In last year's WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008, the career mode attempted to be a hybrid of many different elements, requiring your superstar of choice to not only go through matches on a weekly basis, but also build their popularity by using a variety of 'events' which more-often-than-not required you to choose an option and then wait as the game simulated a success rate of say, a movie shoot, and then give you some cash and notoriety to make your superstar ultimately more popular. There was also training which had to take place if you were using a created superstar, and the mode was the deepest career mode that we'd seen for a wrestling game before. Unfortunately, deep doesn't necessarily mean good, and the whole thing came off feeling much more like a chore than a fun experience generally found in a wrestling game.
If Cena was talented, he could pull this off. We're betting he fails.
Happily, then, Road to Wrestlemania mode in WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 does away with all that annoying simulation crap and focuses solely on the storyline of your character, with a number of entirely different narratives to follow if you so choose. What may be seen as a down-side here is that this mode is specifically tailored around a few of the 'top-tier' superstars in the WWE. About 7 different choices are available including Chris Jericho, Triple H, John Cena and CM Punk - which means if you want to play a uniquely tailored story mode with somebody like Umaga or Mr. Kennedy, you may be left a tad disappointed. There is an alternate career mode for these other superstars where you can fight others to ultimately become a champion, but there is no storyline here other than 'fighting to be the best', which is either a good or bad thing depending on your perspective.
While this initially had us a little concerned, after playing some of the Road to Wrestlemania mode as Jericho, we quickly found ourselves really entranced by the whole experience. The drama all began rather quickly as we discovered that we had somebody stalking us and playing mind games, and the actual fights themselves are worked in so that the whole experience flows. We found ourselves backstage forcing foes into submission so that we could gain more information on our mysterious stalker, and eventually went down a path of figuring out which out of a list of suspects it could possibly be. All of the dialogue in these story lines are voiced by the superstars themselves, and it's great to hear the talent actually speaking in the game in so much detail.
Mmm... table physics...
In fact, the production values of the title as a whole seem to be vastly improved on last years outing. There are many subtle changes to the game that only a keen eye and devoted fan will notice, but they're nice touches and are appreciated. When fighting outside the ring, the camera actually changes to be entirely from the perspective of a cameraman at ringside, which is a weird adjustment at first but definitely makes the game feel more like the style seen on TV. Backstage bouts are presented in a similar fashion, keeping with the stylized presentation of programming. As usual, ring entrances are a highlight in terms of presentation, and really show off the character models; we have to admit that we were a little bit giddy when John Morrison entered the ring, complete with slow motion pose at the top of the ramp.
The inferno match was the other new feature that we were eager to try, considering it's the main new addition to the already massive list of match modes available. The ring is surrounded in flames, with the goal being to set your opponent on fire. The 'temperature' is shown in the corner of the screen, and with every move that's done in the ring, the temperature rises until it's 500 degrees, and that creates the opportunity to try to drag your foes towards the fire via a competitive mini game. You'll only have a few moments to take advantage before the temperature drops again. It's a fun match type, and hearing the roar of the flames erupting with every slam is, quite frankly, awesome. With all this and much much more, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 continues to be polished on a yearly basis, and we can't wait to get our paws on the finished version when the game ships in November.
Loading...
