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New info on WWE Smackdown vs. Raw online mode!!

Date Added: October 08, 2004
Story By: Rick Quinn

The process of which, is actually pretty easy. Available from its own menu on the primary HUB screen, the online option first takes players to the usual "Online User Agreement" that so many other videogames love to flaunt. After agreeing to do whatever it is that the virtual contract says you need to do (c'mon now, who actually reads those things anyway?), the next screen will enable players to select whichever saved network configuration they'd like to use -- or you can make a brand new one altogether right off the bat (though it'll boot you out of the game and take you directly to the Network setup screen somewhere deep in your system's BIOS)

At that point, you'l be connected to the network and after successfully passing through the DNAS authentication screening, you're off to fight whatever comes your way. Owners of chipped PlayStation 2s should take note, however, that the SmackDown! vs. RAW server will not let you past its security feature should you be equipped with such a device.

Powered by GameSpy, the online hub is rather straightforward and user friendly. After entering your name into the identity field (names are not saved permanently to the server but will remain on your memory card), you're free to explore the online competition that SmackDown has to offer. But since the game doesn't offer any kind of online ranking system or "latest news" updater field, it's pretty easy to figure out what you have to do -- find a room and challenge people.

Finding those challenges couldn't be easier, as players have the opportunity to select from four different categories of play before they get started (Amateur, Rookie, Pro, and Legend) -- so it's easy to find opponents of your matching skill levels. During our visit, we headed straight into the Hall of Legends in anticipation for my match and selected the first of eight available twenty-person rooms. Once more players begin to play the game when it's released next month, there will be more rooms to select from, but for now -- the possibilities were more than enough.

I suppose I should mention at this point that 56K and other dial-up users had better get themselves a better connection; as SmackDown! vs. RAW is only available for broadband users. So if you have yourselves a DSL, Cable, or T3 line in your living room, the congratulations -- you can hop online and play. Otherwise, it's time to start thinking about switching providers.

Anyhow, once you're in the room there are a number of options available to you. You can press Square and search for available games (though there weren't any when I visited them, the chickens!) or press circle to initiate a chat. Admittedly the chat is a little disappointing for those of us who have been spoiled in the past year by USB headset support, as the only communication can be done with a keyboard. Contacting one another can also only be performed before a match starts, however, so don't expect to trash talk one another once the match begins.

Should you decide to join an existing game or create one of your own it's up to you, but since I was hosting this gig, I went ahead and created one of my own so that my opponent could join in. Once there, the first order of business was to select the superstar I wanted to play as -- including my user-created characters complete with their entrances and movesets! After that character has been selected, it was time to select my match type; of which, there are two: Single and Bra and Panties. Hardcore rules or other specialty stipulations cannot be added, however, though you are able to use weapons in a match if you can incapacitate the referee.

The final order of business is selecting which arena you'd like to wrestle in: SmackDown, RAW, or WrestleMania XX. No other arenas will be available, hidden or otherwise, in this mode. Once all of these options have been selected, you're ready to rumble, and you'll be prompted with an "accept or decline" screen when an incoming opponent challenges you. Once accepted, it'll take a couple of seconds before he's in the room himself, but after he's selected his own fighter, a quick push of the start button will launch you into the gameplay.

Sparse as the options may have been, the online experience itself was very smooth. I experience absolutely no lag over the course of our match whatsoever, and we only ran into one little hitch: the chopping contest; Not quite synched up with the rest of the action, it was extremely difficult for both of us to land our chops; something that isn't really difficult offline. But other than that, pulling off whatever moves we wanted ran terrifically -- and it felt almost exactly like we were playing each other in the same room rather than different cities. Such is one of the advantages of Peer-to-Peer play. The match itself was terrific: going more than 14 minutes before coming to a violent and bloody end. I'll spare you the details of who won (you'll just have to download the movie yourself to find out), but needless to say it was the best SmackDown match I've ever experienced -- fun stuff.

Afterwards, officials wanted to make it clear that the team is already looking forward to improving the feature set in next year's version; as he told me over the phone: "This year we're just getting our feet wet and getting started," he said, "Next year the online is going to be our main focus with all the big extras that people have been asking for." With that said, they confirmed that many of the features that our readers had been hoping for, like defending created belts or participating in created PPVs, were not available online. But he hopes that they take comfort in the fact that it plays so smoothly and allows you to use your created guys.

For security reasons, we couldn't discuss the finer aspects regarding the steps that THQ is taking to keep people from using cheat devices like GameSharks and Pro Action Replays. But players should still rest assured that the appropriate measures are being taken to keep everyone on a level playing field with nothing but skill to determine who wins.

And so there you have it. A brief glimpse into the online mode of SmackDown! vs. RAW. I hope you found this little journey informative, and be on the lookout for more on WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW in the coming weeks.

Credit: IGN

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