I'm going to go out on a limb and say that WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 is the best game in the series since it's been brought to current-gen consoles 4 or 5 years ago. I'm sure someone could argue that I'm not really pushing it, the quality of the series has been pretty hit or miss as of late, but Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 has one thing going for it that the other titles don't: A full-fledged story editor that has far more options to it than I would have suspected. If that isn't going to be a selling point for you then you might not dig the game as much as I have, but it's a huge addition for me, and it's something I've been wanting out of a mainstream wrestling title since Wrestlemania 2000 on the N64.
Of course, the rest of the game is pretty solid too, and the story editor wouldn't mean squat if the actual wrestling mechanics and gameplay weren't decent. On the surface, not a whole lot has changed in the gameplay since last year. Grapples are still tied into the right stick, and your standard assortment of strong grapples, basic grapples, strikes, and various rope maneuvers are present again. Each of the main Superstar and Diva characters come equipped with their expected move sets, so Cena, Michaels, and Triple H fans won't be disappointed with what they find here.
I was a little surprised at the roster, it feels pretty out of date with the current line-up, featuring quite a few guys that have quit, been fired, or just retired. Notable entries like JBL and Jeff Hardy stand out, and I suppose a few of these guys were out of the picture a little too far into the development, but JBL has been out for quite a while, so I was pretty surprised he was still on the main roster list. Thankfully we still get guys like Christian in the game, so I can't complain too much, and the addition of legends characters like the Rock and Steve Austin should make just about any fan happy enough.
That said; if your favorite superstar is missing from the list, why not just create them? The create-a-wrestler mode here actually feels a little more robust than the previous years, offering up plenty of clothing options, default faces, sliders, body types, accessories, layers and so on to really let you cut loose with some odd designs. Want a character with deer horns on his head? Or perhaps a Darth Maul set of horns? You can totally do that here. The options are really varied and out there, so I imagine the more talented guys that pump out CAW's for the internet every year will have plenty of stuff to show off in the coming months.
The game isn't without issues, and they're things that have plagued the series for quite a while. There's still the annoying habit of having wrestlers kick out of pins even after a finisher, or two, or even three. With the new UI, or lack thereof, it's a little difficult to even figure out the weakness of your opponent or how susceptible they're going to be to a pin attempt, since there's no lifebar in the game. You can go with their physical representation, but there's either tired or aware, and that's about it. You do get a little progression meter for your character that appears as a ring around your legs, but that seems to be more for letting you know when you've built up enough for a signature move or a finisher more so than anything else. There's also a lot of odd collision issues going on here, something that's not all that noticeable until you go for a submission move, at which point legs are clipping into bodies and arms and so on. It's a little sloppy in comparison to something like THQ's recent UFC title, which featured a lot of grappling without the same problem.
The game also has a few cool things going for, like the cleaned up UI (yes, I'm complaining about the lack of info and praising it at the same time, sue me), and the game drops you into a "training mode" right off the bat, which also doubles as a main menu screen. Think of this like the shoot-out screen for the current NBA Live game, and you'll get the idea. The Road to Wrestlemania mode makes a return this year as well, which is a little more story heavy than the standard career mode (also present), and far more interesting because of it. We also get customizable Diva's this time out, and there's even a storyline for Mickie James this time around.
Finally, there's the story mode. This thing is awesome, and well worth picking the game up for. Basically you're given a schedule, starting from the first of the year, and you're able to plan out Smackdown, Raw, and ECW events throughout the week, along with the appropriate PPV's. You can make use of the regular roster, or created characters (there are a few limits here), and script out scenes, matches, and so on. It's not nearly as cut and paste as I had thought, there's plenty of animations to pick from for each wrestler, you can insert the dialogue as you want, and pretty much every stereotypical storyline you'd expect out of a WWE event is present in the game. Do you want to set up a series of events leading up to a big mystery reveal? Totally plausible. How about kicking the new GM to the curb in favor of Shane McMahon, and then having Jim Ross create a stable of heroes to take down the new tyrannical GM and his posse of heels? Easily done. The options here are great, and I'm pretty psyched to see what some of the more creative wrestling fans will come up with from this, considering you can share all of these creations online with other users.
Basically, if you've felt that the THQ WWE titles have been a little stale over the past few years, the addition of a create-a-story mode gives the series a much-needed shot in the arm. It's easily worth picking up for this mode alone, and I'm really interested to keep playing the game and seeing what I can come up with, along with other fans. There's a ton of potential here, and the actual gameplay manages to back it up nicely. There's not a great deal of innovation in how the game plays, but I'm willing to overlook that in favor of the new additions. Absolutely worth picking up if you're a wrestling fan, and definitely a big step in the right direction for the series.
