WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 Review

Let's face it, nobody takes it seriously as a sport, hence the euphemistic "sports entertainment" tag, and so the TV shows have actually begun to reflect this with evermore outlandish storylines and audacious twists. Yet the guys who take part are clearly incredible performers putting themselves through punishment that, while never as dangerous as it's made to look, still requires astonishing physical skill. It's an utterly unique collage of the realistic fakery and fake-looking reality, where fans can openly talk about the quality of the script while discussing those taking part as if they were more than just the stars of a corporate soap opera performed in the style of a theme park stunt show. And it's this schism that runs right through the latest Smackdown, a game that treats the fights as actual full-contact combat while openly admitting the carefully choreographed nature of the phenomena itself.

Now that I've incensed those readers who invest too much energy into following such things, let's take a look at how Smackdown's 2008 iteration plays as an actual videogame. And I mean, how it actually plays.

Wow. He's REALLY enjoying that, isn't he?

With such a self-contained niche audience to cater for, it's easy to review these things by simply listing the new features, maybe grumbling about roster changes or changes in beloved game modes, but ending on a generally upbeat note that reaffirms the devotion of the faithful. If you like old Smackdown, you'll like new Smackdown. Awesome.

With that in mind, I'm duty bound to mention the major tweaks to the formula this time around. The right stick control introduced in Smackdown '07 is enhanced further, now allowing the pressure of submission holds to be accurately controlled with the stick, just as your opponent can use their stick to try and break free. This actually works very well, making submission moves a genuine push-and-pull battle, and goes even further than the last game to shake off some of the more daunting and unnecessary control quirks that had accumulated around the game.

Also affecting the way you wrestle is the introduction of eight fighting styles. Powerhouse impacts your ability to use strong attacks. Showman deals with your ability to wow the crowd. Dirty enables you to play the heel and use more illegal moves. You get the picture. Each wrestler can access two of the eight, with one primary and the other secondary. Again, this idea works well since it means that wrestlers have been assigned styles that match their real life performance, and you can no longer play as a jack of all trades. The only downside is that the only in-game explanation you get of this system is a series of short video clips. No hands-on practice, no interactive tutorials of any kind.

Defeated...by the power of jazz hands.

ECW joins the line-up for this edition, though they've clearly been deemed too scruffy and poor to deserve title billing. While this is good news for those who like hardcore blood-and-bruises wrestling, don't go thinking this means you're getting a monster roster to work with. With just over 50 fighters to choose from, including Divas and unlockable legends, the head count is actually down from last year by over ten characters.

More controversially, the Season and General Manager modes have been scrunched together under the 24/7 banner. Here you choose whether you want to play as a single wrestler (either existing or created) and build them up to Legend status, exercising different skills, tending injuries and performing promotional work, or you take on the role of the manager of one of the three wrestling brands in the game and try to win the ratings war by combining popular wrestlers and throwing out those beloved twists and storylines. It's the same as GM mode last year, basically. It's here that you can feel the game stretching to accommodate the real/fake nature of the source material. As general manager you're actively hiring writers to pen stories for your wrestlers, and deciding who gets to be clean or dirty, but as a wrestler you're taking part in real full-contact fights with real internal injuries that can end your career. Not really a criticism, just something for those who enjoy the tang of irony.

So, is it better than last year? In terms of features, it's honestly hard to say. It depends almost entirely on what your favourite modes are, and which wrestlers you prefer. This is the sort of game where most fans will have made their purchasing decision when they first read the updated features list on a message board, but this is par for the course in Smackdown. You gain some characters, you lose others. Game modes and match types come and go. But all of this simply serves to distract us from the elephant in the room that few seem to confront - the wrestling itself, the core of the gameplay, which is all too often an underdeveloped ball of compromise that puts the onus on the player to forgive slack design.

Painstakingly rendered character models that are full of life when preening for the camera become shambling automatons in the ring. People and objects clip through each other with a frequency that should be outlawed on games developed for this generation of consoles. Collision detection is still a crap shoot, with blows and grapples connecting when the visual evidence clearly suggests otherwise, or missing even though hands have passed right through shoulders. Animations are recycled with tedious frequency - within my first three matches I'd seen the "push the referee at your opponent" animation eight times. Presentation-wise, it can be hilariously inconsistent. I've heard commentators praise a wrestler as championship material before claiming he's yet to prove himself as anything special, literally just a few seconds later. Cutscenes and messages during your 24/7 rise to Legend status make a mockery of narrative cohesion, with deadly rivals becoming best pals for no apparent reason.

If the wind changes, you’ll be stuck like that...

Want more? The AI is patchy at best, something that the 24/7 GM mode makes horribly clear should you opt to watch one of your matches rather than take part. Set up a 6-Man Tornado Tag match, and watch those CPU wrestlers hobble around each other before settling into a blinkered series of one-on-one scuffles, oblivious to all else around them. I watched wrestlers Irish Whip opponents into the turnbuckle and then just walk off rather than press the advantage. I watched two wrestlers in a Parking Lot Brawl circle each other, holding a bin and a table, swiping at thin air for five minutes. It's laughable, really, and it speaks volumes about where the challenge comes from when you're the one in the ring.

Anyone who's played the series since it switched to the Smackdown vs Raw format should be nodding in recognition at most of these gripes. These are persistent issues, and the fact that they're still so prevalent can no longer be ignored. Please, let's not be distracted by the fact that you can now set weapons on fire. This is a series that needs serious attention to the engine, not just another fresh coat of paint over the rust spots. If the new Tekken came with such basic accuracy problems when landing blows, it'd be savaged. If Fight Night Round 4 features fighters so stupid that they ignore obvious openings for victory, the internet would ring with people denouncing EA for being sloppy and lazy. But in wrestling, none it seems to matter.

See? I warned you!

Admittedly, grapple fans aren't exactly spoilt for choice these days when it comes to games, so I can understand the temptation to make excuses for persistently clumsy gameplay provided the options surrounding it are plentiful. If that's you, and you've read this far seething with anger at how I've got it all COMPLETELY WRONG and not EVEN MENTIONED the new "weapon wheel" or the NEW HAIRSTYLES in Create-A-Wrestler, then you probably won't let my miserly opinion dissuade you. After all, as we've already established, if you like old Smackdown then you'll like new Smackdown. And therein lays the problem - Yuke's has had a captive audience for so long that the incentive to improve seems to have withered away.