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| WWE: SmackDown! Here Comes the PAIN PS2 review | |
| developer | Yuke |
| publisher | THQ |
| author | Chris O'Regan |
| date | Dec. 3, 2003 |
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| reviewer's toast | |
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Chromehounds
NA Review by Marcin
Oblivion-The First 3 Hours
PC Quicktake by walTer
Comic Quick Takes January 25, 2006
Feature by Mike
This game was provided at no cost to wickedtoast.com by the publishers.
When WT's esteemed editor came to me and asked me to review a wrestling game I have to confess I wasn't overjoyed. Actually, make that bemused. "Wrestling? Are you sure?" I asked. His only response was 'Doesn't hurt to try anything once my friend'. So I did...and I'm quite glad I did too.
When a sport isn't a sport
I'm going to come right out here and admit I am no wrestling fan, by any stretch of the imagination. It's more of a pantomime than a sport with the actors being great lugs of meat that pretend to hit one another and then jump about for a bit until one or the other gets too tired or is pinned down. All of this is preordained prior to the event making the whole thing a little bizarre to say the least. So when I was confronted with WWE - Smackdown: Here comes the Pain, the fifth (!) game (SD 5) in this highly successful series my immediate thought was, 'how on earth do you simulate such a thing?' and, more importantly, 'how do you make it entertaining?'.
Fans of Greco-Roman wrestling need not apply
For the uninitiated (me included) the rules of WWE wrestling aren't particularly complicated. The main aim is the pin your opponent down by placing his or her shoulders onto the ring's mat for 3 full seconds. Once this is done the bout is over. There are other ways to win however, which include a simple surrender by the opponent (if they are exhausted or injured) and the unusual (for wrestling that is) knockout which has the wrestler knocked unconscious.
In the world of WWE this basic theme has many variations, tag teams being the most well known. This is where there are teams of two wrestlers competing against one another who 'tag' each other as the bout progresses. The winner is the first wrestler to pin either of the other two team members.
There are also the other, not so conventional variants which feature in this 5th game of the SmackDown series. These include 'First Blood' where the aim is to draw blood on an opponent, 'Elimination Chamber' where a sequence of wrestlers battle it out until only one is left standing and 'Bra & Panties Mode' which is the oh so politically correct female only bout that has players ripping off the opponents clothes until they are down to their underwear.
And I thought Street Fighter II had a lot of combos!
The key to wrestling is to wear your opponent down to the point where they cannot wrestle (ahem) themselves out of a pin down. This is achieved by forcing them to expend energy by breaking free of your grapples or dodging indirect blows. SD 5 deals with this by assigning certain button combinations that must be hit at a certain point to achieve the best results. For example when attempting to hit an opponent it is required of the player to press the strike button. Further variations of strikes can be achieved by pressing different directions adding up to quite a few variations on moves. When the most spectacular are made then the game slows down and the camera angle sweeps over as the move is completed.
To counter such attacks it is possible to use the 'reversal' button that results in players either deflecting or dodging blows or releasing themselves from holds. This is a good game mechanic as it allows players to turn the proverbial tables during a bout making things much more interesting.
No! Not THERE!
Another enhancement that has been added to the gameplay is target specific attacks. Competing wrestlers have their damage levels represented by small stick man icons that are split into parts of the body. These parts change colour, from blue to red as they take damage. This opens up a new strategy of attack as players can focus on already wounded parts of their opponent, bringing them down just that bit quicker.
Oh now that has got to hurt!
SD 5 boasts a very detailed single player career mode which features 65 wrestlers all drawn from RAW and SmackDown which certainly adds variety to the game. These can be played in the career mode, competing in arenas across the US. There is also the inclusion of the action outside the arena with chances to meet other wrestlers outside the usual bouts with the usual rules thrown out of the window as chairs, tables and even TV's being used to render the opposing wrestler unconscious, just to settle a score. Fans of the WWE will recognise this sort of thing as the whole wrestling scene goes beyond just the ring these days with full soap opera like confrontations between rival camps being played out within scripted events.