Reviews

Posted by: jkdmedia

WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 is a title that delivers the goods – and does so in impressive fashion!  The move to the current generation of consoles has been an enduring process for wrestling fans – but they should worry no more as THQ has put together an intelligent package that goes the extra distance to appease its fanbase.

Tackling the first, and foremost, important addition, THQ has followed the cues of user-created downloadable content and has elevated the playing field. Sharing created superstars, storylines, finishers, highlight reels and screenshots, the online portion of SvR 2010 is the feature that pulls gamers back to their couches for more wrestling entertainment. Previewing content and rating them after a download might turn out to be an addiction for wrestling fans. As of today, I’ve been successful with downloading Kratos from God of War, Bret “The Hitman” Hart, Marty Jannetty and several others. The search function is simple to use and, like I said, highly addicting to surf THQ’s servers.

Gameplay has significantly improved with a smarter grappling system. New grappling positions have been added in and players are able to toggle through the positions to find an offensive advantage. Fanatics of technical wrestling should enjoy the concentration on pure wrestling through the reworked grappling system. On top of that, reversals have been toned down and players must now have the luck of timing on their side to execute a full reversal. The only issue that needs to be resolved in the future is the time an opponent is down on the ground after a maneuver; they recover too quickly and, thus, aerial maneuvers are almost pointless. If a wrestler is hit with a chair shot, they should stay down for more than 15 seconds to recover. 

From a technical standpoint, SvR 2010 is one of the finest wrestling games in the past decade. The attention to detail on the WWE wrestlers is exquisite; Randy Orton has new tattoos, Kane has two different eye colors, and Shawn Michaels has the wily veteran look plastered on his face. To be frank, the wrestlers are represented well and there shouldn’t be many problems from the hardcore wrestling fanatics who argue about which shade of blue John Cena should have on his jean shorts.

Moving past the wonderful character models and on to the animations, THQ has yet to provide slick walking animations. Wrestlers will walk around the ring as if they were CP30 from the Star Wars series – all robotic and stiff. SvR 2010 at least makes up for that fact with liquid smooth wrestling maneuvers and a HUD clean of meters, bars, and a clock.

The roster for SvR 2010 is one of its strongest selling points. From the notorious Jack Swagger to The Great Khali, the majority of the popular WWE superstars are presented in SvR 2010. The divas (female wrestlers) are implemented smartly into the title too as they, for the first time in my memory, are exciting to use in extreme rules matches and much more. No longer do the divas play second fiddle to the male wrestlers. In total, there are more than 65 wrestlers in SvR 2010 and if fans are upset about a missing wrestler, they could always create them with the fine-tuned Create-A-Superstar Mode.

The new match types, such as inter-gender tag-team matches and championship scramble match, help push SvR 2010 over the edge. No longer will players become bored of normal 1v1 matches, but rather they can be captivated by a host of match types to spend their free time in. THQ even went to extra lengths to assure that the Royal Rumble match was entertaining since, in years past, it always had a few issues that didn’t sit well with fans. In SvR 2010, the Royal Rumble match type now allows for new finishers to help eliminate pesky opponents and even the presentation values have been reworked.

The Road to Wrestlemania mode returns with six individual storylines to play through. Each of the stories provided help unlock characters (such as Ezekial Jackson, The Rock, Trish Stratus, Dusty Rhodes and few others), alternative costumes, and new areas to fight in. The storylines themselves are adequately written to shed authenticity on the title and provide a good amount of replay value for fans looking to invest their time into SvR 2010.

WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 is among the short list of superb wrestling video games for the Xbox 360. Players can create their own TitanTron entrance videos, save highlight reels, edit official WWE wrestlers with the Superstar Threads tool, or create their own logos and tattoos with the paint tool. The feature list for SvR 2010 is exquisite and shouldn’t be taken lightly. THQ has put the series on track, and if they continue with improvements, we might be looking at one of the best wrestling games of all time in the next iteration of the franchise.

Gameplay: 8.5
Newcomers might struggle to learn the new controls, but once they do, they’ll find themselves having a lot of fun with this year’s title. Plus, THQ has added in a training center to grasp a hold on how to play; it’s accessible without ever having to click through the menus.

Graphics: 8.5
The detail of the wrestlers is one of the better assets of SvR 2010. Sadly, the walking animations still look robotic.

Sound: 8.2
Wrestling fans should enjoy the soundtrack.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.0
The user-created content aspect is excellent.

Multiplayer: 8.5
There are more than enough match types to create competitive and thrilling scenarios online.  

Overall: 8.1
THQ has done a good job gearing up the franchise for the future with the inclusion of downloadable user-created content. Downloading storylines that involve the G.I. Joe villain, Cobra Commander, buying the WWE from Vince McMahon should be one of the game’s selling points plastered on front of the retail box.