Hands On: Smackdown vs. Raw 2010

PSInsider travels to Los Angeles to take a look a THQ's latest WWE title.
By Dustin Rudzinski - August 24, 2009
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I recently had the opportunity to take a trip out to L.A. to check out the WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 feature unveiling press conference courtesy of THQ. Wrestling games aren’t my forte, I’ll admit, so with that I came to this event with the lowest of expectations. However, I came back from playing the game pleasantly surprised.

As wrestling fans might expect from the series, there is plenty of depth and customization in the game. Every wrestler in the game has a bevy of moves at their disposal. Many fighting games have a create-a-fighter mode, however not many allow you to not only create the look and clothing, but also the moves and storyline as well. Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 does all of that, and it does it quite well.

This year, Smackdown vs. Raw is all about customization more than ever, and it shows. The Create-A-Character mode allows you to customize the look of your fighter very well. There are a wide number of customizable presets to choose from (a combination of hundreds), and you can fine tune small details as well such as skin color, hair, facial structure, weight, height, and more. You also have a wide variety of clothing to choose from for your wrestler as well. Some are your more standard fare, while others are some downright whacky clothing items that are sure to draw a few laughs. An even cooler feature is that the entire roster can be edited in this mode, allowing you to dress up the Undertaker in pink tights, for example.

You also can edit the finishing moves for your wrestler. I expected it to be similar to other "create a finisher" modes, like that featured in the Mortal Kombat series. What I saw went miles beyond that. Every aspect of the move, from the setup, to what your character does the moment they jump, to how high and far they jump, exactly what they do while airborne, and finally what they do upon landing is fully customizable. Our demonstrator had their character climbing to the top of the ropes, leaping 10 feet into the air while executing 3 consecutive back flips, and finally coming down with a crushing knee. The level of customization really impressed me a lot and WWE fans will surely love this feature.

As mentioned earlier, the storylines for your character are also fully programmable. You can create a story line to last for two years if you felt like it, scene by scene. You are allowed to select the characters present in the scenes, the dialogue they say, the motions they make while saying it, and even the expressions on their faces as they react to what is being said. You can talk some smack to someone and have them be offended or laugh at what you said. I can see some rather hilarious storylines being created this way, so I can't wait to see what people come up with.

That brings me to my next point. Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 takes a page out of LittleBigPlanet's "play, create, share" book, allowing you to upload and share everything you create. The interface is similar to LBP's as well, with a keyword searchable system as well as a 5 star rating system for browsing popular content. This is sure to add an infinite level of replay value to the title. For the record, the online sharing aspect is only available on the HD consoles.

Speaking on the gameplay, I was surprised to realize how smoothly it controlled. Things were a lot less automated than many fighters. Many fighters have grab moves, which execute automatically. This game does not work that way. You grab someone, but you will not do anything but stare at them all stupid looking unless you tell them where to go from there. By flicking the right analog in a certain direction you can complete the move in a variety of different ways. From body slams to smashing someone's head into the railing, all of it was there and all of it was easy to control. There was plenty of background interaction as well. While there were no tables and chairs in the demo we played, you could still choke them on the ropes, smash their heads on the stairs leading into the ring (which caused a massive spatter of blood soaking the victim and aggressor), and much more. Also, while the opponent is knocked down, there is a wide variety of moves that can be done. Not just your simple ground stomp or running over them like in Tekken. You can choose to stomp them, drop an elbow on them, choke them out, dive from the top of the ropes, climb on top of them and begin pummeling their face with your fists, or just grab their feet and drag them around the ring to wherever you please.

Visually the characters looked very accurate. The visuals are comparable to the recently released UFC Undisputed, which WWE developer and publisher Yuke’s and THQ also made. Sweat, blood, facial expressions showing pain, all of these things are reproduced well. As for the differences between the versions, of the two versions on display (Xbox 360 and PS3), there were no differences even while watching the two play side by side.

I would recommend following this title closely, even if you weren’t the biggest fan of wrestling. It offers enough compelling features to keep people who don't even like wrestling interested. The create-a-wrestler mode is just amazing as well. All these factors combined produced an experience I'd have trouble not recommending to someone. Check back with E-mpire soon for more on this title, including video from the press conference and more. We will also provide you with a comprehensive review when the title is released in October for PS3, PS2, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii, and DS.


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