Preview: WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009

THQ and Yuke's return to the ring once again, but will they fix any of the issues currently plaguing the game?
9/26/2008 6:17 PM | 2 Comments | Page 1 of 3

I grew up in the old-school wrestling era. Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Macho Man, Jesse the Body -- when I think wrestling, those are the grapplers that come to mind. In videogames, THQ and Yuke's have been at the helm of the WWE franchise for years, so when a build of their latest effort -- SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 -- came across my desk, I invited a friend over, grabbed a six-pack, and fired up the game to see if the current wrestling stable would pique my interest. Saving the classic wrestlers for next year's Legends of WrestleMania, it was time to take to the ring with The Undertaker, Triple H, John Cena and more. Although we had a good time, there are still a lot of things about the game that need serious cleaning up.

It had been a few years since I'd played a wrestling game, so I was hoping for an on-screen control diagram or a tutorial to help ease me back into the ring. Unfortunately, there was nothing of the sort, so I had to consult the manual. Each wrestler has their own arsenal of moves and pulling them off is pretty easy. Punches, kicks, drops and lifts are mapped to a few buttons and the right stick; special moves and reversals are context-sensitive. Don't worry about having to learn any complex button combinations -- the control scheme is generally pretty simplistic and easy to pick up.

If you're looking for a realistic WWE wrestling experience, SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 will work, but there's still a lot that's broken, and a number of things made my head hurt. Wrestlers didn't seem to stick to the mat; they floated and slid, making it feel like there wasn't a lot of traction. On the other hand, simple items such as weapons or a ladder or table caused my wrestler to be stuck.

Things really started to break down when I added more and more wrestlers into the ring in matches such as the Fatal-4-Way, 6-Man or Royal Rumble. It was easy to hit the wrong person, or worse yet, hit my Tag Team partner by accident. When multiple ladders and tables got into the ring, they sometimes locked up in a collision detection mess. The artificial intelligence was pretty wonky, and I couldn't rely on a teammate to save my life. Opponents, sometimes no matter how hard I beat them down, could magically come back to life and win a match. Granted, that happens in wrestling on television, but it feels ridiculous if you're totally crushing someone in a Cage match, get knocked down once, and they scale the cage and win.

A main focus of this year's title is the inclusion of the "Hot Tag" to Tag Team matches. A Hot Tag is used when you're getting the snot beaten out of you, and you're almost on the brink of elimination. The crowd is going wild, and you make that last-second effort to tag your partner. As your partner comes into the ring to relieve you, a few correct context-sensitive button presses will not only knock down both opponents, but also give you a full stamina meter. The concept works well when you're playing with friends, but you can't use this feature if you're playing by yourself and controlling both wrestlers. Why can't the AI be smart enough to trigger the Hot Tag if you need it while you're in single-player mode?