The might of World Wrestling Entertainment comes crashing down onto the Xbox 360 again this week, but is this version out for the count or is it the new champion?

 

One thing that I always have enjoyed about the WWE is the huge roster of dedicated sports entertainers they have, each week they go into that ring to earn a pay cheque against an ever expanding lineup and to give the best fight every night. Well this game has taken the same attitude and offers a staggeringly huge amount of modes and fighters.

 

 

The basics have not changed much and the pre-game Training Facility will take you through the moves available like grabs, punches, throws, specials, finishers and numerous other ring maneuvers. Your wrestler has a small meter below them which shows how hyped they are so when you get a good run of hits you can start pulling off signature moves or even a finisher if the opponent is set up right. The only real health gauge is the general state of your wrestler, if they are gushing blood and staggering around the canvas you know you are in trouble. This however is not the end as characters have certain abilities that can give them a quick heal and even pull off multiple specials when fired up.    

 

As mentioned earlier there are loads of modes on offer, you can jump straight into a fight with classics like tag, royal rumble and Money in the Bank. The Road to Wrestlemania returns and allows you to play as a few of the elite like Edge, Shaun Michaels, Diva's and also your own custom character. This starts 83 days before the big event and has you fighting to be the number one contender and gives you a chance to fight for the gold at Wrestlemania. The story is dependent on the character but it plays very similar to the weekly shows you see on TV, you fight, there is an interview and a bit of trash talking, the occasional ambush and more fighting. The Career mode is more solid than Road as it has you working your way up and building your characters stats.

 

The customization modes on WWE games have always been huge and this year sees a massive improvement. First off is the character customization mode which allows you to make pretty much anyone you want. The added ability to design your own tattoo's and logos deepens this. The new create a story mode will probably be the one that most of us will be playing in a few months. Here you can make your own story for any wrestler. The studio to make this is very easy to navigate, allowing you to mix up segments, moments with your own text and fights over a couple of years. The best bit is that you can share all this online, so you can either make up your own story or remake one of the classics for the whole world to see.     

 

Though a lot is going on in game the overall quality is quite bad. I have not played a Smackdown game since the PS2 incarnations and I can't believe the lack of advancement in that time in terms of gameplay and looks, I almost feel like it's gone back in time. First off are the graphics, whilst some of the characters do have a very good likeness there are an equal amount that look a bit peaky, for example, there is a cool flashback scene in Shaun Michaels retirement montage showing clips from older games, some of them look better than the current version? Sadly it's not just there that the game fails. The controls seem over complicated, maybe its the 360 controller but having grapples on the RS and then having to use that with RB for stronger moves is all a bit of a handful, plus it's not very innovative, I can't recall how many cage fights I have lost due to poor controls.  Then there is the scripting, there are moments during the interview segments when your wrestler is just standing and waving their arms in the air plus there are huge gaps of nothing happening. When you get jumped you get in a scrap only for it to cut straight out to the following day mid punch. The complete opposite can also happen, during a surprise fight it will go on for too long and your are again standing around looking for something to do.  

 

 

I really like wrestling and when the games are good they are great fun, but for all of the content crammed in, the poor finishing here just reeks of a rushed and unfinished game that could of done with a few more months being tested. Its almost like they forgot to include wrestling in the game.

 

Fans of the sport are going to enjoy and buy this title no matter what but that still does not make it a good game. The create modes are the games saving grace, everything else, well is passable but only just.