There was a time when wrestling games were the
butt of a bad joke on how not to make a good brawler on a console, but huge
strides have been made for the genre in recent years, mainly thanks to THQ’s WWE
SmackDown! vs. RAW series. The franchise has been consistently providing gamers
with deep and complex fighting mechanics, as well as taking nice advantage of
its license with tons of wrestlers and modes from the WWE. This year’s entry to
the series looks to be no different in terms of amount of content. However, the
developers at Yuke’s have made some key changes to the overall gameplay
mechanics that should make the game even more fun to play.
One of the biggest new additions to the gameplay
is the introduction of the eight Superstar Fighting Styles. Each wrestler in the
game has two of them, one of which can be activated before the match. You can
perform special moves depending on which style is activated, as well as get
added perks when your special meter is fully powered up. For example, if you’re
fighting style is Technical, then you can activate your special meter and your
wrestler will automatically perform reversals whenever they are hit by their
opponent. A pretty interesting fighting style is the Dirty fighting style, which
allows you to perform illegal moves like eye pokes and groin punches, and even
throw the referee at your opponent.
The controls have been updated from previous
entries, and now grapples can be done using the right thumbstick. Special
finisher moves associated with your Superstar Fighting Style can be used as well
by flicking the thumbstick in a direction. Pinning is also easily done this time
around, simply requiring you to push down on the right thumbstick in order to
attempt a pin on your opponent.
Graphically, the game is a marked improvement
over last year’s SmackDown! vs. RAW. The animations have been cleaned up a lot,
and look a lot more fluid this year and not so jerky. The character models look
like accurate representations of their real-life counterparts, but still have a
little bit of the glossy, unnatural look. The framerates are great on the Xbox
360 version, moving very smoothly even during Royal Rumbles.
Musically, the game is every similar to last
year’s, with hard rock and metal tracks lining out a full roster. The commentary
sounds good, but can get very repetitive, especially during long matches.
WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008 makes some changes to
the formula, but these new additions and tweaks should ultimately pay off for
the series. Look for SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008 to hit this November.
