Smackdown your money someplace else!

Since 2000, I’ve been playing WWE’s famous wrestling video game series: Smackdown VS Raw. I’ve seen the game from its origins on Playstation 1, its arrival on the Playstation 2 and then the series released to the Playstation Portable. I cheered when THQ made the decision the finally make the game multi platform and finally I was able to experience the game in Hi-def goodness last year on the Xbox 360 with the 2007 version of the game.

Like any sequel when it first takes a leap to a new system, you expect the game to have a few issues with it because the developers haven’t quite been able to harness the full power of the system. You typically enjoy the game, but then you realize that it it will most likely take the sequel for you to be truly enjoying a next generation wrestling game. This isn’t the case with Smackdown this year folks, it plays worse in almost every aspect compared to last year’s and I can easily say that out of the past 7 years that I’ve bought a Smackdown game; this is the most of I’ve ever been disappointed with the series.

I’m starting to think that this year’s version was developed by the Great Khali as wrestlers run around like they lost feeling to their legs due to the new button arrangements. I’m not quite sure what THQ was thinking moving the run button from the Y button to a shoulder button, but it results in a lot of stupid mistakes when you try to reverse a strike attack and instead run into your opponents form arm like a jobber who doesn’t know how to bump. Ulitmate control grapples have been slimed down only allowing you two ways to perform them instead of last year’s four, in its place you are now given the chance to “wiggle out” of certain attack and perform a reversal for them.

This year’s story mode got screwed over worse than Bret Hart at Survivor Series as WWE 24/7 has merged both the General Manager and single wrestler story mode into one section. The only problem is you can’t play each mode separately, you have to make a game save for just one and if you try going to the other mode while you have progress in another, it forces you to erase your progress to start that other mode. That’s one big piss off when you’ve been able to do it for the last two years in the previous games. Single player story lines make as much sense as an Ultimate Warrior promo, one week you’ll be getting the crap knocked out of you by Gregory Helms and then the next week you’ll see a cut scene with you shaking his hand. Not more than 25 seconds after that your fighting him again for your monthly storyline. What? The same can be said for your tag team partners, in emails you’ll be singing their praises and then in a hall way cut scene your brushing them off and treating them like their nothing; just like the WWE Wellness Policy.

Storylines also repeat far too often, I can’t tell you how many times I had to defend a championship belt in a ladder match and save my brand from an ECW invasion, with all 5 of their superstars that are featured on the game. I also ran into 5 events where I lost my title belt for no reason what so ever, not in a story line; nothing. It vanished like the cruiserweight title has for the last 4 months.

For as long as this series has been around, all these errors are unacceptable, yes I know they can be patched, but someone should of freaking beta tested this game more! If you have to play this year’s version then you’ll be safe renting it, by the time your done with your rental period you will proudly be taking the thing back to the video store to
Never…..
Evvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrr……
Play it………
AGAIN!