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WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 Review
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Manufacturer: THQ
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ESRB Rating: Teen
Platform(s): Xbox 360
Release Date: November 9, 2008
Average Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
View WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 Details |
Retail Price: $59.99
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User Submitted WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 Reviews
Date: 2009-01-07
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009
My son wanted this for Christmas and is very happy with this product. Thank you!
Date: 2008-12-24
These other buttmunches are wrong this game is awesome
I only rented this game but I really liked it. The graphics are almost completely real and the gameplay is great. A few things are wrong such as they took out General Manager mode which I really enjoyed. Some other cons include-
Cons: Road to Wrestlemania is only abot an hour and a half long each
The freakin RETARDS took out GM mode
After all the road to wrestlemanias are over, theres nothing to do
Career mode absolutely sucks
Pros: updated roster
easy unlockables
Create a Finisher rules(I made 3 in 30 min.)
Creating your own superstar gives you a lot of choices
Overall I'd probably give this game 9.9 out of 10. Hope this helped.
Date: 2008-12-22
I had a lot of fun with this game.
Overall SvR 2009 is a decent game. The graphics, gameplay and challenge are all good. Not great, but good. Being a fan of customization, I like what this game has to offer... Especially with the new "create-a-finisher" feature. While some bugs still exist, a few from previous versions have been fixed. The wonky targeting system from '08 has been taken out, so you don't constantly attack the referee when he gets too close. The gimmick matches are fun (though ladder-based matches are still a PITA). I also appreciate the emphasis on tag teams, since the previous games in the series didn't really have much focus on those kinds of matches.
I don't like the fact that you can't play custom characters in story mode, but the upside is that the pre-set story featuring established superstars actually makes sense. 2007 was great with story, but 2008 had a lot of hiccups where you were suddenly shaking hands with your enemies and falling for Divas that didn't even match personalities with your character. Undertaker falling for Candice Michelle, then allowing himself to be screwed over by her and letting it affect his match? PUH-LEASE! With the pre-set story mode, at least those kind of incongruous issues didn't take place.
One thing I miss that was in '08 that didn't make it to '09 is fighting styles. The fact that custom characters' movesets and abilities evolve intelligently based on how you play the character is an interesting idea... but I don't think it will last in the long run. People like open-endedness, and the MMORPG craze has a lot of gamers fiending for XP. With the current SvR setup, those players won't get their fix. Still, the one thing I'm glad they took out is having to build up popularity between matches with autograph signings, high-profile dates, and movie releases. Sure, I guess it's realistic... But if I wanted that much micromanaging, I'd play a Sim game.
Also absent from '09 is General Manager mode. Though some have complained about it, I say: good riddance. The mode had tons of promise conceptually, but never delivered in execution. Ultimately it became a numbers game, with anyone who could out-math the computer winning and anyone who sucked at statistics being left with little but frustration. I think that if a general manager game was created in and of itself, it might be more fun... But that kind of thing would require a fantasic amount of disc space, and doesn't really work as a mini game that's part of a larger program.
Nothing about this game is *superb*, but it's still a lot of fun. If you are a fan of the series, then by all means pick it up. If you didn't like '07 or '08, I'd say rent it and decide for yourself. It's not as GAWD-AWFUL as some people have said it is. It has its merits, and is good for a little mindless violent fun. If you want a smart, engrossing, beautifully rendered game, get Fallout 3. If you just want to make a character and hammer away on some competition, SvR '09 is great for it.
Date: 2008-12-17
Same As 08 Except With A Few Additions
Before I begin my review, I never played Smackdown VS Raw until the 2007 release. I then followed up with 2008 and now 2009. From what I've read, the ones before 2007 are the better ones, but I'll be writing my review based on the ones I've played personally.
I'd like to start off by saying I'm quite disappointed in THQ. It seems players who've played SVR07 and SVR08 have submitted feedback about what they'd like to see changed in future releases, but THQ didn't incorporate much from what the customers suggested into 09.
Gameplay feels exactly the same as it did in SVR08. I don't think I've noticed anything different about it. The moves are pretty much the same, all the hotspots are the same, with no new hotspots added. In fact, they removed a few now that you can no longer take the fight into the crowd. During the bout, player animations are exactly the same as in SVR08. When I put the disc into my Xbox 360 and launched the game for the first time, my first reaction was "I've totally played this game before."
THQ did focus on tag-teams in this game, which is pretty fun if you're playing with a friend. If you're playing with CPU, expect them to be as stupid (or even worse) than they were in the previous games. If you're playing in a normal tag, the person standing at the ropes isn't completely useless. The person controlling that superstar can move him/her around the ring, grab the legal opponent in the ring, distract the referee, and perform a blind-tag with the legal partner. They also added the feature of a "hot-tag." If your friend is getting manhandled around the ring, and you want in to rescue him (legally), you can pump up the crowd, and your partner can perform a hot-tag with you. What this does is when you get tagged in, you quickly press a button combination (you'll see prompts on your screen). If done correctly, you'll knock down the legal opponent, as well as their partner on the ropes, and you'll gain full momentum allowing you to perform a finisher on your opponent. This is cool because since you also knocked down their partner, you can likely go for the pin because they'll still be on the ground outside the ring. As I mentioned, it's only fun with a friend. If you're trying to do a hot-tag with CPU, they will probably not do the hot tag, but just tag you in normally. Unfortunately, a hot tag can only be performed once per team in a tag match, so basically use it at the right time and make sure you follow the prompts, because if you don't do it right, your momentum will completely diminish.
The entrances seem to look a little better in this release. The lighting and character textures look far more realistic. The crowd has also been slightly improved. The best thing is, most of the crowd is new. They didn't reuse audience members like they did from SVR07 to SVR08.
Another feature of this game I like is "Road To Wrestlemania." There are (unfortunately) only few pre-selected superstars who you can pick from, and complete a short-but-sweet storyline with, and take them to Wrestlemania. The storylines are (in my opinion) a little entertaining, and quite cheesy (just like they are in the actual WWE) but that's the fun of it. During the process of finishing their stories, you have opportunities at bonuses, and when you complete that certain task, you will unlock something new to be used during exhibition gameplay. Like I mentioned, the characters are pre-selected, and I was a little disappointed at the selection. I think they could've picked better superstars to complete this mode with. This is definitely a HUGE improvement from General Manager Mode from the previous installments. Those, I just found way to frustrating and long!
They also have a feature called "Career Mode." Here, you can basically "train" a created superstar and help him/her obtain abilities. You follow certain paths, earn the titles and get points based on how you do in your matches. For example, if you start a match, grab a chair and start hammering away on your opponent, your Hardcore points will skyrocket. It's a neat feature, but it quickly got boring for me. If you notice, I also said "her" earlier. That's right. You can train a created Diva in Career Mode. She will first start by going after the Women's Championship. Once she earns that, she can contend for the other championships as well. Unfortunately, Divas can't be used in any other match types, other than the ones they could already participate in (single, tag, battle royal).
THQ also incorporated a new feature called Create-A-Finisher mode. Here, you can (hence the name) create your own finisher and assign it to any character. At first, I thought this would be pretty awesome. But when I tried it out, I was greatly disappointed. You can assign up to 10 mini-moves to complete your finisher. However, the more mini-moves you assign, the far limited the list of available remaining moves becomes. So if you're looking into creating a deadly 10-move finisher, chances are, you won't be able to create what you're thinking of.
The character selection in this game is far better than it was in the previous games. There are plenty of superstars to pick from. I was really happy they finally decided to add Brian Kendrick and Paul London, after many fans were disappointed they were left out of last year's release.
There's this feature called Highlight Reel Editor, or something like that. I thought this would be pretty cool too. I was expecting maybe you can create a mash-up of different replays during your matches and customize an entrance video for your superstar. But nope, not even close. You can just upload your replays to Xbox Live for fans from around the world to see how you manhandle your opponents. Nothing too exciting there.
A couple new things THQ also added: the infamous Inferno Match as well as the Tribute To The Troops arena. It's an outdoor arena, and everyone in the crowd is a soldier.
One thing I really hope for is Downloadable Content. I don't care if it's a roster update, more costumes, or even match-types. I just hope they allow players to gain access to more things that weren't included in the original release.
Overall, this game (aside from the new things THQ added) is the same as SVR08. The new additions aren't that exciting; they could've done a lot better with the new features. The only reason I bought it was because I'm a huge wrestling fan, and my collection would be incomplete without it. If you're sitting on the fence debating whether you want to buy it or not, I can either recommend renting it first, and see whether you like it, or wait until the price drops. I honestly don't think I should've paid the full retail price for this game.
Let's wait and see how SVR 2010 will be...
Date: 2008-12-12
Not quite copy/paste from last year
At this point in the franchise, I'm expecting total suck from any future WWE releases that continue the "Smackdown vs Raw" name.
Since this is basically a slightly improved rehash from last year (and the years before)'s game, I can't criticize it since I've already criticized it in last year's game review of mine.
So I'll point out some improvements and new things:
- Perhaps in response to last year's razor-thin roster, this year has a far greater roster (including love of my life, John Morrison). Story mode is now actually "Story" mode, as it features the perenniel main eventers (John Cena, Triple H, the Undertaker, etcetera) and some IWC favorites (CM Punk, Chris Jericho) and the tagteam of Batista and Rey Mysterio in separate storylines in which you actually have a story that does not repeat itself on an endless loop; each superstar(s) get their own unique storyline, including some twists like in Triple H's campaign where you either re-form DX (for the FIRST TIME in THREE MONTHS) or re-form Evolution (only with Randy Orton on top).
- I can't complain about a lack of "legends", as the WWE is releasing a "Legends" full game of its own in a few months.
- The CAW creations are far better and far more attractive for wrestler creation; this is the first time in any game since Day of Reckoning (2004) that I've been able to create the most accurate representation CAW of my fictional wrestler "Bloody Margie". Though unlike DOR, she still can't compete in anything except normal matches and tag team matches.
- A big move up for females (or "divas"); there is a generic "Career Mode" which any superstar, male or female, can compete in for ANY title; meaning for the first time in years, a female wrestler can hold a championship belt bigger than the Women's Championship. Still no luck on competing in the "heavier" matches.
Then here come some negatives which need to be addressed:
- Create a Finisher is perhaps a nifty, innovative idea, but much like the entire "TNA iMPACT!" video game, it's simply a beta test; You can't really "create" finishers so much as just add some extra steps in between pre-existing finishers. For example, you can choose to stall for 30 seconds before dropping an FU or a Samoan Drop, or you can bounce a superstar on your shoulders so they're facing up or down before dropping them. There is no innovation, like making a Military Press Slam that transitions into a Hurricanrana and into a dropkick; once you pick a certain move, your next options are extremely limited to only basic transitions. In totality, it's not even worth making a messy created finisher when the pre-existing ones are so much better.
- Gameplay has not changed one bit since SvR08
And now comes the very crux of this review and of the game. Everything I said before can/has/will be addressed by others, but this part of the review is my most important aspect that I feel needed to be addressed.
In my opinion, the gameplay is terrible. In my opinion, this is because there is no collision detection, and no breaking up of moves in progress.
Starting in WWF Wrestlemania X8 for Gamecube, an option was made where any time there are more than two wrestlers in the ring, any wrestler can break up moves by attacking the people involved, or throwing objects at them, or so much as slapping one of them. This was mostly a beta, carried over into every succeeding Gamecube release, and while it may have annoyed some people when someone would do a "Giant Swing" in the middle of the ring and knock EVERYONE ELSE over, it was fun, hilarious, innovative, and much more realistic than punching thin air around superstars when one is suplexing another.
Despite the massive fail that "TNA iMPACT!" was, they managed to perfect this collision detection, as moves could not only be broken up, but broken up realistically---that is, if one superstar is about to be suplexed, when you attack the person suplexing him, you will only knock down the other person and not the victim.
WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008 does not have this. WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009 continues not to have this.
It is about time that this franchise begins to include collision detection/move breakups. Even if it means ripping the idea straight from Midway, I think it's worth the risk if only to add the extra fun factor of it to these games.
More so than with SvR08, the more I played SvR09, the more I wanted to stop it and hook up my Gamecube to play DOR2 again, just because I could break up moves at any time.
If this game had had that, I would have rated this game five stars, and considered it the best wrestling game of the decade thus far.
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