crafty, you can add in sound effects for crowd noise and even plug in some lines from the announcers. Plus, you can add graphics to the video, adjust camera angles, adjust the speed and length of the clips, and so much more. When your masterpiece is complete, you get to create a DVD cover for the clips. There are so many options here, and let me say my Highlight Reel from a WCW Championship Ladder match between Undertaker & Jeff Hardy looked good, and after trimming away some unwanted footage told a great story of how a Tombstone Piledriver on the arena floor busted open the high-flying Hardy and allowed the veteran Taker just enough time to climb up the ladder and pull down the title. I suspect I won't be the only one spending too much time in the Highlight Reel studio.

You can unlock "The World's Angriest Man" amongst others.

The customization goes one step further this year with the all-new Roster Editor. Now, fans can change superstars brands (Raw, SmackDown, ECW, Legend, Free Agent, & the unlockable WCW!), change them to clean or dirty, and even switches championships without having a match. This is a very welcome addition to the series, and players will spend more time here than they might think.

Their amazing rivalry this year can be relived or rewritten on SvR 2009.

Remember the Career Mode I dodged earlier? Time to revisit that now. The only way to level up CAWs is to send them through Career Mode, or as I like to call it "The Gold Rush." The only point of this ridiculous mode is to win every championship while gaining attribute points in the matches. The biggest problem with this, unless you search for a list, you won't know how to get certain attribute points. So if you have a life and game during what little down time you do have, you will waste most of your time in this mode trying to get you character to a 50 overall. The other problem is, to assign abilities to your CAW you have to earn them by doing something specific in a match in Career Mode. But they don't tell you how to earn them, well, until you earn them. So if you really want the ability to steal finishers, and only have one ability spot open (and that will happen, frequently), you had best avoid the Cruiserweight Title completely (that gets you the Springboard ability), and you will want to avoid Chris Jericho completely unless you want the Lock Pick ability.

Unsafe working environment?

The biggest complaint I have with the game is how much was taken out of it from last year. Sure, we may have finally gotten the Inferno match, but why was the Buried Alive match removed? And yes, there are lot of new superstars in the game with new moves, but why is the most recognizable move in wrestling in this decade, the Stone Cold Stunner, only available as part of Create-A-Finisher? So you're going to have downloadable content for the game, great! Would you mind telling us what the hell it's going to be???

The landing really sucks.

I've loved the SmackDown series for 10 years, and as a veteran of the series I think it's time to give the franchise to someone else. Yukes put together a great game, but THQ's uniformed and most times stupid marketing ploys angered most fans of the series, myself included, who just wanted to know what makes this game so special. THQ sold this game to fans like a used car salesman. They let you take it for a test drive, but they didn't want you to know about the power windows, heated mirrors & 4-wheel drive.

The game is the same thing you've played for 4 years, and the bells and whistles added this year add to the solid gameplay, but in it's 10th year the series still plays the way it did on the PS2. However, this series has been solid over those past 4 years, and the control scheme has reached a nice balance between casual gamer & fanboy. The continued addition makes each game different from the last, and with 10 years of games THQ & Yukes have built a must-have franchise for wrestling fans. Hey Midway Games, take some notes!

My Score: 8.5/10

All photos courtesy of ign.com

TNA iMPACT! Game Review

If there's anything I love more than sports, it's my brand spanking new PlayStation3. And since it's so new, the only game I have for it as of now is Madden 09 (Hey, no snickering!). And as most of you know, I'm a huge pro wrestling fan (and if you have not checked, please head over to the BWE site to see what we're up to! No, not now! Wait until I'm finished here!)

So when I heard the only direct competition to Vince McMahon's wrestling dynasty was coming out with a game, I was intruigued. I have played every game in WWE's SmackDown! series, and it has gotten stale over the past two or three years. So TNA's game is a refreshing addition to a very limited genre. I went to pick up a copy of the game at the local Family Video store (because I just can't stand LackLuster Video's selection anymore). After about a week after the game's release, I rented the brand new TNA game from Midway.

Get used to seeing this, often.

First off, if you're a PS3 owner, get the game and let it install immediately, because it takes at least 20 minutes. Yeah, I thought that was crazy myself. The game opens with a really cool video highlighting TNA Wrestling and is well worth a watch. Then, you get to the main menu. All the obvious options are there, and I would strongly recommend you go to the Options menu and watch the training videos, especially if you're a WWE gamer such as myself. These controls take some time getting used to! There's a button for kicks, a button for punches, a "strong modifer," and of course a counter button. The problem is, the basic buttons are easy to use, but if you want to use more than 4 moves in your very limited moveset, you have to look at the instruction manual and figure out which buttons to press and which direction to move the left stick in. The ease of execution for finishers saves the control scheme (simply lock up and hit the O button).

Who reads a newspaper these days?

With any wrestling game, there are only two modes that anyone cares about: Story Mode & Create-A-Wrestler. And TNA iMPACT! melds the two together. (SPOILER ALERT!!! Story details are about to be revealed!) You start Story mode with a nice introduction of how your character, named Suicide, has been tearing it up in TNA, basically dominating all your opponents. Unfortunately, someone is unhappy with you, and demands that you take a dive in the next match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Obviously you don't and you meet the tag team LAX (Latin American Xchange). And by meet, I mean get beaten to within an inch of your life and left for dead in Mexico. No, I didn't just make that up.

Not another The Mummy movie!

You wake up in a run-down hospital room in Tijuana with no idea who you are, your face heavily bandaged and doctors telling you they can help fix you up (you know, because all the top plastic surgeons practice in the middle of nowhere). This is when you enter Create-A-Wrestler. You get to use the limited options available to sculpt your character. While the choices are limited, they are options that make sense like jeans, shorts, tights, shirts, etc. Once you are finished, you are thrust into one of the most mind-numbingly crazy stories ever devised. I have wondered if TNA's head writer Vince Russo had a hand in writing this, because it has so many annoying Russo-esq moments.

Big Kev will watch your back in TNA. Sorta.

The story puts you in a very cool looking "arena" in the middle of a Mexican nighborhood where you have to fight in a three matches to win a chance to fly to the States and compete for an indy promotion. When you win a match at the Armory, you will be challenged by a TNA star for a chance to fly to the Impact Zone in Orlando to ply your craft in TNA Wrestling. Are you following so far? Good, because that was just the beginning. Once you make it to TNA, you will meet Kevin Nash, and he decides to take you under his wing. And in his "brillance" he decides to team you with Eric Young, a TNA star who is basically afraid of everything. Tag matches in this game suck, plain and simple. The A.I. does not understand when to come in and help you, but the CPU's team blatantly attacks you whenever they feel like it. During this time, you will notice something about the game that may annoy you. More on this later. After more tag matches than there are teams in the game, you will get a shot at the TNA Tag Team Champions, and guess who that is. If you guessed LAX, congratulations! After winning the titles, you and Eric are attacked after the match and Eric disappears.

Just 3 TNA Stars Hanging Out.

This thrusts you into the signature of TNA Wrestling, the X-Division. The X-Division consists of some of the high-flying mid-card stars of TNA, and early in TNA's history was considered the highlight of the company. This is when you will notice the difficulty of the game rise, quickly. Moves that were winning matches previously will be less effective now. Of course, you don't have to worry too much about that, since you will have only one or two new moves unlocked by this point anyway. The signature match of the X-Division is the Ultimate X. For this match, two cables are crossed in the form of an X and hung over the ring attached to steel beams on either side of the ring. An object, in this case an X, is hung in the middle of the X of the cables and the only way to win the match is to grab the X. The controls for the match and general execution is surprisingly good. Climbing and hanging on the cables is intuitive and looks very good. And the mini-game for grabbing the X, while annoying at first, is one of the few ways the match could have been executed. What happens is, when your wrestler gets to the X, you press a button to reach for the X and then a meter appears above the X with a green area in the middle and a moving target which you have to stop in the green area to advance your progress. Sounds easy, but each time you do it right, the speed of the target increases. It takes about 3 or 4 times of this to win. This is by far one of my favorite matches in the game, but after the third or fourth match in story mode, it becomes much less fun.

Holy crap! The stage exploded!

Eventually you will get a shot at the TNA X-Division Championship, but this is where the convuluted mess of the story starts to take shape as you accidentally run into Jeff Jarrett, the man who has dominated TNA since its inception (and for the wrestling smarks out there, the co-founder of the company). He tries to recruit you, but you want nothing to do with him and his group of followers, including LAX, who have caused you trouble throughout your X-Division battles. Then it is revealed that one of his followers was actually an insider your buddy Kevin Nash planted to get information about Jarrett's plans. Jarrett gets pissed and takes it out on you by black mailing you into doing his bidding. Once you win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, Suicide regains his memory and comes to a not so surprising realization, Jeff Jarrett was behind the attack that nearly cost him his life! The final battle is against Jarrett, and good luck with that one! It took me a dozen tries to beat that lousy, well, you know!

Damn you, Sting!

And while I'm by no means the ultimate gamer, I can hold my own in the ring, but as you progress through story mode you will notice how cheap the A.I. is. I have no problem with a game being tough, but when the game counters every freaking move you throw at it, there's something wrong! I can honestly remember a match when Sting punched me in the mouth, clotheslined me, and pinned me. My other PO moment came when I had hit my finisher (the insanely awesome Cradle Shock!) on Kurt Angle, who promptly got up, walked out of the ring, grabbed a chair and smacked me with it until it disappeared! By that time, my whole body was red and the SOB pinned me for the win! That my friends is a WTH? moment.

Sting just had a stunning realization.

The biggest complaint I have with the game is the stun meter. Each time you get hit, your stun meter fills. When it fills completely, your character is stunned and is defenseless until the meter slowly empties. The only thing you can do in the mean time is risk breaking your controller by wiggling the right stick back and forth to help speed up the meter. This is the same way you kick out of pins, and it is a giant pain in the ass! I have no interest in plunking down another $50 on a new controller! I was reading on a message board about the game one person actually snapped their right stick in half doing this! Someone in the testing department did not do their job!

Overall, this game is a major disappointment. There was so much that could have been done to put the pressure on THQ & Yukes for the SmackDown! series. Ultimately, the game feels like something that just isn't ready. I think Midway should have stuck this game back in the oven and let it cook a little longer, because after beating Story mode in two days I played one final Ultimate X match and put the game away. There is very little replay value in this game, which is a big problem. Ultimately, the game is well worth a $7 rental. But there is no reason whatsoever to buy this game until it's in a bargin bin $20 game.

Final Score: 6.1 out of 10

I will also be reviewing the new SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 game when it launches in early November. If you would like more info on either game, IGN.com is the place to go. They are doing the traditional Smackdown Countdown right now for SvR 2009. Good stuff, highly recommended.

Photos courtesy: ign.com

WWE SummerSlam Preview

I'm sure I've mentioned on here somewhere my passion for pro wrestling. If not, then check out the BWE Promotions site, and see what we have going on there.

Anyway, WWE SummerSlam is this Sunday on pay-per-view, and as the biggest event of the summer, I have to put in my two cents. There have been many great moments in the event's over 20-year history, from the event in Wembley Stadium, to Undertaker vs. Austin, to the first World Championship of Randy Orton's career, there have been some big moments here.

This year's event is being billed as "The Biggest Blockbuster of the Summer," and it looks interesting on paper. There's potential in this event, so I'm going to do my best to predict what's going to happen.

Jeff Hardy vs. MVP
I'm intrigued by the build for this as it's another one of those times where WWE is trying to blur the line between fiction and reality. Both are very talented, and in line for a push (hopefully), so this match may reveal the future booking on SmackDown. With Triple H as the WWE Champion for the forseeable future, there's no reason to weaken one of the few heels on the blue brand. So, I'm going with MVP to win the match, and get a push to the WWE Title picture, so that Triple H has fresh blood at the next PPV.

ECW Champion Mark Henry vs. Matt Hardy

I like the "World's Strongest Champion." Even though it's mostly a gimmick, he's incredibly believable in that role. I hate the new look of the ECW Title belt, but there's no changing that. I really like the addition of Tony Atlas as the man behind the champion. Ok, maybe I'm nostagic. Point is, all signs point to Matt winning the title at SummerSlam, so he won't. Mark Henry wins, with help from Tony Atlas, setting up a rematch where Matt wins the title.

Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston & Women's Champion Mickie James vs. Santino Marella & Beth Phoenix in a Winner Take All match

I may be in the minority, but I like new Raw General Manager Mike Adamle. The creative team is doing a good job of booking the "anything can happen" idea, and this is being called an "Adamle Original." The idea is the winning team gets both titles. I admit, I have been split on this one. I really like the current champions. Kofi Kingston is one of the most exciting young stars on Raw, and Mickie has been deserving title runs since her program with Trish Stratus ended in 2006. Santino & Beth don't need titles to get over, and with those two flirting like high schoolers, I don't see a reason for them to win. I'm picking Kofi & Mickie to retain their titles after Beth goes for the cover on Mickie, but Santino's ego causes him to come in and cost his team the match.

World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs. JBL

I'm really disappointed with the way Punk is being booked as Champion. In fact, I'm disappointed with this match. This is the exact same match we saw on Raw the night Punk won the title! So, either none of the writer's watch their program, or they have a very poor short term memory. Either way, this match will be very forgettable, which is a shame because it will be Punk's first clean win for the title.

Shawn Michaels is scheduled to announce his future at the event. As wrestlecrap.com recapped a week ago, HBK has retired so many times that the mention of it has been met with jeers and angry fans. Why WWE continues to insult the intelligence of its fans, I have no idea. So here's what's going to happen. HBK will come out, sing his sad song about how doctors say he has to hang up his boots, then as the fans give him pity, Chris Jericho runs in and attacks HBK to continue their angle. While all this is happening, I would suggest a concession run to the fans in Indianapolis, because you'll be seeing it on WWE TV for the next two weeks.

"First Time Ever" John Cena vs. Batista

If ever there was a money fued, this is it. And as much as we may hate to believe it, the writer's know what they are doing with the main event talent. They are not going to give away this match. There's no story behind this angle, except for a mis-aimed punch. Great way to build your big match. My pick, a draw, most likely after a Batista Bomb or Spinebuster from Batista and both not being able to get up before the 10-count. Get ready to see Cena vs. Batista II at WrestleMania 25, where this match needs to take place.

WWE Champion Triple H vs. The Great Khali

The only way Khali is going to win this match is by DQ. Triple H wins.

Hell in a Cell: Undertaker vs. Edge

This is probably the best story in WWE currently. Edge and Taker have been feuding for over a year now, and it still has steam. These two have put on some great matches, including the main event at WrestleMania XXIV. Their TLC match at One Night Stand was also good, and now they are in a Hell in a Cell. I enjoy the cell. It tends to heighten the violence and brutality in the ring. I can't remember the last time a cell match ended without blood. So I expect the same. The build for this match has been great, and the emergence of the "old Edge" has added a new dimension to this match. However, I can't look at the build without thinking one thing. What's the swerve?

The swerve: Vickie Guerrero has not divorced Edge, even after it was revealed his cheated on her. This set-up looks obvious. Taker will have to deal with Edge and his "La Familia" as it will be revealed Edge had this all planned from the beginning and was conspiring against Undertaker so that he could put the final nail in the coffin by beating the Deadman in his own match.

But with Taker just returning, it makes no sense to have him lose here. So, Undertaker wins, with the Tombstone, after fending off every member of la familia, and hopefully he gets his hands on Vickie Guerrero as well.

BTW, if anyone is buying WWE's story about Randy Orton's motorcycle accident, I don't know why. This pretty much confirms Orton will appear at SummerSlam, I'm just not sure when and why.

I don't think this event will live up to the card. There's not enough build in two of the three top matches. You have to give the fans a reason to watch the event. I don't see a reason to, so I'll be reading the results online Monday morning.

There you have it. I hope you enjoyed this preview. As always, thanks for reading, and I'll try to get it right next time.