| A game that will be enjoyed by WWE and worth the look by non-WWE fans alike |
Even though a lot of 2008 is recycled from last year's versionWWE Smackdown vs Raw 2007, most WWE fans will enjoy the ride.
The Good:
Great Visuals: Detailed entrance themes and realistic wrestling moves and finishers.
Storylines: The 24/7 Mode, which is a career mode offers many entertaining storylines and surprises. I won't spoil it by listing all of them here, but in Smackdown Career, you can participate in a Fatal 4-Way Ladder Match to see who gets a case with movie contract.
Great Variety of Matches: Most Match Types are here from last year, but also a lot of ECW-style matches are added, like ECW RUles Hardcore Match where you can use new variety of objects, such as kendo sticks and flaming tables.
Replay Value: Along with a lenghty 24/7 Careeer Mode, you can always come back and do it all over again as a wrestler from another brand to experience different storylines. There is also a Legends Mode, which reminds me of Madden 08's Superstar Mode, where you have to relive some of WWE's greatest moments and do them on your own: Use Stone Cold to defeat Bret Hart and even enter Royal Rumble as Shawn Michaels with #1 entry and try to win the whole thing on the hardest setting.
Skill Improvement: Unlike last year where you only play week-to-week, in here you make moves every day. You can spend your days off just chillin, getting rest, or you can use them to improve your skills or try to make money, shoot a movie or compete in a training excerise. However, too many physical activities may land you an injury and fatigue.
Roster: A huge roster filled with most of today's superstars and even some that are no loger in WWE: Cryme Tyme and even TNA's Booker T is in the line-up as well. Hall of Fame unlockables are: Breat Hart, Anvil Neidhart, Rick Rude, Mick Foley, The Rock and many more. Oh and of course, ECW wrestlers join in as well.
The Bad:
Audio: While some voices are realistic, some voice-acting have been performed by generic-voiced actors. I swear that both JBL and Joey Styles are both voiced by the same voice-over. Many wrestlers don't sound like themselves at all!
Load Times: I have played this on my new Slim PSP and while the loading times seem to improve over when I played 2007 version on the classic PSP, the loading times still feel a bit annoying when you want to experience a fast-paced action.
Unrealism: Some wrestlers act out of their kayfabe wrestling character. I have played 24/7 Mode with Kane and during some storylines he would walk around backstage, shaking hands, smiling and telling jokes, which does seem to be out of the Kane character. They should've made a separate storylines for "Monster/Heel" characters that rarely talk.
Bottom Line: If you are a wrestling fan, it will be hard to dodge this title. However, even if you are not a wrestling fan, this will still be worth a look if you like fighting games.
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5 Rating
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