I have been a wrestling fan ever since I was about in year 4, trying to try the ‘don’t try these moves at home’ moves… at home.. So, I like to think I know what I’m talking about regarding wrestling games. The Smackdown series has come a long way since the NES games. The franchise is constantly trying new things, adding new features and Smackdown VS Raw 2007 have added a few more innovative ideas which should keep fans(and general game players) interested.

Moving and grappling has changed since the 06 version, to start off I wasn’t too keep on the idea, im not a fan of the analog sticks because they can be very tricky and annoying for anything other than basic movement. However, the grappling system still uses the 4 basic grapple ‘types’ as the previous games, so the difficulty with accuracy isn’t an issue. Using the controls soon gets comfortable and you start to notice the little differences. The computer has an uncanny ability to reverse a hell of a lot of moves. Although it can get frustrating it really makes the player pick apart their opponent with a variety of other strikes and techniques. In doing this, you get a better idea of how the game works, and can explore the ring. Smackdown have included ‘arena hotspots’, which you can drag opponents over to and start something of a mini-game. These can be moves such as slamming heads into the ringsteps, bending arms around ringposts and even straddling the ring ropes. These ‘traditional’ moves have always been there in previous games, but now every wrestler can have access. This also opens up a huge array of moves because these are always available instead of having to select them. It also makes you watch your stamina closely as it drains quickly in the games. To add another element of caution, these moves can sometimes be reversed, which makes sure you don’t sit there pummeling someone over and over.

The best new feature in my mind is the Ultimate Grapple system. I always attempt the moves that look like they hurt the most and these are them. The user starts a grapple and hits R3. Then using their chosen grapple, they can execute powerful moves that interact with the environment. This means, if you are near the edge of the ring, you can throw them out. Near a table, throw them through it. Not so near? Depending on grapple type you can actually walk around with them. The drawback is they rapidly deplete stamina, but if you can pull them off the effects are well worth it. The usual array of matches are available, with 1 extra, which is essentially a ladder match. The first downside to the game that I noticed was the lack of weapons. I remember matches in the past few games where it has ended with tables, ladders and chairs strewn around the ring. My favourite thing in wrestling is tables, and its probably the only thing that I am disappointed with in this game. It was hard enough to double stack tables in the last version, and from what I have attempted(and ive tried a lot) its not here in this version. Oh well.

The season modes play out with some very entertaining matches, although because I started out with a created character, I may have missed a few stories due to losses when I had little or no skills. The season mode puts you through a few of the epic title matches so by the end you should have a fair skill in that art of ass-kicking and a taste for violence. The commentary in the game is what you would expect, as in not completely accurate. However, the commentary adds in the banter between the 2 announcers so although they may not really be calling the action, it actually comes off pretty well. There are moves which spark preset comments, such as finishers, ultimate grapples and taunting, and its pretty well done. Of course, the comments will get annoying when you hear them enough, but its definitely improving with each new game. There are a few bugs in there where they will reference the wrong move, or say a generic reversal comment when someone tries for a pin, and the backstage brawls are completely silent, which is a tad annoying.

The unlockables for Smackdown are pretty much there for the fans. The legends list is enough to bring a speck of sentiment to the eyes of fans, with Bam Bam Bigalow, Mick Foley’s aliases Mankind and Cactus Jack, and the now mandatory Rock, Austin and Hogan. There are also challenges which add extra championship belts. These work on conditions for winning matches in 1 player mode, and they can get quite difficult.

Overall, this is another winner. There is enough worthwhile extras and excitement of finding new ways to pulverize people to keep most people interested for quite a while. However, wrestling fans will be playing this longer than an average gamer.

Gameplay 8.5
Graphics 8.0
Sound 7.5
Survivability 8.0

Overall 8.0 – OW MY FAES (Very entertaining)