Thursday 4 November 2010

GAMING: WWE: SMACKDOWN VS RAW 2011 (X BOX 360)

Elliot Hyams grapples with the latest release in THQ’s Smackdown franchise.

Being a loyal fan of a sports franchise can be a thankless task. Just as you’ve adjusted to the control system of last year’s release, maxed out all your stats, and mastered the art of handing out online beatings to twelve year olds, all your efforts are made completely redundant by the release of this year’s game. This is a familiar scenario for fans of THQ’s WWE: Smackdown vs. Raw franchise, not that they appear to mind, as the wrestling series has proven to be a massive success since the release of the first game in 2000. Back then gamers made do with crudely animated rectangular characters that vaguely resembled their favourite grapplers if you squinted a bit. Ten years later and the characters in Smackdown Vs Raw 2011 are rendered so intricately that THQ even went to the trouble to create an engine to generate photorealistic sweat. Who amongst us can say that they don’t secretly long for photorealistic sweat?

Fans of the WWE will undoubtedly buy the game purely for the opportunity to play as their favourite wrestler, and SVR2011 boasts the most complete roster of any Smackdown game yet, plus the promise of more downloadable content still to come throughout the year. There can be no doubt that the game looks great, as well as being fantastically rendered every move and nuance of each wrestler has been accurately recreated to the point that it almost feels like you are watching an episode of Monday Night Raw. But there is more to a game than simply looking nice, after all last year’s game looked nice as well so who needs an upgrade? Herein lies the problem with the annual release of a franchise game, every year THQ promises a fresh gaming experience like never before and every year it gets harder to say that they have delivered. According to the THQ website this year’s USPs are the improved physics system and the WWE Universe mode.

As a result of the new physics system objects such as tables and ladders now break and fall in a natural way. Whilst this does add a more realistic feel to the game it was never on the list of things that have continually ruined the franchise, such as inaccurate commentary and idiotic A.I which once again rear their ugly heads in SVR2011. Also the inexplicable removal of the ultimate grapple control system, which was one of the best features of SVR2010, has resulted in monotonous and limited game play. But it’s not all bad. The much heralded universe mode allows you to cultivate rivalries and alliances which are based on in game actions creating a massively immersive experience. But the truth is aside from a couple of tweaks there is little difference between SVR2011 and its predecessor, which is a shame because you can’t escape the feeling that if THQ weren’t in such a hurry to release a new game each year they could produce something a lot better than this.

Review by Elliot Hyams

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