Game: WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010
Publisher: THQ
Platform: 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, DS, Wii
Price: $27.99- $59.99
Pros: Great create-a-wrestler mode, top-notch graphics, solid controls.
Cons: Repetitive and inappropriate commentary, impossible to win/lose some matches, tutorial mode on top of the menu.
Acquired via Publisher

As a fan of wrestling for the past 23 years, I jumped at the chance to review this title. I’ve been hearing many great things about this series in recent months. I haven’t had a chance to play much in the way of recent wrestling titles other than the likes of TNA Impact (Xbox360) and WWE Raw 2 (Xbox), so this is a fresh opinion on this game without being up to date on the series.

When I first put the disk into my console, I was extremely excited. Before I got to a menu, I was taken straight to a tutorial mode. John Cena and Randy Orton were in the ring together, and the game offered to teach me the controls. “This is pretty cool,” I thought. The A button did most actions, B to whip your opponent, X for strikes, the right stick for grappling, etc. I remember being very impressed by the grappling controls, as it seems they took a page from the great UFC game that came out earlier this year. I would later learn how terribly this mode is designed.

As for the negatives on the controls, I found three of note. The tutorial did not tell me how to reverse an opponent’s attacks. I had to stumble onto that, but was able to eventually get it. Secondly, the tutorial tried many times (at least 40) to get me to learn how to move through the ropes and to the ring apron (not to the outside) by moving the left stick toward the ropes and lightly tapping A. In my entire week with this game, I wasn’t able to do that even once. Lastly, when playing a match with more than one opponent, your wrestler will auto-target. I could find no way to do this manually and repeatedly attacked the wrong person in most situations. I hope I am just overlooking something and that this control does exist.

Again, overall, the controls are great.

After playing a few exhibition matches, I went to try the other modes. This is when I got a bad taste of the main menu. Every time you return to this menu, it spends time to load the tutorial match, which has to be exited (by pressing start) just to go back to the main menu! Despite my efforts, I’ve yet to find a way to turn this off.

The first special mode I tried was the Create-A-Wrestler mode. This has been the best version of this feature of any wrestling game I’ve ever tried. This time, I made one of my favorite indy wrestlers, Delirious (www.deliriouswrestling.com). Some of the options on the created wrestler weren’t initially obvious, but I was able to figure it out with a little work. Overall, the Create-A-Wrestler mode is absolutely top-notch!

Alongside the Create-A-Wrestler, there is also Create-A-Moveset (self-explanatory), Create-An-Entrance, and Create-A-Finisher modes.  Creating an entrance is a pretty nifty process. You can determine how your wrestler comes out to the ring, their pyro, entrance music, and even video. Unless you choose someone else’s entrance motions, the names are all generic (ie: Male01, Male37, Female09). It can be a bit tedious, but such is the fun of making these. As you would probably expect, the music choices are all songs for other wrestlers. I wish this game had the same option that was available in WWE Raw 2, where I could use entrance music from any song that I previously ripped to the system hard drive. For the entrance video, you can use existing entrance videos, or even make your own– another neat option. You can take clips from matches that you have faught and piece them together into a video. I will say, though, that this takes quite a long time to do, so make sure you have an hour or better set aside.

Creating a finisher was one of my favorite features of the entire package. Using this, you can create totally unique finishing maneuvers for your custom wrestler. You pick how they set the move up, taunt, and go through the motions, from beginning to end. It’s a very robust system, and I was really enjoying it. While I couldn’t give Delirious his devastating “Chemical Imbalance #2″, I was able to make a completely accurate version of the “In vitro fertilization” (yes, he’s a strange one). You even get to name the move so it will be called by the announcers when it’s hit. While I didn’t have access to the real name (for obvious reasons), I named it the “Aneurysm,” which seemed fairly appropriate.

Outside of the create modes you’ll find several other options for playing. There are exhibition matches which let you pick from any number of different types of matches. This is where most of your gaming on this title will probably come from. Mainly, you will do this because you’ll want to avoid several match types that are near impossible to win. Oddly enough, there are other match types that seem impossible to lose, too.

There’s also career mode, which lets you vie for a wide variety of WWE titles. However this is not a cakewalk. You’ll have to wrestle matches to earn your #1 contender status before you can fight for the title. I played this mode as CM Punk, and went for the Intercontinental Title first. After besting the first four challengers I had, I was told that my next match would be for the title against John Morrison… IN A STEEL CAGE! I was initially excited to try this stipulation out. I was not so excited with it once inside. This match took me six or seven tries to win– not because I suck, but because of some strange AI behaviors. No matter how many times I would hit the Go To Sleep (CM Punk’s finisher), Morrison would be on his feet and knocking me off the cage before I could even get my second attempt to make it out. On top of this, he’d be up in no time at all from a finisher, and I’d be on the ground forever after being knocked off the cage wall, with no other damage during the match. This is how Morrison continued to escape the cage on each try. I only made it out the last time through sheer luck. After winning the IC belt, the game let me choose the next belt I wanted to try to go for. Unfortunately, due to deadlines, I wasn’t able to play this mode any further, but I imagine it’s more of the same (four or more qualifying matches with increasingly better AI followed by a special stipulation match for the belt).

Another available mode to play is the Road to Wrestlemania. I didn’t get far into this mode, not because of deadlines, but because of a match that I honestly can’t make it past. In this mode, you can play as a created wrestler and move through the ranks of the WWE. You start out in the crowd during one of Santino Marella’s matches, after which he challenges you as a fan for his title belt. Once you beat him, Vince McMahon and Santino are backstage trying to tell you that you don’t work for WWE, so you have to give the belt back. Santino is absolutely hilarious, as always. You pick which one to give the belt back to, but will run out with it anyway. Santino cries, then tries to steal Vince’s laptop. Vince sends two guys after you. In the next scene, you’re backstage and fighting these two guys. This is where the bad targeting comes into play. Also, the lead up tells you nothing of what you’re supposed to do to end this fight. I was clueless and was about to give up several times. After a 40 minute battle, I knocked one of the two unconscious, and assumed that was my goal all along. Another five minutes and the other was taken care of.

Vince still stripped me of the belt, and set up a fatal-four-way match for it. It was scheduled to be Santino vs Kane vs Kofi Kingston vs John Morrison, but my guy got to interfere and join in the match. Ladies and gentlemen– This is the match with no ending. Due to the computer controlled wrestlers having almost zero recovery time after being hit, no one in this match could score a pinfall or submission. It will always be broken up almost immediately. The game recommended before the match that I try to throw others out of the ring to make it easier to win. By the time you’re throwing out the second person, the first is already back on the apron, getting back into the ring. It doesn’t matter how you take him out. After about 90 minutes of trying, I gave up and tried to let the computer win. I couldn’t even pull that off. 30 minutes of defending pins, and the match still hadn’t ended. I’m not sure if this is intended to be a two hour or longer match in the game, but I was far from impressed.

The final match type I tried was the Royal Rumble, since I heard that it had been redesigned from the ground up. Some new twists I caught were the ability to help someone flip another wrestler over the rope if they’re hanging on. Problem is, if two computer opponents grab onto you, expect to not win the exchange. If three try, just give up. I know it’s more realistic this way, but it’s quite frustrating from a gaming perspective. The rumble maxes out at six wrestlers out at one time, which includes their sluggish walk to the back. Also, when there are six wrestlers in the ring at once, there is a noticeable lag to the game’s video which is a bit off putting. That said, this mode is still great fun, especially with friends playing.

Lastly, I want to comment on is the commentary (fun sentence). I was shocked at how bad it was. It’s been better on much older games that I’ve played. The pitch of sentences changed dramatically from word to word, proving that it was a computer and not a human, for one. Another issue was that it would make comments that weren’t appropriate at the time, like calling the Royal Rumble match a “Falls Count Anywhere Match.” I’m shocked something like that made it past beta-testing! I honestly wish there was a way to turn the commentary off.

The game has several other modes I didn’t have time to get around to, like the new WWE Story Designer, WWE Rivals, Team Management, Championship Scramble matches, and a few more. Overall, this is quite a robust title with lots of play time included.

In closing, this is an average game, at best. If you can get past the glitches, and don’t plan to play the story modes provided, you’ll probably enjoy it a lot. That said, I see this more as a rental title than one to purchase. I’m afraid the novelty will wear off within a week or two.