No one can best the WWE wrestlers in a staring contest!

Smackdown vs. RAW 2010 is the newest edition of THQ’s long running Smackdown vs. RAW series, which are of course games based on World Wrestling Entertainment programming. So how does SvR ‘010 compare with the previous entries of the series?

Personally, I feel that the Smackdown vs RAW series reached new heights with the 2007 entry, which improved the great general manager mode (which has since been abandoned) and just about every other aspect of the series. I feel that Smackdown vs. RAW 2008 and 2009 were disappointing in many ways. Not only was general manager mode gone (with no equal replacement), but just about every gameplay aspect either played it safe, or did’t quite know what to do with itself. I’m happy to say that Smackdown vs. RAW 2010 is a return to form, hough it still has its flaws.

For starters, the gameplay has had several improvements. A seemingly tiny yet great new detail is that you can now counter both strike attacks and grapples with the same button. In previous games, different button presses were used to counter strikes and grapples, which could be tedious. Now you just use one shoulder button for all of your countering needs.

Another good change comes in the form of the Royal Rumble match. In the past, it seemed ridiculously easy to eliminate the other competitors from the match. Now there are new Royal Rumble “mini-games” which differ depending on the situation. The varying mini-games are fun, though some of them are considerably more difficult than others.

Unfortunately, when it comes to move sets, not much has changed. Granted, the sheer number of moves is great, the problem is that all the moves that were overpowered in past Smackdown vs. RAWs are still just as overpowered as they ever were. And when you play in online matches against created wrestlers, expect to see a lot of these overpowered moves quite often. Particularly, a seemingly simple attack, aptly called “head attack,” which is more or less a quick headbutt. Head attack certainly isn’t a very powerful attack, but it has such sudden activation time that it is incredibly hard to predict unless one bombards you with it. I would have hoped the developers would have fixed these overpowered moves by now, but it seems we still have to wait. But again, the sheer number of moves is satisfying, and you may find yourself taking some time creating a move set (unless you just give your created wrestler all the overpowered moves).

Which brings me to the create-a-finisher option, which has been updated so you can now create high-flying finishers as well as the standard ones. The create-a-finisher is, for the most part, very fun and not at all time consuming (like the other create modes). The only problems I have with it are the fact that you can’t create submission finishers, and  there are moves that are pre-set as “end moves” to wrap up your finisher, so some fun ideas you may have of ending a comically overblown finisher may not work out as planned. But all around I really like the create-a-finisher. And they can always add the option of submission moves next time around I suppose.

And as for the create-a-superstar option, I can say that the created wrestlers look better than ever, now your created wrestlers can at least be compared to the more realistic sheen of the actual WWE wrestlers in the game. And there are more customizable options as well, including the ability to make multiple costumes for your created wrestlers (as well as the existing wrestlers). Unfortunately, due to the graphical improvements, you may find at times that you have added so many costume options to your wrestler, that you cannot add any more. Uping the visuals of created wrestlers seems to have had a small price. There are a few more limits to how much content you can add to your wrestler, despite the fact that there’s more to add than ever.

But you’ll notice plenty of other graphical improvements as well. For example, if you do multiple Ric Flair-esque chest slaps to your opponent, you will notice his chest gets more and more bruised. The same effect applies to any situation when a wrestler starts bleeding, with every next shot making an even bigger “crimson mask” (don’t worry, it doesn’t get too bloody for the squeamish). Yeah, the whole blood thing is a bit childish, but at the very least it shows some graphical improvements over the last few games.

But besides new graphics, gameplay and customizable options, they have also included a new match type this time around: The Championship Scramble. Championship scrambles are true to their real life WWE counterparts (except for the different optional time limits), two wrestlers start the match, and three more enter one by one after a certain amount of time passes by. The wrestlers continue to do battle until the time runs out. Anyone can score a pinfall or submission during the match, but whoever has the most recent decision by the time the clock ends is the winner and new champion (or defending champion, if you walked in with the title). People familiar with recent WWE probably already know how a scramble match works, but I felt the need to explain it because the concept really works for the game. It can guarantee a longer match with a lot of suspense.

The other specialty match types (which return from past games in the series) also provide some good fun, and for once, they finally got the TLC match right! Now you have to climb the ladder and retrieve the belt (like a ladder match) instead of pining your opponent. How they got such an obvious detail like that wrong for so many games had me wondering if the developers actually watched the WWE before. Along with the aforementioned scramble match and TLC match, my other favorite match types include battle royals, which range from four to six participants in elimination style match-ups, and the old classic, the ladder match.

Some of the other match types seem like they could still use some work, like the hell in a cell match, which seems a bit too limited in weaponry, and the cell mechanics still need some touching up.

There are new story modes as well, including a new story mode made specifically for created wrestlers. The story modes are all well and good, but you’ll mainly just use them to unlock secret characters and build up your created wrestlers point scores.

Which reminds me of another great new feature in SvR ‘010, created wrestlers can now earn points in any match type in any mode. No more playing through all those tedious single player modes over and over again just to build up one created wrestler’s point score. Now you can play any match, single player or multiplayer, online or offline, anything. They all attribute points to your wrestlers, which means shorter times building them up and you can spend more time making more wrestlers and move sets.

The online modes are also fun, provided the people you’re playing against are good sports (though given that it’s online gaming, that isn’t likely). But at least this time around, if a player quits an online match while it’s still going, he will be replaced with a computer AI to finish the match. No more of that incredibly stupid one-guy-quits-out-so-the-other-three-players-are-kicked-from-the-match-as-well nonsense found in the other Smackdown vs. RAWs (seriously, what was up with that?). The biggest problem I can think of for the online mode is that you cannot have a second player on the same console join in on the action. This would work great for tag team matches, as you could use a created tag team against opposing players. With the way it is, most every tag team match will seem pretty mix-matched (unless of course, you have someone on your friends list ready to play who created a tag team partner for your wrestler). I also think a battle royal would be fun against a fellow local player as well as some other random people online.

But for the most part, it is fun to go compete against other players from around the globe, especially watching the entrances of all the crazy created wrestlers (because most people go for something crazy over a more traditional wrestler). Amongst my favorite wrestlers I’ve come across include a neon colored clown, Spongebob and Super Mario (who is a “wrestler” I always create sooner or later).

But the thing that really sets Smackdown vs. RAW 2010 apart from its predecessors is the new create-a-story mode. Create-a-story mode is exactly what it sounds like, you get to create your own story. It can be long or short, serious or hilarious, whatever you want. You create storylines, set the matches, make the cut scenes, set camera angles, write the dialogue, everything! To say that create-a-story mode is a good replacement for General Manager mode is an understatement, create-a-story mode is probably the single biggest highlight in the Smackdown vs. RAW series! My only quibbles with it are that they could have used a few more pre-set scenes for you to edit (though there are a lot, I just feel there could have been a little more), and the fact that you can only use created wrestlers a total of ten times in any one created story. Why? I don’t know, but unfortunately you have to use created wrestlers wisely, that’s ten times total, between both matches and cinematics. This of course, sadly, means you can’t make a proper storyline about a created wrestler either.

But these really are small quibbles when you see just how much fun create-a-story mode can be (at the time of writing this, I still haven’t finished my first story, I’m having too much fun keeping it going). Chances are, create-a-story will be the main reason for coming back to Smackdown vs. RAW 2010.

And everything you create in the game, whether it’s stories, wrestler or finishing moves, can be uploaded for other people to download. This makes creating all these things all the more fun.

So all in all, Smackdown vs. RAW 2010 is the best entry in the series since the 2007 edition, maybe the best in the entire SvR series. The create-a-story mode is great fun, and most of the other modes are a bit more polished than before (though admittedly, I still have encountered a few glitches in the game). The online modes are fun, playing as created wrestlers have become easier and less time consuming, the gameplay is fun and the graphics are shiny, and sharing your creations, especially that great create-a-story, just makes for an overall better experience than other wrestling games. If they can just work out those issues that have carried over from the past SvRs, we would have something truly special. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go continue with my created story.

It’s time to play the game!

(1 votes, average: 7.00 out of 10, rated)

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