Review: SmackDown vs Raw 2011
Another year. Another SmackDown. SmackDown Vs Raw 2011 in fact.
Is THQ’s latest installement in the wrestling series destined for greatness?
Find out in this review.
Gameplay
Firstly, there’s a new mode this year entitled WWE Universe. This is basically a merging of the past career modes and exhibition modes. This mode generates an infinite WWE calendar packed with RAW’s, SmackDowns, Superstar’s and pay-per-views. It creates matches and plans the card every week based on the rivalries and rankings, and you can choose to interact with any match you want, as in choose to simulate it, or play as one wrestler and even face a friend in two-player action. Don’t like the look of a certain card? Feel free to let the creative juices flow and whip up one of your own.
But here’s the catch, you cannot place a Superstar (created or otherwise) into any title match at your own will, that honor has to be rightfully earned by climbing the ranks and securing a win with a No. 1 Contenders match (or capturing the Money in the Bank briefcase at Wrestlemania). You can push the superstars you feel deserve a title shot, raise their overall rankings, and make them earn the spots. As an added bonus, the game will track numerous rivalries and toss in random cutscenes into the mix. Vince McMahon could introduce an extra opponent after you’ve won a match or a fellow WWE Superstar sneakily ambushes you during your entrance into the arena. You never know what you’re going to get which makes the mode feel fresh everytime you play it. It really defines the gameplay in a dynamic and ever-changing WWE and allows for more spontaneous WWE action in and out of the ring. Me and a friend played a tag team match where I played as the heels and him as the babyfaces. My team ended up assaulting his team on their way to the ring, it was pretty sweet and realistic enough too.
WWE Universe on a whole is very cool and enjoyable for any wrestling fan. It’s a never ending career mode where the game tracks feuds, Royal Rumble winners and so much more. When you create wrestlers – whom you can now distribute all the attribute points you want to, they are instantly added into the shows. You can simulate a decade and see how their career unfolds and manage teams and rivalries so you can see how relationships unravel. WWE Universe acts as your SmackDown Vs Raw playground, make a few changes here and there and watch how your own universe develops. A welcomed addition to the SVR series, and I am curious to see how THQ can add to it come next year.
Secondly, I’ll be focusing on the enhanced Road To Wrestlemania mode that was first introduced into the series as of the SmackDown vs. RAW 2009 installement. From first impressions, it seems the mode looks like that of it’s past – select a tale from the five available and play through the weeks and Pay-Per-Views conclusively leading up to that Superstar’s appearance on the grandest stage of them all. During the lead up to Wrestlemania, you will be viewing a bunch of cutscenes that show all the altercations between you and a fellow Superstar fueling your rivalry for the main event come Wrestlemania. We’ve seen this done twice before right? However, there is a surprise twist: this year’s Road To Wrestlemania mode makes it accessible for you to wander backstage every week.
You can choose from five unique storylines to playthrough on your journey to: 'The Showcase of the Immortals.'
The majority of shows will need to make you interact with someone in the area in order for your match to start, but you can also choose to participate in side-quests. If you just want to blaze through the mode, you can simply walk on over to the gorilla position and head out to that week’s match. But if you’re the sort of player who is willing to do everything, there are humorous conversations to listen to between other WWE Superstars, people to talk to, and mini brawls to start. At first thought, picking a backstage brawl with another WWE Superstar may seem foolish but every match or fight you choose to engage in rewards you with Superstar points. You can then head on over to the training room in the facility and spend them on increasing your damage resistance, momentum gain, grapple damage and strike damage. It acts as a mini-RPG somewhat and is nice little feature to add to the mode, but as I will soon elaborate, it seems a little pointless.
The primary problem is leveling up your attributes can be too time-consuming and in the long run, not really worth it. After running through Chris Jericho’s Road To Wrestlemania tale, I didn’t end up increasing my attributes that much, and the repetitive process of picking a fight with every wrestler you see backstage just to max out your character will seem like an unneeded chore to many players. I found you can still play through a tale without leveling up your attributes at all and continue to complete it, even on Legend difficulty. Free-roaming is welcome back with open arms, as many fans have been wanting the feature back since the nostalgic days of Here Comes The Pain on the PS2, but there is still much to be desired here. It’s a step in the right direction for THQ, and I hope to see them improving on it further come the 2012 installement. Two minor negatives for the mode are that although all the Superstars are voiced, mouths occasionally flap like mad, and there is an absence of lip syncing. Also, the backstage environments are empty caverns and look bland at times but this is something I feel the majority will overlook and it will not hinder your experience.
Despite the few stumbles, I am really feeling this year’s Road To Wrestlemania is much more fun that the previous two. Sure, we can say the free roaming can feel cheesy and low budget at times, but the stories themselves are engaging and brilliantly executed. From Jericho getting Pedigreed on his car, or John Cena dealing with Randy Orton’s manipulative mind games, and throwing in the tale of attempting to end Undertaker’s streak at Wrestlemania, THQ has pulled off a unique and fun mode to play this year. Rough round the edges granted, but the characters and attires you unlock along the way and the stories you become a part of make the journey to the grandest stage of them all so much more worth it.
Big Show has more than a few words in store for Jericho.
Thirdly, moving onto the controls and new match additions/improvements. The controls are what SVR veterans have came to expect and not much has been changed here. You run with the shoulder buttons, grapple with the right thumbstick and so fourth. This time round, you can turn a pin attempt into a pin of your own. But still, the biggest change seems to be there is no longer a strong modifier for grapples. From now on, the game will how much damage the opposition has taken and choose to scale your attacks based on that factor.
The Hell in a Cell match type has been revamped so that now the cage is realistically sized and weapons are underneath the ring. No longer can you simply exit via the door since past installments, as that has gone, you can now throw your opponent into the steel walls via a variety of moves to increase the bloodshed. To break through the cell, you must use a signature icon. The Story Designer creation mode is back once again and has newly added animations to use for scenes and less restriction on created wrestlers, a tweak that will leave many creators happy. The Havoc physics engine is now part of the SVR package.
Feel like the previous sentence was not a big deal? That’s where you’re wrong. From Undertaker giving a Last Ride to his victim onto the steel steps, or a bulldog onto a steel chair, the implementation of the Havoc engine has made the game truer to the WWE experience more than ever before. The new weight and physics engine means you can lead ladders on other ladders and proceed to run off them, or choose where to place your suplex whether it be onto a steel chair, a ladder, or a table. Now and then, the engine will glitch a little, dancing ladders in the ring and such. Mini-glitches can possibly occur but I have found it to be of a rare occurrence.
TLC is more chaotic than ever before with the introduction of the brand new Havoc physics engine.
But what I found to be one of the best new features this year beside the WWE Universe mode was the match creator. Yes, you heard me right. But don’t go jumping the gun, there are limitations. Still, I played a handful of matches using this with a friend and we played a last man standing iron man match, a fatal four way flaming tables only match, it’s a fantastic tool for coming up with your own diverse matches. You can change a number of factors such as DQ, time limit, first blood, finisher only, and more! I look forward to next year when THQ will hopefully give us even more options to play around with.
Hell in a Cell is now far more realistic with a greater sized cage and weapons under the ring to brutalize your opponents.
Multiplayer
The online aspect of the SVR series has now seen improvements this year as for the first time in the series, you can now choose to participate in any match online. We’re talking six man tag, ladder, TLC, all for you to jump in and enjoy. As a bonus, you can now even play the Royal Rumble online, complete with it’s button-topping mini-games from last year, with a total of 12 people, with the game begin able handle six superstars in the ring at the same time. If you’re one of the spectators, you can play a few mini-games while you wait, a nifty little addition for those impatient players out there.
The Royal Rumble online I found to be pretty fun, even if you get unlucky and get eliminated early on, you take on the role of the next Superstar coming into the match. Another addition to online is the SVR prestige system. As you upload content to the community, or play in matches, rate other use-created content such as storylines, caws, finishers, etc. You’re in turn earning points that contribute to your overall online rank. The game places this rank for you to see everytime you attain some XP, so it’s easy enough to see the progress you’ve been making. Elimination bonuses in the Royal Rumble makes it easier to gain that extra amount of XP and if you manage to get together the full 12 people needed for the online rumble, you’re gaining 400 percent the normal amount of prestige. Beautiful!
The WWE community creations feature also returns which generated nearly 10 million downloads in it’s franchise debut. Which in turn adds to the overall replay value of the game by giving you the opportunity to search through thousands of created wrestlers, stories, finishers, paint tool creations and more.
Since online was introduced way back in SmackDown vs. Raw 2006, lag has been of a primacy concern for the majority of players. In my tests, I found there to be little lag and the online was quite solid. Although, don’t expect to never run into a player that will spam the same running move over and over, as they still exist. Sadly. You get framerate dips here and there but overall, the online runs as smooth as ever.
You can engage with your GM in Road to Wrestlemania mode which can sometimes open up challanges in your matches.
Sound
New instrumentals have been added into the game which I feel fits the game as you navigate around the menu’s. Apart from that, it’s the same old story with WWE Superstar’s entrance themes being the primary choice for the soundtrack. Although some of the themes are enjoyable to listen to (I’m quite found of Drew McIntyre’s), they quickly get irritating and repetitive and some will choose to rather listen to their own choice of music. The voice acting is pretty strong in most cases, with one or two exceptions. Looking at you R-Truth.
Moving onto the commentary. I wouldn’t say it’s been improved, but I wouldn’t say it’s shockingly bad either. I would leave the term ‘shockingly bad’ for the old days of Just Bring It on the PS2, but WWE broadcasters Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler do an average job of commentating on the matches. They often repeat irritating remarks to the point where it doesn’t really make any grammatical sense. Little tweaks such as the crowd counting along to Shawn Michaels Sweet Chin Music have been added, along with more crowd chants as one half of fans root for one Superstar, and the other half for another. It’s great when you hear the fans getting involved, but a bit dreary when the arena is too quiet, and you can only hear the average commentary. But nothing too disappointing to see here.
Graphics & Design
The menu’s look stronger every year, and this year is no exception. Navigating around is simple, and when you have to sit through a loading screen, you are treated to a image from a real life WWE event such as when Shawn Michaels retired earlier this year or little facts such as Kane having eliminated the most opponents in a single Royal Rumble. The loading screens are actually fairly fast themselves, but it’s the little additions such as these that add to the WWE experience.
Players have been given the largest roster to date in the series with more than 70 of today’s prominent WWE Superstars and WWE divas. Then we consider the unlockable superstars and the DLC Superstars (such as the Nexus) to come in the near future, along with the addition of 50 created Superstars, you have your own personal wrestling universe to create.
The skin textures deliver the most authentic looking and moving WWE Superstars and WWE Divas to date. Yet, the audience still looks blocky here and there and could do with some improving. There are an extensive number of playable arena’s which all look incredibly accurate and there are more you can unlock through the game and via DLC to come which fans will be looking forward to in anticipation.
Skin textures have delivered the most authentic looking and moving WWE Superstars to date.
Replay Value
It’ll take a good few hours to play through all the Road To Wrestlemania stories, but what will keep any wrestling fan coming back is the leveling up online, building up your game through downloading a range of different and diverse creations, and exploring and expanding your own WWE Universe.
The Miz belives his virtual counterpart to be… AWESOME!
Closing Comments
There are a few annoyances in the game, with mini-glitches and clunky and unintuitive interfaces appearing in paint tool, blocky crowds, and the average commentary makes a less than welcome return. Despite this, the positives outweigh the negatives and they help to draw you back into the game. Making a range of choices in the stories, never knowing what will occur in the WWE Universe, the revamped match types along with the match creator, and the addition of the Havoc physics engine and the enhanced Road To Wrestlemania are all fond memories I have of SmackDown Vs Raw 2011.
Sure, you can just write it off as a suped-up version of SVR 2010, but THQ have continued to turn in the right direction with the series and this year’s installement clearly justifies that. Go and immerse yourself in the WWE Universe and I would suggest that if you are remotely into your wrestling, to go and pick up SmackDown Vs Raw 2011.