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THQ’s WWE SmackDown! Series now has quite a
heritage in the videogames world. Having begun life as the
Nintendo64’s Wrestling series, under the name WWF Warzone – a
very Arcade-esque interpretation – with the sequel, WWF Attitude
selling quite poorly, both titles were then ported to the
PlayStation. From this was born a series of hugely successful
PlayStation exclusive releases all including the WWE SmackDown!
tagline. Although THQ then took it upon themselves to release
alternative series for both the GameCube and the Xbox at the birth
of the current generation, neither grabbed the public attention, nor
the critic’s praise, with the momentum that the WWE SmackDown!
series had garnered. And so it was with some shock that the
announcement came from THQ earlier this year that WWE SmackDown!
Vs. Raw 2007 would be arriving on Xbox360 as well as
PlayStation2. Having then been confirmed that the title would also
be arriving on PlayStation3, only to eventually be cancelled, the
only place that Next-Generation WWE action is taking place is on
Microsoft’s home turf, and as with the “exclusive” Football game
fiasco of a few months ago, they surely couldn’t be happier.
WWE SmackDown! Vs. Raw 2007’s basic premise is
identical to that of it’s forbearers. Featuring Season Mode, General
Manager Mode, Exhibition Matches and an extensive line-up of
customisable options, fans of the series will instantly be familiar
with the titles presentation. The Season Mode takes the player
through one year in the life of a WWE Superstar, through all the
plot twists and Championship Matches, with the eventual hope of
walking away as World Champion. The handful of storylines are all
unique and interesting in their own way, and each is filled with the
usual amount of bravado you’d expect from giant men in leotards
about to beat each other seven-ways-from-Sunday.
The Exhibition Matches are singular Matches, in which
the player can decide the Match type and Rules, and the opponents.
The General Manager Mode, however, is quite, quite different. Taking
a light-hearted approach to a Management Sim, the player must take
charge of one of the WWE Television Shows – either SmackDown! or Raw
– and beat their AI opponent in the Ratings at the end of the year.
Along with organising Matches and employing wrestlers to fill your
Roster, you must also decide which Matches to host when, and who
will be competing in them. Additionally, you have options to buy
Script Writers to write storylines for the show, involving a pre-set
amount of wrestlers (differing depending on the storyline). All the
Matches in General Manager Mode are playable, however, those playing
for the strategy element are able to simulate all the results.
General Manager Mode, since it’s inception, has always been seen as
a nice addition, however, with the lack of progress that has been
made, 3it’s beginning to feel like a weak link.
Once in the ring, the fans of the series will notice far
more changes than those of the polished front-end. The Wrestling
System has had a complete overhaul – and to great effect. Each
wrestler now has eight different Grapple manoeuvres, with Quick
Grapples executed by pressing the Right Analogue Stick either Up,
Down, Left or Right, and Strong Grapples performed by pressing any
on the above whilst holding the Right Button. Once you have your
opponent aloft, certain moves will allow you to delay the
inevitable; getting the crowd on your side and building your
Momentum.
The Momentum Meters and Health Meters work much the same
as with
WWE SmackDown! Vs. Raw 2006. Once having beaten your
opponent to being in a clear lead, your Momentum Meter will fill,
allowing the player to press both Left Trigger and Left Button to
store a Finishing Move. The Finishing Move can then be executed at
any time in which the player is in the correct position, however
filling up the Momentum Meter for again will create a much more
devastating variant of that attack, and allow wrestlers with a Dirty
style of fighting to steal their opponents Finishing Move, and
perform it upon them. The Health Meter takes the form of an asexual
 human body, with specific areas changing colour when receiving
increasing amounts of damage. In addition to these Meters, a Stamina
Meter now also features. After a series of pounding moves on your
opponent, your wrestler will no doubt be getting tired, making each
subsequent move weaker and your avatar more susceptible to reversals
and cheap counters (executed by Left Trigger for Grapples, Right
Trigger for blows, and both for Finishing Moves).
The options for customisation are practically
unbelievable. As well as the usual Create-A-Wrestler, the title now
offers Create-A-Championship, Create-A-Stable and Create-An-Entrance
options, in addition to the Pay-Per-View Creation options. The
Create-A-Wrestler system is much more simplified than in previous
titles, yet still allows a wealth of depth in customisation.
However, once having created your on-screen avatar, it can be
difficult bringing them to the point at which they have the ability
to compete in Season Mode.
The title’s graphics are fantastic, even though they may
fall short of expectations garnered from early screenshots –
however, this wouldn’t be a WWE SmackDown! title is this
wasn’t the case! Sweeping the series into the Next-Generation makes
for some fantastic looking Character Models – if more so during FMV
Sequences than in-game – and expanded avenues of play, such as the
ability to fight in fully 3D Crowd Areas. The audience is modelled
fantastically also, whereas previous games have relied on either 2D
crowds or very sparse 3D Models, WWE SmackDown! Vs. Raw 2007
throws polygons as far-as-the-eye-can-see. The sound quality is akin
to that of the graphics – while they may not be breaking any
Next-Generation boundaries, the aural treatment the title has
received is that at the pinnacle of the series.
For a title which by many will be seen as merely the
annual update, WWE SmackDown! Vs. Raw 2007 has upped-the-ante
considerably more than those titles akin, such as the
FIFA
and
Pro Evolution Soccer series. The title may seem slightly
slimmer in terms of the Exhibition Match options available, and the
Loading Times are quite often simply ridiculous – why the Season
Mode’s story has to execute a delay simply to deliver a screen
displaying the phrase “Later that night…”, only to then enter into
another delay is frankly unbelievable – but, for as many
Next-Generation issues as WWE SmackDown! Vs. Raw 2007 brings
to the plate, it bears twice as many compliments to the industries
progress.
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