Details On Hardy's TNA Contract
Jeff Hardy actually signed a contract with TNA over a week ago. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but TNA officials are asking for roughly...
Another year, another Smackdown - WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008, the ninth instalment in the long running series of games featuring big burly men in tights; that’s American pro wrestling, not gay porn by the way. It’s hard to believe that nine years ago Smackdown made it’s video game debut, how does this year’s title compare to the Smackdown’s of old? Does it take home the title, or does it taste bitter defeat? Put on your tights, lace up your boots and get ready to rumble!
Gameplay is actually different this year, if you’re familiar with previous entries in the series, with loads of cool new ideas included. First up; the introduction of wrestler fighting styles, there are eight in total: hardcore, high flyer, powerhouse, brawler, submission artist, technical, showman and dirty, all with unique moves and special abilities, (what this basically means is that the superstars are a little more varied than before, adding a level of realism to each match) with the promise that no two wrestlers feel the same. While that isn’t exactly true, it’s definitely a step in the right direction. Another big change is the new struggle submission system. THQ have replaced the submission bar (with the annoying mash-the-buttons strategy to get your opponents to submit.) Now, it’s all done with the right analogue stick i.e. the degree at which you tilt the analogue stick is as much pressure you apply to a hold! Same with the guy trying to break the hold, the more you tilt the stick, the more you’ll try to get out the hold. Simple really. Although the more pressure, the more tired your superstar will become. This does make a nice change I think, anything that replaces that annoying button mashing is a welcome feature! The biggest change though is the new 24/7 mode that replaces Season mode and General Manager mode; you get to choose whether to play as a superstar or general manager when you first enter 24/7 mode. If you choose to be a wrestler you have to literally live their life, so you no longer only play on the day your show is on but all week on your days off too. Those days can be used for activities such as autograph signing and interviews, you have to use these to work on your popularity with the fans. You can also work on your skills like strength, speed and submission, but these cause fatigue, something you’ll have to look out for or you’ll suffer an injury. It’s a good idea if THQ put more work into it. While this all sounds cool, it’s was actually a disappointment because you don’t really do anything. Say for instance you choose to make a press conference, I’d have thought you’d actually see a cut-scene showing that, but instead a card pops up showing your superstar saying ‘success’, and how many points and fatigue you’ve earned. Unfortunately the novelty of this soon wears off and it gets boring after a short while since you do this 52 weeks 7 days a week each year! Also, the cut-scenes you do see are repeated almost every week, MAJOR bore! On a plus note, the story isn’t constricted to one year, since the ultimate goal isn’t just to reach WrestleMania and win the title, but to become a WWE legend and get inducted into the Hall of Fame! So there’s much more lasting appeal. I welcome a lengthy season, if only the stories and activities weren’t so boring.
Graphics wise, Smackdown is in top notch with highly detailed wrestler models and arenas. Movement and animations are also very smooth and the transition between fighting moves are much more fluent and smooth.
The overall sound is more-or-less the same though, with the roaring of the crowd to the grunts of the wrestlers. While the in-ring commentary is better than on the demo, it’s still annoying and constant. The wrestler’s themselves don’t seem to say much though, most of the talking is done through messages being left on your phone.
There are loads of extras to keep you going, the 24/7 mode may be a little on the boring side but there’s still loads of fun to be had! I don’t know how many different match types there are but there’s a lot, over 50 for sure! Including, for the first time, the ECW Extreme Rules Match! That match is basically a hardcore match but with neat features, like interacting with the crowd i.e. taking weapons from them. The way to get weapons out from under the ring has also changed, a weapon wheel appears and you select the weapon you want to use! Also making a welcome return is the King of the Ring tournament, when you win you get to watch as your superstar is crowned in a coronation, you also select a diva to be your queen! Legends are back too featuring the likes of Sabu, Rick Rude, Roddy Piper and Bret Hart. No Hulk Hogan or Eddie Guerrero surprisingly.
New to this year is also the Hall of Fame where you get to perform some of the WWE’s legendary matches like recreating the WrestleMania XII 30 minute Iron Man match between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart or the legendary bout between Stone Cold and The Rock at WrestleMania 17! These are hard since all have to be played on Legend difficulty!
If it wasn’t for all these extra features and different match types this game would have got a below average score with it’s disappointing and boring 24/7 mode. But WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 still has a locker room full of fun to be had in spite of this, so it gets a slightly above average rating. If THQ had worked harder on the new 24/7 mode than this would have been a champion, hopefully next year’s…..
