On October 26th, THQ released their latest installment into the long running WWE video game franchise. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 is the twelfth edition of the legendary series, with the first game, simply titled WWF Smackdown!, being released way back in 2000. I am a huge fan of the series, having collected and played them all, and this latest edition is no different. This year’s theme builds upon last year’s theme of increased customization, adding new features such as improved physics and creation tools in addition to the returning story designer and online Community Creations. Road to WrestleMania returns as well, with five new storylines following Cena, Chris Jericho, Christian, Rey Mysterio, and a storyline where you attempt to challenge The Undertaker at WrestleMania. I haven’t played through them all yet, but the stories so far are fun and entertaining, especially Christian’s, where the player is treated to a blast from the past via an Edge & Christian reunion! The game has been implemented with a completely new physics engine for weapons, which makes table and ladder matches more fun than ever before. You can now put an opponent through a table or ladder using any move, and if successful you’ll send your opponent into a table exploding into splinters. The way weapons work has been completely changed.
A new mode called WWE Universe also debuts this year. This is basically exhibition and career mode combined into one. You either make your own matches or play the ones the game books for you, and you’ll see rivalries blossom, tag teams form and break up, and different events occur. The roster includes nearly all the current top Superstars in the real life WWE, with THQ promising DLC in the coming months for missing characters, such as Nexus. Legends also return, including Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Steve Austin, The Rock, Ricky Steamboat in his first ever videogame appearance, and even TNA’s Rob Van Dam.
I have already logged a considerable amount of time into this game, and I can tell you that it is even more fun than last year’s. The new physics add a whole new realism to the game’s matches, and Universe mode does a pretty good job of keeping track of your in-game decisions. Some gripes, however, include the fact that my tag teams are constantly being broken up, I can’t defend titles any time I want, and some little features from years past have once again been removed. The move sets have been completely overhauled, as have the controls. The number of different moves each character has assigned has decreased, with many repetitive moves from character to character. Some wrestlers only have one finisher, where in years past everyone had at least two. Also, there is only one set of announcers on this year’s game, while last year peaked at three different announce teams.
Overall though, I am pretty impressed with the 2011 edition of the game. Matches are more fun to play, the roster has been accurately updated, and the creation tools are better than ever, which is saying a lot. This series has been known as the best wrestling series in recent gaming history, and the series continues to hold this distinction with pride. The graphics look great, the gameplay is fun and realistic, and the WWE has never been captured better in polygon form. If you’re a wrestling fan, more specifically a current WWE fan, I strongly recommend you pick this up for your current generation system of choice. For more information about the game, visit smackdownvsraw.com.
Here's a couple of videos outlining the history of the Smackdown franchise:
History of Smackdown
WWE Game Tribute
WWE SVR 2011 WrestleMania Trailer
IGN's Video Review
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