Smackdown vs Raw 2008 got a 7.8, with the reviewer slamming it for being so similar to last year's title, with decade old issues showing no signs of improvement.
PS3 version got a 7.5, ouch!
Here's to PWX and a bright future of wrestling games :D
The reviewer (greg, he's a regular forum poster for the smackdown board on IGN) did say he had a great deal of fun, in fact I believe he said it was the most fun he'd had playing a smackdown game, as far as in-ring things are concerned. The low score seems to be the result of the poor effort they made in 24/7 mode, and the lack of updates or polish in other areas, and probably the biggest reason are the issues they've ignored for so many years (There's zero excuse for the AI to still be as dumb as it is. Apparently even on Legend the AI is stupid, again.)
I'm still gonna buy it, but I was hoping it would surprise me this year, doesn't look it it so far. Having custom music for CAWs is enough for me to buy it.. it could look like HCTP and I'd still buy it if it had custom music for CAWs ;) I will say this, the little-covered tournament mode still holds promise to be amazing, if they give you the freedom to create your own brackets as reviews suggest. However I suspect it won't be playable online, which is a detraction for me since my best wrestling friend is a state away ;)
[quote][cite] MYNAMEISED:[/cite]PS3 and Wii got a 7.5...lol (For PS3)
I'm going to buy it anyway, I wanna try out the new submission system, and the CAW Mode.
.........PWX and TNA FTW![/quote] I don't think CAW will be that big of a deal I mean thq was advertising the game this year as entirely focused on Gameplay
CAW mode is basically unchanged. They added some things, took away some things.. same routine for the last few years really. Most of the improvements can probably be seen in the ring.. more weapons, the weapon wheel, more crowd interaction, more ultimate controls, more ways to reverse hotspot moves (so the AI can't do 5 minutes of rope bouncing, yay!). Basically it sounds like they mostly spent a year polishing last years game, and adding fighting styles.
SvR isn't terrible really.. when you look at it over the years it has some incredibly cool features.. but their development cycle is stupid, they ignore things people want improved in favor of adding barely-working new features.
[quote][cite] smblion:[/cite]CAW mode is basically unchanged. They added some things, took away some things.. same routine for the last few years really. Most of the improvements can probably be seen in the ring.. more weapons, the weapon wheel, more crowd interaction, more ultimate controls, more ways to reverse hotspot moves (so the AI can't do 5 minutes of rope bouncing, yay!). Basically it sounds like they mostly spent a year polishing last years game, and adding fighting styles.
SvR isn't terrible really.. when you look at it over the years it has some incredibly cool features.. but their development cycle is stupid, they ignore things people want improved in favor of adding barely-working new features.[/quote] Actually The reason that SvR add new stuff is couse the WWE have new wrestlers so THQ add their atire I mean they add something that you can see on a wrestler from the roster and remove most stuff from last year
Ok,but at least not changing the game's A.I. I swear to god I am sick and f'n tired of bruttaly assasinating my opponents the real bad way.There is no logically possible way for you to lose a First Blood or a Hardcore match - AND I TRIED WITHOUT USING WEAPONS!Singles are bearable,but Tag Team logic sucks.You can't get a pin unless the other guys are off battling somwhere.The key to win a Tag Team Match is as soon as yo tag in your partner,get out of the ring,attack the other guy's partner,beat the **** out of him and BAM - You Win!I dislike that,really...
Well I have to agree tag team logic basicaly hasn't changed for a long long time almost a decade I think.You have to distract one of your opponents to pin the other it's stupid there should be a blocker or something that doesn't allow more than 3 or 4 interfearances per match
Uuh..I tried the game.Believe me - IGN as maybe all the time is dead DEAD wrong about the game.I can't believe it,but It's actually GOOD! And f*ck all of that - there IS new gameplay.Button changes,better gameplay,better AI,it's BETTER!No kidding... Is IGN always wrong about games?Cuz they were wrong about the first games of the franchise,and they are wrong with this one.I'd pesonally give it more than 7.8 - maybe 8.6,but still,I barely tried the game...
I've tried a couple ECW matches but I didn't have a lot of time to figure out controls. So far I'm incredibly happy with the gameplay in ring. You can now attack with strikes as a DEFENDER in grapples, and if the attacker delays too long, you can actually fight your way out of the grapple without reversing at all. Very cool.
Yeah,you squirm your way out of an Ultiamte Grapple Attack with the right analog stick really... Finnaly the gameplay doesn't irritate... It's actually...like a different game,really...I love it.I really really love it. The controls are kinda different,but once you get used to it,it's pure exatsy.I actually figured out (finnaly) how to move my opponen when down and it's a lot easy to dive to the outside... The high-flyers do even more dives.All the clases have their personal specials,the Brawlers have the special in which (I think,I frogot :D) your punches can't be countered,or you couldn't be hit or something.The Powerhouses have the Berserks special in which they can't be countered... This game is awesome.It's a tottaly different experience,the hardcore matches are super killer (too bad only the ECW Extreme Rules matches have the weapon circle,in a normal Hardcore match you just pick up a weapon,like in the old games).The design is different,it's more simple,but it's even more killer IMO.It doesn't have that funny arcade feel,it's totally serious now.The wrestlers are kinda better too.They are kinda bigger looking,they are also a little slower around the ring (which looks a little better than the old style IMO,it gives a more serious look to the game) Of course the game isn't perfect...You can't be a GM and be a superstar at the same time.You can only either play season,or be a GM. I didn't try the GM mode,but god - THE SEASON RULES!There are no cheesy storylines that repeat all the time.You start from scratch and go to conquer the WRESTLEMANIA ring.The main goal is to become a WWE Legend.You just fight wrestlers.There is a calendar,in which in your free time you can choose to train yourself,buy skills (you win cash by winning matches) or go do some activities,like sign autographs or rest,there are a lot... Since there are no storylines and you don't win trophies to unlock stuff in the WWE Shop,there is a Hall of Fame mode,in which you repeat legend matches like Shawn Micheals vs. Bret Hart at Wrestlemania,Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold (btw the first match unlocks Bret,the second unlocks Stone Cold).You still have to buy them to play them,since they are just unlocked in the shop. And my god finnaly the loading times aren't such a pain!They have been reduced,and it doesn't load all the time,only before a match and while playing with the Create A Modes. What I personally loved is that the difficulty level has finnaly been evened up.It's about time!You can finnaly play good even matches - On NORMAL level!It's really good,finnaly the wrestlers are putting up a fight and it isn't easy to gank your opponent in under one minute!I can't even imagine how difficult it would be in Legend difficulty...I might just try... The game is awesome.I haven't fully explored it yet (still haven't played with a high flyer) but it's all right. IGN are f'n liars - 7.5 for THIS finnaly made good game is just a spat and slap in the face of every real wrestling game fan.While the other "joke" Svr 2007 gets an 8.After I played the game,I can without a doubt give it a well deserved 9.2 or maybe even bigger.This game is PERFECT! I never thought I would even think this,but I will maybe hold off FPWR for a while.And I think it raised the bar for PWX as well... This is some nice competition IMO.We all hope it's just a little better than SvR. THQ are finally excused on my part for the crappy wrestling games.This game is the best of the franchise,I suggest you buy it immidiately...
Well there's more problems than that, but the IGN review did praise the in-ring gameplay and so far I've got to agree on that front. The AI is still _retarded_, in fact in my ECW matches it would leave the ring, get a weapon, and then wait for me outside. The computer _refused_ to re-enter the ring even if I wasn't following him.
So some ups, some downs, same as each year. I think what really earns it a 7.8 is that every year we get mediocre improvements, and things that should have been fixed haven't been. If they fixed the AI and voice over problems, for example, I suspect it'd have a much higher score.
It's still in there, but it can be disabled in the options, and it's more of a background thing now, where you tire and rest automatically. In fact I found myself stunned from being too tired in a match yesterday, but I had to really over-work myself to get there.
By the way - wanna hear something cool? I was playing around with the Create an Entrance.I looked at all the entrances titled "Superstar ##" Number one was Kurt Angle.They probably want you to make a Kurt Angle CAW... The second one was...Y2J's pose.Exactly the same as his real.Coincidence?
Hmm, I may have to give this game a try, seeing as how I didn't even bother playing last years. I saw a flamming table on the commercial, SOLD! lol. Anyone else care to elaborate on the Season Mode?
Ya know what they should do to keep SvR good. Work on something specificly every year, This year it was game play next can be season then the next CAW mode and so on.
[quote][cite] MG:[/cite]Ya know what they should do to keep SvR good. Work on something specificly every year, This year it was game play next can be season then the next CAW mode and so on.[/quote]
That's what they do already, but that's the problem, not the solution. They need to get rid of the yearly release model, and focus on putting out a superb sequal every 2-3 years instead.
The reason they do yearly releases with minor updates is in order to sell you what ammounts to a 'patch' or 'expansion', but make you pay $60 for it every time. It's a model that works for sports games for the most part, but not so much for wrestling games.
They don't really work on something specifically each year, they introduce a new gimmick each year, then stop working on that gimmick next year. Meaning they put in a bunch of unfinished work, not focus on an actual area, unless you count gimmicks as an area.
[quote][cite] dratsab:[/cite]They don't really work on something specifically each year, they introduce a new gimmick each year, then stop working on that gimmick next year. Meaning they put in a bunch of unfinished work, not focus on an actual area, unless you count gimmicks as an area.[/quote]
Having played it, I can assure you they worked on 'in ring gameplay' as an area this year. Forgetting about fighting styles for a moment, and all the terrible limitations they came with, the in ring gameplay is the best I've seen in a wrestling game so far, better than Fire Pro. However, I haven't played much of No Mercy so I won't make a comparison to that. The way you can struggle out of grapples and UCMs now, all the new tricks to reversing etc.. They made a huge improvement over 2007 in the actual gameplay.
My complaints are that they screwed up everywhere else, or made no changes at all.
Where?The A.I. is screwy at the minimum!The story mode is much better than some repeated story lines all the time.The game is better mildly speaking...
[quote][cite] spudz:[/cite]Where?The A.I. is screwy at the minimum!The story mode is much better than some repeated story lines all the time.The game is better mildly speaking...[/quote]
Are you asking for an outline of all the ways they've improved gameplay? I could do that but it'd be time consuming.. It's a lot of little things that add in to an overall improved feeling.
The A.I. is terrible, and I wasn't counting that as part of gameplay. The matches I played against the computer were predictable and boring, but when my partner and I played multiplayer, we had quite a lot of fun, and we've only got a rudimentary understanding of the controls.
Yeah thats what people are not fit to realize, cause when SvR is not on the market and WWE stop making games you'll be like "I wish I had a game to play instead of this four year old SvR 2009". Then out of nowhere Pro Stuidobrew Encore Wrestling comes out and every one come in like fends trying to buy it like Halo.
The reviewer basically nailed every point that I have been railing on the series for over the last few years. Spot on!
It's also dropped out of the top 10 of GS's User Most Popular. Hell, even Kane and Lynch, a game that GS rated lower than SDvR08 is still in the top 10.
I wish Ledesma and crew were getting the message, but unless their games are a commercial flop, it'll be business as usual over there.
Because we've drunk the Kool-Aid for so many years, it's become a REFLEX by now to buy it regardless. Although some of us (like myself) tend to purchase the PS2 SmackDown games for different extra reasons than others (I like to rip the music, trons, and now the 3D models).
Now that I have Fire Pro R, I can satisfy myself by waiting many months until SvR 08's "Greatest Hits" $20 version comes out (and maybe used, so they don't get their money from me).
I haven't bought a copy since 06. After renting 07, I played it for about a month, then sent it back. I spent no money on it that went to THQ directly, and was able to play it and know I didn't like it.
Hopefully, the "Well, it's the only thing we got" mentality will change once people start playing Uprising, FPWR, and TNA Impact.
I was watching my friend play today and I just hate the new weapon select thing. It freezes the game just so you can pick a weapon! Leave it random!!! Grr!!! Oh and Jeff Hardy shouldn't be able to body slam Umaga into a burning table no matter how damn cool it looks!
Pausing the game is good. The solution is to play with people who aren't jackasses ;) Once you're familiar with the wheel mechanic it's a pretty quick process to select an item.
I'm somewhat happy with the 360 version.. custom music is fantastic and I've started slowly adding CAWs etc.. but I'm already looking forward to something better. Very excited to see uprising :)
Being able to select your weapon is awesome and with all the new hardcore moves it is pretty much necessary, but the pause is retarded. It gets really annoying especially when you have a 6-man match going and you have 6 different people not only digging for weapons under the ring but also using Style moves that pause the game like the hardcore style move where you smash yourself in the head with a chair. It is all horribly annoying and in my opinion unnecessary but from a Smackdown game I would expect nothing less than annoying.
I hate hate HATE 'cutscene' moves in a wrestling game that pause the action and interactivity. In Uprising you can pick up and drop a chair anytime and anywhere.
And I was actually playing online where some guy was Shane McMahon, and there is a cut scene that he has where he goes out near the crowd and does a special taunt where he leans into the crowd. the ENTIRE game stops all action until this animation concludes. And he did it probably about 3 times in a row.
I take back what I said, after thinking about it more it doesn't seem like it'd be so big a deal to just have the wheel thing happen during the action, and not use a special cutscene for it.