I always start off these reviews by saying this…I am no longer a fan of the WWE (I stopped following it in about 2001 or so, back when it was still the WWF). I do not watch it during the week, I don’t follow it online. All I know about whats going on in the WWE is based on each edition of Smackdown vs. Raw that comes out, so my knowledge is generally limited. That being said, I LOVE playing the Smackdown vs. Raw games (to hearby be referred to as SvR), and I tend to purchase the newest edition each year. Normally, there are some minor changes every year, but this years edition (2010) surpasses them all, and I think it is safe to say that SvR 2010 is the best wrestling game ever made.
I guess I will start with the actual in-ring gameplay. SvR 2010 now allows each wrestler to perform 16 strong grapples, as opposed to the old school 8, which means that each wrestler now has a move set that is twice as large. You use the right analog to perform a quick grapple, which is usually a cheesy weak move that wont do much damage, but is a great way to get in a cheap shot (usually a punch, kick, elbow, or quick takedown.) Then if you hold R1 while using the right analog, you will initiate a strong grapple. These are the big, devastating moves such as power bombs, choke slams, suplexes, DDTs, and all that other good stuff. Depending on the direction you push the right analog will result in different holds. For example, R1 and left on the analog will initiate a wrist hold, and R1 and up will start an up-close true wrestler grapple. Once the grapple is initiated, pushing the right analog in any of the four basic directions will result in a different move being performed. So that’s where you get your 16 moves from…four different grapple holds, and four moves for each grapple. You can assign which moves you want for each hold from a menu screen, and there are literally hundreds of moves to choose from. Oh, and lets not forget the grounded grapple moves. When an opponent is lying on the mat, you will be able to perform up to six different moves, depending on where you are standing (head, side, or legs), and if he is lying on his back or face-first.
While grapples are the bread and butter of any wrestling match, there are other things to do in the ring. The basic punches and attacks are still there, so you will be able to pummel the heck out of your opponent. Of course if you are a fancy pants you can jump up to the top of the turnbuckle post and perform a diving attack on a dazed opponent. However, for me, I prefer submission moves, and this year’s edition of the game pays a lot of attention to them. In previous games, if you wanted your wrestler to have submission moves, you had to place them in the strong grapple sets. Thus, you lost having a sweet power move by having to have a boring ol’ submission move instead. That is not the case in SvR 2010. The controls for this edition have really been improved, and from now on you can initiate submission moves by pushing R3. So when you have your opponent in a grapple, instead of using the right analog to perform a normal move, you can hit R3 to initiate a submission hold. I really love this because you can assign a different hold to each grapple, so you can have four different holds from the standing position. Also, you can do the same thing when the opponent is on the ground. You will be able to perform three different submission holds to a grounded opponent depending on where you are standing compared to him (head, side, and legs.) This tweaking of the submission system was one of the greatest accomplishments that SvR 2010 made.
One of the things that wrestlers are best known for is their finishing moves. Whethers it’s The People’s Elbow or the Tombstone Piledriver, its usually an extremely flashy move that spells the end of the match for the wrestler on the receiving end. The finishers in SvR 2010 work a little differently then in past games, but I like it. Each wrestler has a momentum gauge that is located at their feet in the game. As your wrestler performs moves and taunts, the momentum goes up (as the crowd gets more fired up). Eventually when it gets high enough, you will see an “S” appear at the end of the gauge, meaning you have stored a signature move (basically same thing as a finisher, but not as powerful). Once you are in the current position to perform a signature move, you can hit triangle to initiate it. It all depends on what the move is…it can be a standing grapple, a diving attack, or a ground grapple. If the signature moves hits, then not only is the opponent damaged by it, but your momentum automatically maxes out, and you will be able to perform a finisher. Unlike other games, you cannot store your finisher, so you have to use it quickly before the crowd quiets down and you lose it.
Just like in previous games, you will be able to counter an opponents attacks. However, its much easier than before. R2 now counters all attacks, whether they are strikes or grapples. Like other games, pretty much any move can be countered, including initiating grapples and finishers. I do like the new system, as it was a pain in previous games to hit L2 to counter strikers and R2 to counter grapples.
In SvR 2010, each wrestler has six “abilities”. There is a pool of at least 15 abilities to choose from, and these are aspects of the wrestler that may give him or her an edge in matches, and usually deals with their strengths. For example, a wrestler who is performs a lot of turnbuckle and diving attacks will probably have the “high flyer” ability, which allows him to climb up the turnbuckle ridiculously fast, and also allows him to dive through the ropes at an opponent standing on the outside. A submission wrestler should have the “lock pick” ability, so when he is in a submission hold, hitting triangle will allow him to automatically break the hold. Many of the big superstars (such as Triple H, Batista, Cena, etc) will have Resilency and Durability, both abilities that make it tougher to pin or submit them. One of my favorite ones is the hardcore ability, which allows you to perform grapples with weapons. Nothing is funner than strangling an opponent with a sledge hammer or placing a folding chair around his leg and then stomping on it for maximum pain. The abilities are an improvement over last years, which only had a few to choose from.
There isn’t anything too new as far as match types go. You still have the normal selection of one on one, tag team, steel cage, ladder, tables, Hell in a Cell, etc. The only new match is something called “Championship Scramble.” I tried it and hated it. Its quite a challenging match to partake in. It starts off like a Royal Rumble, with two men in the ring and others running in at set intervals, until six men are in total. It also plays kind of like an Iron Man match, where once a pinfall or submission tapout is achieved, the match continues until a set time. However, unlike an Iron Man match, there are no points. Basically, if a wrestler gets a pinfall, he becomes the champion. Then whoever gets the next pinfall or submission becomes the champion. So its basically a match in which you have to get a pinfall or submission, and then make sure no one else does. Its quite a challenging match to have, and I was not a fan.
Another thing they did do as far as matches go is that they revamped the Royal Rumble. The features they added are all very well done. Its still the same basic Royal Rumble gameplay, but there are a few additions. First off, you can now perform special “Royal Rumble finishers” to quickly eliminate an opponent who is about to be tossed out. If you don’t have a finisher stored (in a Royal Rumble match, every superstar can store up to three finishers, and you will not lose them if you don’t use them), then you will have to do it the old fashioned way. There are three ways to do it, and each one has its own mini game of sorts. The normal way is to throw an opponent over the ropes (so hes hanging on from the other side) and then to perform a game where you rapidly push the button the comes on screen (square, x, triangle, or circle). If you are successful, your superstar will punch the opponent off the apron, and he is eliminated. Secondly, if the opponent is hanging on from under the ropes (lying down) a game pops up where you have to stop a scrolling icon at a particular “sweet spot”. Doing this twice will eliminate the opponent. The other way is if the opponent is leaning against the turnbuckle. This is one of the easiest ways to eliminate an opponent, as you simply have to hit a button once when it flashes on screen. Just be mindful of superstars with stored finishers…they will be able to use it to get a free escape from your attempt to throw them out.
The roster was a bit of a disappointment, as it usually is. Since I do not follow WWE anymore, I don’t know any of the new faces. So while some of my older favorites are there (Undertaker, Triple H, Kane, Jericho), I don’t care for the new talent that’s in the game. Of course I don’t blame the game for that…its just going by who’s wrestling in the WWE today, and Im sure someone who follows it regularly will be pleased with the roster. But since I do not know many of the wrestlers on the roster (there are over 40 of them), I tend to create many custom wrestlers in the create-a-wrestler mode (henceforth to be referred to as CAWs.) As Steve can attest to, the CAWs will suck in a heck of a lot of my time and energy as I will make at least 15-20 of them.
Since I am so into the CAWs, it is always a feature I look into. Whenever I get each new edition of the game, the first thing I do is create BigBadBob, who is me. After he is done I will start taking him through the career mode to get his stats up (I will talk about that in a bit). The creation mode hasn’t changed much, as most of the different articles of clothing and all that other creation stuff is there. One thing that changes every game is how to determine the “weight class” of custom wrestlers. Their weight class determines the moves and abilities they will be able to have. In some games, you just selected what it was. In other games you set your CAWs weight, which determined his class. In SvR 2010, it is based on how tall you make the wrestler. I was not a fan of this at all…I prefer to be able to just set it. Also, it is a bit difficult to set up different attires for the CAWs. Usually you have three choices…what they wear to the ring, what they wear in the ring, and what they wear backstage. In SvR 2010 it is a bit difficult to figure out how to successfully navigate these different menus. Once you create a custom superstar, you will go into a separate menu where you can assign what moves he will perform in the ring. It is here that you will also assign finishers, taunts, and abilities.
Another feature of CAWs is the ability to create your own finishers. This is an interesting process where you basically choose different parts of a finisher and then string them together for a move. Its hard to explain, but its fun to make ridiculous-looking finishers. While this feature was in SvR 2009, 2010 revamps it to allow you to create your own diving finishers. It was a blast to make my wrestler leap 100 feet in the air and come crashing down.
Now once you have your CAW, how do you make him strong enough to take on the greats? He needs to gain levels and experience points of course! Every wrestler has an overall rating which signifies how powerful he is. The highest overall wrestler in the game is Undertaker at 94. There are several stats for each superstar…strike, grapple, durability, submission, hardcore, charisma, speed, and technical. Each of these stats has an effect on the wrestler. For example, grapple raises the damage your grapple moves will do, durability reflects how much damage you take, and technical determines how likely you will be able to counter an opponent’s attack.
Each CAW starts with an overall of 38. To raise this, he must raise his stats, which is done in the ring. The actions you perform in the ring will increase the level of a stat. For example, using punch attacks (square) will raise the wrestlers strike level. If done enough it will level up, and the max will increase by five. For example, if the CAW starts with a strike of 30/30, the next level will raise it to 30/35. So as you perform actions in the ring during matches, the maximum of the stats raises. Once this occurs, you will be able to put experience points towards these levels. You get XP based on the overall match…how you won, if you have a winning streak, how exciting the match was, etc. So by playing through matches, you will be able to gain XP for your CAW and he will eventually be strong enough to take on the greats (a CAW can get maxed out at an overall of 99).
One of the last things I will discuss in this review is the storyline mode. A well-known aspect of the WWE is the soap opera-ish plots and stories that go on behind the scenes. Whether someone is mad because someone else got a title shot or someone is sleeping with someone else’s girl, there is always some crazy twists and turns in the story. In SvR 2010 there is an in-depth creation mode that allows you to create your own stories. You basically select a day, and then select what happens. You can set up scenes that occur backstage, such as two wrestlers talking, or you could set up an ambush. You will have the ability to add text into the scenes to help tell your story. Once the story is set, put a match in there to drive the story on. You can make a story last as long as you want…from one day to two years! It’s a really great mode that allows you to create your own stories to keep things interesting.
All in all, SvR 2010 is the best wrestling game to date. It has pushed the envelope as far as graphics go (as usual), but the additions to this year’s edition really had a huge impact on the overall gameplay. The CAW leveling system, the addition of more moves and things to do in the ring, and the story creator are all great aspects of the game that really drive home the replay value. There is a lot more that I did not mention about the game, but I feel like I probably said too much already (this has got to be one of my longest reviews!)
The point of writing this article is not just to review the game, but to try and turn people on to the wrestling game genre. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like watching wrestling…the WWE games are a unique fighting game. The move sets are ridiculous and the customization is amazing. Also, its one of the very few fighting games where you can co-op with up to two friends (for three on three tag matches). In this day and age, with the wonders of Gamefly, I think that any fan of fighting games should take the chance to rent SvR 2010 and give it a whirl. It is such a fantastic gaming experience, and the fun is only multiplied when you get friends involved as well.
