WWE Smackdown! Shut Your Mouth

8.1
Great

Gameplay	8.0	"Shut Your Mouth has them all, from Hulk Hogan to The Rock."
Graphics	7.0
Sound	8.0
Value	8.0

By Shaun Hunter

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The Smackdown wrestling series has always been popular amongst the teenagers, and it's no wonder that new additions to the series are being pumped out year after year.

At first impressions Shut Your Mouth looks impressive and reflects the WWE's style. From mega-stars such as Hollywood Hulk Hogan and The Rock to rookies like Maven, Shut Your Mouth has them all.

There is no doubt that Shut Your Mouth is a game that will always be enjoyable to many different people of all ages and gender. Up to six people can play at once with use of a PS2 multi-tap (or two). A maximum of six wrestlers on the screen at one time can limit gameplay a little, but to casual wrestling game fans six will be more than enough to deal with. A lot to do with the good gameplay is the many varieties of match-ups that can be played out. Match types include the Hell in the Cell, Ladder, Royal Rumble, 6-Man tag team matches and many more. Rules can be made so that weapon use will result in a disqualification or other superstars may run in on your match - costing you the win.

With the straight forward match out of the way, the season mode in Shut Your Mouth is one of the biggest highlights. From playing through a very basic season mode with only a few cut scenes here and there in the first installation of the Smackdown series, to playing out a fully-fledged two year season in which storylines from the past year in the actual WWE play out before you. When you begin a season in Shut Your Mouth you will be given the opportunity to join either of the WWE's television programmes, Raw or Smackdown! Your own draft will take place and you can choose which superstars go on which show. As the season progresses some of the more major storylines that occur are the nWo returning to the WWE and the ongoing battle between Vince McMahon and Ric Flair the �50-50� owners of the WWE.

The Create-A-Wrestler mode is divided into two parts; Appearance and Moves, and it is nothing short of spectacular.

First of all, Appearance, this is where you can create literally any wrestler, celebrity or even your average Joe, with the use of the ability to morph specific body parts, thousands of clothing parts and hundreds of shapes, letters and even Chinese symbols. Your creations can have up to forty layers to place clothes or designs on. Once you are done creating the look of your superstar, which can take anywhere from ten minutes to a few hours depending on what your wanting, you will need to name your creation, choose what signs the crowd will hold up for him/her, and choose what type of moves he will do in the ring.

Once this is done, the moves section is the next big leap into turning your creation into a real competing wrestler. The moves section is home to thousands and thousands of different moves that your superstar will be able to do. It is also where you choose the music and movie that your superstar will enter to, as well as how they will walk to the ring. If you want a speedy type wrestler then you may choose to have top rope moves like the 450, or if your wrestler is a tough guy then you could give him/her moves such as powerbombs or chokeslams.

Onto the look of the game. Shut Your Mouth has very detailed character models of all the WWE superstars in the game, some having multiple costumes for added variety. Collision detection is one of the minor flaws in the game; often bigger people such as the Big Show will put a body part through the other wrestler during a move animation. Which brings me to my next point; the move animations are plentiful and seem to flow smoothly from one to the next. The arenas are another highlight of this game. The two television show arenas; Raw and Smackdown! Are very detailed and even contains the climbable Smackdown! Fist. In addition to the Raw and Smackdown! Arenas are all twelve WWE Pay-Per-View arenas are in the game and are accurately modelled.

Little has been improved in the sound department over THQ�s last attempt in Just Bring It, no longer are the voices of Michael Cole and Tazz calling the action, this time its Jerry 'The King' Lawler and Jim Ross. The commentary is not play-by-play as such; Lawler and Ross will provide colour commentary with lines specific to certain superstars. Aside from commentary, just about all of the superstars real themes are in the game and are available for your use. The ring announcing in the game, supplied by is unmatched, it sounds just like it does on TV.

Overall, WWE Smackdown! Shut Your Mouth is a fairly solid wrestling game and is unmatched on the PS2, at least for a while. With a multitude of match types, a great season mode, and an unmatched Create-A-Wrestler mode, Shut Your Mouth looks like the game to beat.

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