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Whether you love or loathe Vince McMahon, you've gotta hand it to the guy for helping to create the phenomenon that is the WWE. Who would have thought that a “fake” wrestling show could body-slam Monday Night Football week-in and week-out in the ratings?

The WWE craze jumped into the video game market when HBA was one-half of the Midnight Rockers. The sport has changed a lot since then, and so has the world of gaming.

With super-powerful consoles and world-class athletes, you just knew that games and wrastlin’ would join forces in this next-gen cycle, and it’s no surprise that Yukes is behind all of this madness. Their latest ode to wrestling - WWE SmackDown!! vs. RAW 2007 - is an enjoyable HD romp through McMahon's Monday and Friday nights. Let’s see if it’s worth tuning in…


Gameplay

Who is still alive that remembers Data East’s Tag Team Wrestling? This classic cabinet featured a move system which required players to grapple, and then flick the joystick through a laundry list of moves before one was completed. Crude? Yes. But for the mid-80’s, this select-a-move system worked wonderfully.





The lack of development in the area of wrestling game control schemes left the old-school Super Star Wrestling the cream of the crop for a LONG time in my eyes. But Yukes had their sights set on the ol’ “oneeee…two….THREEEEEE!!!”, with a brand new control scheme developed specifically for WWE SmackDown!! vs. RAW 2007.

Yukes’ control scheme is analog-based, which means you won’t have to remember button combos to pull of something as ubiquitous in wrestling as a body slam. The left stick moves your man around the ring, and the right stick gets into the grappling system - easy enough. And that’s just it: the analog system is as easy or as advanced as you want, which makes it great for noobs (there’s a detailed tutorial for those that don’t want to hit the ring cold turkey) and experts alike.

Up, down, left, and right on the right stick initiate the quick grapples of your particular wrestler. These are the most widely-used moves in the game, as they set up bigger and better things once opponent fatigue sets in. Modifying with the right bumper queues up the strong grapple list and performs more of the flashy moves that you see every Monday and Friday night. Additional moves after the strong grapples are applied can be accessed with - you guessed it - the right stick. These moves fall into categories based on the wrestler’s tendencies so, for instance, Kurt Angle will have a bunch of technical moves and Kane will be all about the big power feats. A click of the right stick will usher in the Ultimate Control Move scenarios, which allow opponents to be paraded around the ring in a fireman’s carry, or spun around like a helicopter in a backbreaker pose. Over forty Ultimate Control moves are accessible with a click of the right stick, making WWE SmackDown!! vs. RAW 2007 a more intuitive, way-analog trip in the ring.

The control scheme of WWE SmackDown!! vs. RAW 2007 goes a bit deeper than a single wrestler’s moves acted out on some heel. Instead of letting whichever player initiates a strong grapple have the upper hand, a reversal system has been implemented to thwart such nonsense. Both strikes and grapples can be reversed, with the triggers taking care of both attempts. A nice touch in WWE SmackDown!! vs. RAW 2007 is that the reversals can be daisy-chained together for what looks like a strategic dance between two athletes trying to gain the upper hand. When two of the divas are doing the Reversal Rumba, it looks more like bi-curious groping.Heavy grapples, reversals, and even finishing moves (these are easily done with a single button press – no long strings to enter) are all well and good, but what is a WWE match without foreign objects and activity outside the ring? To answer that question: boring. That’s why you’ll find many opportunities in WWE SmackDown!! vs. RAW 2007 to fight outside the ring, and with things other than your fists. Strong grapples in the right areas will trigger environmental hotspots loaded with some of your favorite wrestling games. You can crush a dude in between a ladder, ram a dome into the steel steps, or my favorite, the ol' groin-into-the-ring-post smoothie. There are over fifteen hot spots all around the arenas, so keep your eyes peeled. You can even fight in the crowd in WWE SmackDown!! vs. RAW 2007, which is usually more dangerous than being in the square. You can toss fools into the speakers, climb the scaffolding, or grab a weapon and beat your adversary senseless. You can even grab a sign from an attendee and praise it (clean wrestlers) or rip it up (dirty wrestlers).

WWE SmackDown!! vs. RAW 2007 goes beyond the slick control scheme by giving the fans the wrestlers they want to see in the match types they prefer, and in the gameplay style that they desire. Both SmackDown! and Raw are fully represented, even with characters that don’t even wrestle for the WWE anymore (Kurt Angle comes to mind). Guys like Flair, Triple H, Carlito, and Cena represent the RAW crew, while wrestlers Booker T, Finlay, Mysterio, and Batista rep the SmackDown! camp. If you can’t stand any of these guys, the Create-a-Superstar mode will allow you to make your own legend-killer from the ground up. The options available are vast in the visual department, and you can even set up your wrestler to fight in the style of your choice. Match types are plucked from the broadcasts, and include the fan favorite Ladder Match. Steel cages, Hell in a Cell, and the Wrestlemania Money in the Bank events are here too, along with stand-bys such as tag team, battle royale, triple threat, and four-way mayhem.





Game modes include a regular Exhibition, a full season (complete with backstage shenanigans, email updates, and multiple wrestler storylines), or a PPV mode that is meant to replicate the overpriced cable shows that are full of pageantry and controversy. The GM Mode has been revamped this year, and it now features a lot more data on each wrestler so that a better card can be concocted. A host of writers are now available, allowing stories to be better tailored for specific rivalries. You’ll also find the Power 25 rankings that paint the picture of who has the best shot at a title match.

Online support comes in the form of up to four player Live action. There are over fifty match types, and functionality such as team chat for tag-team events. Create-a-Superstars can be used online (a great feature) for movement up the thorough ranking system.

Overall Gameplay Impressions:

Yukes attacked the root of most wrestling game’s problem by creating a control scheme which is sheer pick-up-and-play with a technical twist. Yes, you’ll have to intimately know your superstar, and know which right analog flicks and clicks do what, but once you learn, the action is very natural to create. Another nice feature is that players can map their own trigger spots for special moves. So, with a little practice you could, for example, Pedigree a chump onto a table in a table match.

The main complaint with WWE SmackDown!! vs. RAW 2007’s action is that the A.I. is a bit too vicious, both friendly and adversarial. For whatever reason, any team-up partner is clueless when it comes to helping out their fallen human pal. On the enemy side, the CPU is just too damn good at reversals. No matter how good my timing was, or how powerful the wrestler, the computer could open up a can of whoop-you-know-what at a moment’s notice. You'll get better with time, but it always seems like you’ll be at the A.I.’s mercy. This is okay when the match is even, but getting owned by divas when I’m the freakin’ Big Show is just too humiliating.Graphics and audio

Now I know why there’s always a host of Japanese dudes with cameras lining the canvas at Raw and SmackDown! Events: these guys work for Yukes! OK, well, maybe not, but the stout visuals of WWE SmackDown!! vs. RAW 2007 make this a hunch a possibility. The bottom line is that Yukes pretty much nailed the look and feel of the WWE en total.

The character models are very impressive. Motion capture nabs the essence of each athlete quite well, especially the swaggers that make these legends who they are. Facial maps are above average as well, with almost every competitor being a spitting image of the real-deal. The crew had a little trouble with the locks of many of these wrestlers, but that’s a common problem in CGI. Other than the hair and a tad too much glossiness, the wrestlers look fab. When two wrestlers collide, however, the clipping is a bit noticeable. In fact, there’s a fair amount of clipping even when a wrestler isn’t tied up; robes clip with skin, hair clips with skin, and so on. It’s a bit annoying, but expected given the nature of the game.





The general gist of a WWE event has been exquisitely captured. Throw the solid looking wrestlers into a ring entrance that looks JUST like it does on TV (complete with in-game video to mimic the monitor), and you begin to respect the work that Yukes put into WWE SmackDown!! vs. RAW 2007. The crowds look great too, with many holding up signs that actually coincide with the match going on (e.g. a Flair match will have signs that say “Woooo!). Pyrotechnics, lighting effects, and other touches around the arena further add to the feel of a real event.

The audio is not going to surprise anybody. It’s the announcers, the dialogue, and the songs that you hear every week if you watch WWE programming. This is why it is so good. The licensing is here to allow full usage of the real-deal sounds, and there are plenty of interesting personalities in the ring to make for a solid audio track.


The Bottom Line

The whole of WWE SmackDown!! vs. RAW 2007 is greater than its parts, which naturally makes this game worth a serious look. If you consider the way in which the WWE attitude has been captured with the visuals, how the controls have been improved with the analog system, and how offerings such as the GM mode keep things fresh, you can see how WWE SmackDown!! vs. RAW 2007 is highly regarded for its synergistic power.

Sure, there are issue like the A.I., clipping, and sketchy hit detection, but for the most part, this game speaks to the legions of WWE fans out there- loud and clear.