A Step Down

Allright, let's review how these games have gone so far:

Smackdown vs Raw-Fun, entertaining game that still holds up today somewhat.

Smackdown vs Raw 2006-Even better, the best SvR to date.

Allright, that didn't take long.

Graphics:

No different then Smackdown vs Raw 2006. Animations are fluid enough, characters look distinguishable, etc. Anyone looking for graphical improvements from the last game will find this games comes short.

Sound:

Perfect as far as audibility. Pretty much everything can be heared. The selection of music is much better this year. last year had one, maybe two good songs but this one has many of them. In fact, most of them are above tolerable at least.

The commentary has not changed at all, which is a real slap in the face. Other then comments for the new wrestlers, there is no new commentary. Are you serious? I spend a year playing the game listening to that commentary, only for this to come out and to have to listen to the same thing? Just asinine. No to mention many times the wrong finisher name is spoken, or a wrestler not even out there is talked about. Even worse, when your referee shows bias, the commentators only call it out once, and rarely might call out on dirty tactics. Come on! The most amusing part of the commentary was when the commentators argued about that stuff.

Match types:

Single
Tag
Triple Threat
Fatal Four Way
Special Referee
Royal Rumble
Cage
Hell in a Cell
Tables
Ladder
TLC
Backstage Brawl
First Blood
Last Man Standing
Money in the Bank

That's right, ONE new match type, Money in the Bank. It's a ladder match involving six men, multiple ladders(even the ability to stack ladders together) with all praticpants grabbing the brief case at the top, a meter appearing that must be brought down to zero by some weired way before you can take it off.

This is a rip off. No Punjabi Prison match? No Inferno match? Survivor Series match? LAZY!

Roster:
* Batista
* Big Show
* Bobby Lashley
* The Boogeyman
* Booker T
* Carlito
* Chavo Guerrero
* Chris Benoit
* Chris Masters
* Daivari
* Edge
* Finlay1
* The Great Khali1
* Gregory Helms
* Hardcore Holly
* JBL
* Joey Mercury
* John Cena
* Johnny Nitro
* Kane
* Ken Kennedy
* Kid Kash
* Kurt Angle
* Lance Cade
* Mark Henry
* Matt Hardy
* Mick Foley3
* Paul Burchill
* Psicosis
* Randy Orton
* Rey Mysterio
* Ric Flair
* Rob Van Dam
* Shawn Michaels
* Shelton Benjamin
* Snitsky
* Super Crazy
* Trevor Murdoch
* Triple H
* Umaga
* The Undertaker
* Viscera
* Vito
* William Regal

About sixty wrestlers including legends like Eddie Guerrero, Bam Bam Bigelow, the three faces of Foley, Dusty Rhodes, The Hart Foundation, Lawler, Tazz, Curt Henning, The Rock, Shane and Steve Austin. A pretty impressive roster so no complaints here.

Season Mode:

For those who might not know, Season mode involves choosing a wrestler from either brand, Raw or Smackdown, and then playing through storylines and matches.

The storylines are decent, problem is that the storylines are comepletely linear. Can't we get a more non linear one like Here Comes the Pain?

Some upgrades include getting messages on your computer, as well as being able to read articles in the game's WWE magazine.

Honestly the only reason to play is to unlock arenas. Yeah, most of the arenas are locked, forcing you to play season mode to get decent arenas. That's garbage, unless you sit there playing for hours on end, it's going to take you awhile to get those arenas, longer then it should. The storylines really aren't interesting, one that even uses a non existent weight class as it's main plot point.

GM Mode

This has taken the biggest nosedive of all, when it should've been the biggest improvement.

Like the last game, you can either manually draft your brand or skip it and take whatever you're given. Then in a nice twist, you can go through your roster and decide who's heel(bad) and who's face(good) Definite upgrade.

You also have the option of buying storylines that are rated by stars. The higher the ratings, the more ratings such a storyline could bring in, with some of the higher level storylines having very specific qualifacations. Still awesome. All wrestlers have mic skills, which can be raised by giving them air time for interviews. You can turn someone from heel to face and vise versa. And from the previous games, wrestlers gain popularity with interviews and match sucsess. You can even have matches on Heat/Velocity to help lower ranked wreslters. Awesome, awesome, awesome! So where is it ruined? Well in this game is a Power 25, which is the top 25 wrestlers in the entire GM mode from both brands. If your wrestler is not up in the top ten or so, they can't comepete for the title. Also, faces are only allowed to face heels. WHAT IS THIS? GARBAGE! What were they thinking? They screwed up the entire mode! You may think I'm overeacting but it does.

Way to go THQ, you idiots!

Gameplay:

Almost exactly the same as last time. Instead of a healthbar you have a figurine, who as he takes damage to certain parts of the body, the area changes color. As more damage is done, that wrestler becomes more suseptable to being pinned or made to submit.

Some changes include "hotspots" where you can use certain areas to your advantage, such as the ringpost. There's also a confusing analog control scheme but you can change it back in the options, which I reccomend doing.

Overall just enough new mechanics in the gameplay to warrant it as a sequel.

There are also challenges which is winning matches with certain stipulations like taking three finishers or winning with a certain kind of wrestler. These can unlock special arenas, a title belt, etc.

CAW

Create a wrestler mode was just a comeplete bomb this year. The number of features have been cut down to less then a third. Compared to last year's in depth, this one is so basic it's ridiculous. Also, in order to gain infinite experience points as to customize your superstar to your fullest, you have to win GM mode. Yep, rather then winning season mode in both brands(like last year and what it SHOULD'VE been this year) you have to win the worst, most mind numbingly difficult mode in the game. Even if you were to play it with two players(ensuring you'd win) it's still so tedious and insane you'll give up. It's simply no fun. So if you're not willing to go through that awful mode, then have fun with your bare bones CAw with stats of 33 getting beat around like a rag doll.

PPV mode:

No changes from last year. You set up a card of matches, unable to skip champsionship matches, and you can play a sample PPV from every arena. No changes at all. I would like this mode if they brought back the promos from the original Smackdown vs Raw and gave you SOME WAY to skip championship matches.

Bottom line, THQ really have a screw up on their hands here. The updated roster is the only saving grace and the only reason to keep playing until 2008 comes out, which is looking to be another dissapointment but we'll see, and I'll review that when I get the chance. As for this game, if an updated and bigger roster is all you're looking for, you'll enjoy this game. otherwise wait and hope 2008 is better.