WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 Comments by Dan Whitehead

Do people actually buy these games?

FYI I think 'cushdy' means 'wrestling' in Urdhu.

Just picked this up today for the 360 for £18 at GAME (I traded in four old-ish games though) but I know what to expect from last year's game and the recent demo, i.e. an enjoyable enough but far from perfect wrestling game. It sounds like Yukes definitely need to do more to enhance the game for the current-gen systems though beyond making amazing graphics. Perhaps if they focused only on the 360/PS versions rather than a dozen different formats they might achieve it?

Woo 1st Yeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhh baby im first to comment on this epic wrestling masterpiece. It's slamdunkin fun- oh no thats basketball its Pin-tasic.

I must need my eyes testing, amazing graphics you say?

Where!?

Dammit im 4th then

I think he mean amazingly standard. Anyone know when we can expect an AC review?

And I mean, .

Gotcha =D

And 'amazing graphics'? Hmmm maybe on the original XBox at the time.

This is the first time I haven't bought a Smackdown game on release since Smackdown 2 on the PS1. They do not address the issues of previous versions, instead putting features in which do little to improve the actual game. And while "giving" with one hand, they take away with the other - less wrestlers, less create options, less match types.

But then, they still are putting the same version of the game out on PS2 and PSP. As long as they're designing for less capable consoles the game will not be truly special. There's nothing next-gen about this game other than the shiny graphics. There's not even a physics engine, I personally think even that would help immensely.

Oh and thanks for plugging The Wrestling Group again :-)

A friend of mine buys these games. I think it's for easy achievement points.

Do people actually buy these games?

Judging from the extensive annual IGN coverage (like they're going to discover something totally groundbreaking about it one day), yes they do buy into it.

@BBIAJ - Seems like you DO need your eyes testing. ;)

The wrestler models in the 360 SmackDown games are very good in terms of detail and modelling, and they're shown off to good effect in the intros and cinematic angles. The animation is less impressive though, somewhat wooden at times with some wrestlers looking as if they're skating across the ring, plus there's a fair amount of clipping but they do look excellent for the most part and help capture the atmosphere of the real thing IMO. Great lighting and effects too.

Obviously the gameplay needs overhauling big time but I think there's little to fault on the graphics front bar the clipping and dodgy collision detection. I suspect that Yukes have focused most of their efforts on the graphics myself hence my comment that they're more committed to making the games look more amazing each year rather than concentrating on making them play better by refining or even scrapping and rewriting the engine itself.

Still waiting for a Naruto review :(

Need more Day of Reckoning.

> Great lighting

So it's just coincidence that all 4 of the screenshots in the review look like they're lit with a single ambient light and some rim lighting? It all just looks so flat and grey.

>"but maybe the question we should be asking is just what Smackdown is doing to actually justify its continued popularity?"

Much like the WWE then.

At least Jeff Hardy is back on the roster. But a 6 is right, and it's good to see EG not going along with the hype (I think IGN and Yukes are sleeping together).

The last one I played was Here Comes The Pain, and I honestly think the collision detection has gotten worse. You couldn't stand face to face with your opponent and consistently miss strikes back then. But anybody who thinks the series has ever looked like the real thing is absolutely wrong, based only on the animation. And while the while the graphics are nice, the PS3 version is little better than an upscaled PS2 version as far as I can tell.

Is it just me (and I must stress I'm not the least bit homophobic), but where is the attraction in controlling spandex clad, sweaty, muscle bound wrestlers???!

is chris benoit in the game, or at least his moveset so you can create him?

No Benoit isn't in it.

Eurogamer have got the score spot on here. This game is suffering from exactly the same thing which Pro Evo is. The next gen versions are just glossed up last gen games, and that's because these developers are still making money from PS2.

IAmBatman - The lighting and effects look great in the intros is what I was meaning, squint a bit and you'd almost mistake it for being the real thing. Obviously and understandably, ingame the lighting is far less impressive but looks good enough to me. Anyway why are we discussing the graphics; it's the gameplay that needs looking at as visually the game is fine IMO.

"(and I must stress I'm not the least bit homophobic)"

Methinks the lady doth protest too much!

Hoi, Mr Journalist!

You're missing a sentence: "let's take a look at how Smackdown's 2008 iteration plays as an actual videogame. And I mean,. "

And you mean what?

The line should read "And I mean, how it really plays" but I foolishly attempted to italicise the last bit and clearly muffed it up.

WCW VS NWO Revenge will always be the best wrestling game.

Still waiting for TNA's Impact.

Tits 'N' Ass Impact?

agreed.

its a fair game but it hasn't innovated alongside its other sports pals.

Well, I think Wrestling is happy not to be a "sport" - otherwise it would end up in company like what Eurosport seems full of these days: Bowls, darts, snooker... *snore*

Can't some developer kick the WWE butt and make a true next-gen wrestling game based on the TNA franchise instead?

I said this was shit.

And TNA Impact plays near enough the same as No Mercy. Mark it down.

I'd love to see EA get the WWE license. Imagine what they could do with a tweaked Fight Night 3 engine?

Anyone remember the UFC game on the Dreamcast? I thought that was great- why can't the wrestling games be as good as that? Spent many a happy hour on that one.

One day they'll sort out the AI....one day.

dumb game... stupid show.

Quality pic captions you donit.

First sentence should read "I'm bi-curious".

Assassin's Creed review please :(

Well, I think Wrestling is happy not to be a "sport"...

Just go to a "wrestling" forum and say its not a sport and you will see the kind of replies you will get.

And wrestling is a sport (a olympic sport) , there are several types with the so called "professional wrestling" being staged fights and so not recognized by FILA.

No mercy on the N64 was great in 3 or 4 player.
I've never liked the smackdown games though.

"Just go to a "wrestling" forum and say its not a sport and you will see the kind of replies you will get. "

General agreement?

Wrestling is a sport. What the WWE produces isn't wrestling. It's a stunt show based on the sport of wrestling. That's the crux of the matter.

o_0


The article is about WWE.

Not everybody can be enlightened enough to read Engels, buy a PS3 and "not play Gears".

"Do people actually buy these games?"

Just watch next week's chart, and you'll get a clear answer for that.
Have you being under a rock or something ? Since old, old PS2 times, wrestling games sell like crazy.

Agree with Dan,

Wrestling is most certainly a sport.
WWE is not a sport. It's entertainment based on sport. It's more performance art than anything else.

Agreed too that EA should get this license now

Now I'm sure the fighting system itself is magical when you get the hang of it, but for newbies like me it's fooking rediculous, I had a quick game against my mate in work the other day, neither of us are particularly good at it, but wonderfully (for him) he knocked me to the ground within 10 seconds and then proceeded to knee drop my face for a solid five minutes whilst my character laid there, twitching occasionally, after the knee drop bonanza he quite simply circled around, pinned me, and the match was over. Now it's not like I sat there and let it happen, I must've hit every button on the 360 pad 50 times, screaming like a madman, but still he laid there, twitching, like a cunt.
I hate wrestling games :(

I was playing this most of last night and it's rather good. OK, not perfect by any means, but playable all the same. The numerous engine issues like clipping, dodgy collision detection and feeble A.I. are made up for by superb graphics and cool TV-style presentation. I doubt wrestling fans will be too disappointed but Yukes need to radically overhaul the engine for the current-gen systems and bring it up to standard. After playing those dire WWE games on the original Xbox, the SmackDown games seem like classics even though they're clearly not!!! LOL

If anyone wants a few games on PSN my id is reddevil93.

And wrestling is a sport (a olympic sport)

*sigh* I used capital W for a reason, and in the context of the thread you CANNOT have thought I was referring to classical wrestling. (And they call it World Wrestling Entertainment mostly because they got in trouble with the World Wildlife Fund over the abbreviation for World Wrestling Federation.)

Plus there's Kurt Angle to add confusion. :)

Generic rushed buggy tripe in time for Christmas yet again

Ah well theres always next year for the SD series actually be GOOD again (Like SD 1)
but thats doubtful

Now where did I put No mercy and my N64?