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Most annual release franchises try to dazzle gamers by adding a few new features, to a roster updated but otherwise unchanged, game. THQ and Yukes are one of the few companies that seem to take their game back to the drawing board each year and rebuild from the ground up. Smackdown vs. Raw '07 is a truly an ambitious example of this trend and the end product is nothing short of amazing!!
By far the largest change this year is the completely redone control scheme. Though this can initially be very jaring to long time fans who have been using the same controls for almost a decade to play Smackdown games, it truly IS for the best. Each year THQ has been trying to give the gamer increased control over what moves their wrestler performs in the ring while still maintaining an authentic on screen wrestling matches. This year the right analog stick gives you more control over what AND HOW certain moves are performed. For example, in the past a typical turnbuckle move was to mount and punch a guy 10 times. This was performed by pressing the right combo of buttons and was followed by a canned animation. In SVR '07 you actually control how many times you punch your opponent by mimicking the punching motion and pressing up and down with the right analog stick. This may initially seem needlessly complicated but the on screen instructions make the appropriate button presses apparent in all environmental situations.
The season and GM modes have also been improved upon but to me the most exciting changes were done to the create-a-entrance mode. You can now watch entrances AS you make changes and you can actually control the timing on fireworks and camera moves!! WOW!!
The graphics and sound are as good as they are gonna get on the PS2. It's hard to explain but the moves seem to "chain together" better than in past games. For example, reversals aren't so obvious and thus harder to counter. You'll think you're executing a move perfectly until Oops, you're laying on the mat wondering what happened. The wrestler models are slightly closer to their real life versions this year. The commentary though, mostly the same seems to have been expanded upon for more action specific comments. Instead of JR commenting on the fact that you are beating your opponent, he'll talk about the powerbomb you just executed. The wrestlers themselves also make noise as well when wrestling (hooray for grunting) . The only negative criticism I have relates to loading screens. While this has always been an issue on the PS2, loading seems to take extra long this year (probably because of all of the improvements). In some cases you'll wait 20 seconds on one load screen only to go to the next load screen.
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This years' installment of Smackdown vs. Raw has some high points and some low ones. First off, the addition of the "Ultimate Control" moves is definately a highlight; being able to hang up your opponent on the ropes, repeatedly smash their head into the ring steps and announce table are a few things that add a bit more realism to the experience which is definately worth mentioning. There is also the ability to take the fight into the crowd, although that feature is not enabled for all match types. Also, GM mode has recieved a facelift, adding the Power 25 from wwe.com to gauge how "over" certain wrestlers are and who could use a better push, and being able to hire writers to create rivalries for your wrestlers which in turn generate better ratings, as opposed to just starting one yourself by keeping two wrestlers involved in the same matches every week like last year is a vast improvement.
Season Mode and Legends:
On to the problems with the game, which I'm sad to say are many. For starters, season mode is an absolute bore, but is essential if you hope to earn cash to unlock the Legends in the game, as well as earn experience points to jack up your created wrestlers. Speaking of legends, was it really necessary to include all of Mick Foley's characters in the game? It seems that they were just looking to beef up the Legend roster and this was the easiest solution, much like including 3 different Hulk Hogan's in 2006.
Music and Commentary:
Next up is the sound. In my humble opinion, this series has been plagued with the worst video game soundtrack since I started playing with "Here Comes The Pain" Also, 90% of the in match commentary has been recycled from previous installments so you can expect to hear JR explaining Government Mules and Scolded Dogs to Jerry Lawler for the 1000th time.
Challenges and Match Types:
They have also cut back on the amount of trophies that can be earned as well as available challenges to complete which added a lot of replay value to the previous SvR games, so I was sad to see that cut back. There is also only one new match type included in the game; the "Money in the Bank" Ladder Match.
Controls:
Moving on to the "improved" grappling system. This has to be the most hyped up part of the game. In the months leading up to the game's release we heard about the new analog grappling system which was going to make the grapples more fluid and intuitive, but frankly it does the opposite. The game relies too heavily on the right analog and it feels very foriegn and takes quite a bit of getting used to. If you simply can't deal with it, switching the control to type D in the options screen should give you a feel closer to that of the previous games. They have also implemented an "infinite reversal" system where you and your opponent can conceivably counter eachother's moves forever, which is not the case because many counters are followed by unavoidable attack animations. the game also claims to discourage button mashing as you will see in one of the video tutorials, but it's still the best way to achieve a counter as the on screen prompts show up too late, and are non existant in the case of reversing finishers. If you are downed, a message under the HUD will tell you to hit any button repeatedly to recover which prevents the reversal prompts from showing up at all so if you're on the mat, you have no choice but to button mash and just hope for the best. In one instance, there was a match that had spilled out into the crowd, and Batista, once he had me down, did nothing but submission after submission after submission and I was helpless to counter.
Bugs:
I personally as well as many other people have experienced several bugs in the game regarding the announce team and the ring announcers, as well as some gameplay glitches. These are some of the ones I have experienced:
The announce team frequently calls out the wrong finisher being performed. For instance, Triple H will perform a Pedigree and sometimes they will call it a Twist Of Fate. Bobby Lashley will do the Dominator, and they will call it the Dead Level. During season mode, whenever you are at a cross brand Pay Per View, your match is called by the announce team from the other show. So if you're wrestling say at Summerslam, and you're a Smackdown wrestler, the match will be called by JR and King, but in the post match cut scene, the correct announce team takes over. There is also a bug in the game in tag team matches where the ring announcer will only announce the first member of a tag team and not the second member. Another thing is that the ring announcers never announce a championship match, I don't know if this is a bug or just something that was left out, but it's annoying. The commentators will also often refer to wrestlers who aren't even involved in the match.
One glaring gameplay glitch is in ladder matches, if you are on the ladder reaching for the belt, your opponent will sometimes magically appear at the top of the ladder even if they were down and nowhere near the ladder in the first place.
Overall the game feels like it should have spent at least another month in beta tetsing before being released. I should also mention that people I have spoken to that have played the game on Xbox 360 have not experienced the technical issues that I have on the PS2. When all is said and done, it's not a bad game, but it's not the definative wrestling title we were hoping for either. I'd recommend a rental before buying so you can see if the game's problems will ruin the experience for you before you go and spend 50 bucks on it.
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Having played every Smackdown game to date, I pay alot of attention to new details of every new edition to the series.
I love this series and look forward to each addition every year.
If you're a long-time player like me, here are some plusses and minuses.
Plusses:
Hotspots are very cool. Easy to use and well-animated and also creative.
You can easily tear apart the announcer's table, use the cords, etc.
Also, like on TV, you cannot put an opponent thru the announcer's table without removing everything first.
The ultimate controls are nice. You can lift players up and slam them into lots of ring areas like choke-slamming them onto the exposed turnbuckle or thru the announce table. In Hell in a Cell it's great because you can walk them around in a held power bomb, chokeslam or even military press and throw them off the cell.
There are new unlockable title belts, like Austin's skull belt.
Tables are totally revamped. The animations of slamming someone thru a table is way better than just a "V" split. Tables now break and conform to the wrestler.
Ladders have many more grapple uses; you can position it horizontally in the corner and nail wrestlers 4 different way.
The new grappling system is not bad. It allows for more moves.
Counter system is pretty good. A slight step up from last year.
Storylines are very good and not repetitive. There are many of them and cover lots of PPV's, title reigns and show jumps.
The experience to build up superstars is fair, as you need experience, rather than 100+ matches to build up the teamwork factor.
There are nice additions to the grapple moves.
The create an entrance is revamped also and it's the best in the series. It allows automatic viewing upon every change.
Before each title match, there's a short animation with the ref holding up the title(s) to the crowd.
Sledgehammer and title belt attack animations are great.
Nice to see Steph and Shane back in the game, even if they're just season characters.
Glitches and flaws:
AI is horrible. Once you have gained 99 exp, there's no longer much challenge, save a ladder match, where that takes timing and accuracy to take the belt or briefcase.
Blood is not as good as last year. There's less and after the match in the winning animation screen, it disappears off the opponent.
Tat titles: Your tag team partner will NOT be announced and the belt will be horribly animated over their waist.
Announcer's have about %80 of the old commentary, save entrance and cut scenes during season.
New controls set up is difficult to get use to, but you can use 4 different type of set-ups. If you change to old-style, targeting is very difficult in multi-player matches, like Boney in the bank, where you have to be able to go for someone quickly reaching for the hanging item.
No weapons AT ALL in Hell in a Cell.
For a C-A-W's entrance, if you use an entrance pattern, other than a known wrestler, they will not enter carrying a belt, if they are a title holder. Ex. If you pick "Entrance 1" it won't work. If you set it to Kurt Angle, you'll enter with a title.
Voices for CAW are horrible and all sound almost like overly-juiced guys or bordering on monsters.
NO VINCE or NO CHANCE IN HELL theme.
No HHH "Bow Down to the King"
Only 3 wrestlers have different attires. JBL, HHH and (masked) Kane.
LONG loading times, especially for CAW matches.
Pinning an opponent can be done even if a wrestler is in the yellow.
Too easy.
Either the AI counters everything (and doesn't attack) or just gets pummeled.
Chairshots are not as good as last year.
Again, I don't hate on this game, I just think it's sad alot of these things slipped thru the designers cracks.
I think they focused too much on season and grapple system and hotspots that the ball was dropped on the little things that are what really make the game more enjoyable.
I haven't played online yet, but I am praying there are some patches they'll offer to fix these glitches.
I'd give it more stars if it weren't for so many small things.
The big additions do not make up for the many small losses.
Honest reviews on WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 - PlayStation 2
Let's be honest. This game is great, no doubt about it. The features far outweigh the disappointments, but let's break them down.
The Good:
Amazing graphics, the cool ability to control every aspect of your wrestler, his image, his entrance. It's like being in the tv show itself, complete with storylines and interaction with other wrestlers.
The Bad:
The controls are just too tough to learn. Right analog, left analog, and heavy usage of both. Its also annoying to those of us who prefer the keypad to even have to USE the analog sticks. Now the keypad is annoyingly used only for taunting which can get your a** beat when you mistakenly hit it to move your wrestler. The constant usage of all buttons is a bit daunting. The first time you find yourself in a tag-team match and try to tag your partner you will know what I mean. First select, oops, no your facing the ref now ok, select again, ok, now I am facing my tag team partner. Dang it, the X button didn't tag him. SHOOT I just got a chair to the back of my head because IT TOOK TOO LONG! ---While I admit that they made ample use of every control option available, it's just overkill.
Overall, if you can invest the time in this game, you pick everything up. But the learning process is slow. Also, THQ why do you start the created wrestlers at an overall rating of 37? Man, how about a 50 at least? Talk about making this a demanding game to learn....
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 - PlayStation 2
This game is great, current rosters grat graphics and commentary and real stats. When I play this game I cant unglue my eyes from the TV. This game is great period.
