WWE Smackdown! Vs RAW 2007

Lace up those boots and oil yourself up as you get into the wrestling tights of your favourite WWE superstars in the latest grappler from THQ.

Smackdown! Vs Raw 2007 is a bit of a mixed bag this year around. There are nagging issues letting parts of the game down. A whole lot of moves have been removed from the edit-a-moveset mode, which doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. However, there are a number of improvements, especially when it comes to the game engine.

The controls have been heavily modified this time round, with the player movement being moved to the left analog stick, and the d-pad used for taunting. Grapples have been assigned to the right analog stick, and by flicking different directions you can pull off different moves. Holding down the R1 button then grappling will enable you to lockup in one of four ways, and then by moving the stick in a direction again, or by pressing the analog stick in, you can activate the all new ultimate control moves. Once activated, you’ll be able to control when and how moves are executed, such as how long to hold the opponent in the air for a suplex. These ultimate control grapples really saved the game this year.

Another addition are the user-initiated hotspots. Dragging an opponent into a particular area, such as the ring turnbuckle or announce table, will allow you to control your superstar to smash your opponent’s head against the turnbuckle or table with the use of the right analog stick. Similarly, you are able to fight in the crowd in a very limited range of matches (most notably in singles matches), by dragging your opponent to the top right corner of the barricade.

Smackdown 2007 introduces one new match type this year, the Money In The Bank match – a six-person ladder match where the winner is the one to take possession of the briefcase hanging above the ring. While essentially it is just a renamed six-way ladder match, the ladder matches have been improved to allow you to lean one ladder onto another, ala Shelton Benjamin at WrestleMania this past year.

The Create-a-Superstar mode has been modified slightly over last year’s, with a more streamlined process for creating a wrestler. It’s unfortunate to see that many of the past items have been removed, particularly hair styles, limiting the range of possibilities for your superstar. Clothes still look flat and ‘painted on’, which is a shame considering how nice the WWE superstars look in comparison. There is still a huge range of customization to be had though, and this mode still continues to hold strong as one of the best features on the Smackdown series.

Improved is the Create-an-Entrance, which now allows a greater depth of control when it comes to timing the entrance. Entrances are broken down into four sections: stage, ramp, ring-in, and ring. Each of these can be individually customized in terms of screen effects, camera angles, and pyro. Camera angles and pyro can be set in a real-time preview of the entrance to get the timing just right. Our only complaint is that a slider or seconds-based timing system may have been a bit easier to control. Nonetheless, much more robust entrances can be created when compared with last year’s game, and we’re looking forward to seeing it improve again next year.

Also returning is the GM Mode, where you are able to take control of how the show - either Raw or Smackdown – unfolds for a year. The show with the highest rating at the end of the year wins. There are a few options which can be turned off to make it easier this time round, such as turning of injuries and morale. It works the same way as it did last year - you handle the contract of your brand’s wrestlers and book them in shows and attempt to get big ratings. The addition of the Power 25 rankings is a good indication to see who is most popular, and thus in the title contention. It’s a fun mode to play with, but can become repetitive very quickly.

Keeping with the trend set in the previous games, the season mode features full voiceovers for most of the superstars, with a handful missing such as Umaga, Great Khali and understandably the legends. Unfortunately, you can’t help but feel that these voiceovers cause the season mode to feel very linear, and when combined with excessive loading times - and yes, there is quite possibly more loading time than cut-scenes - you’ll soon be sick of sitting through the exact same Big Show storyline.

One new addition to the season mode are the phone messages which you receive as the storylines unfold. Reading and/or listening to these mean that you won’t need to sit through another lot of loading to watch action unfold in the arena - although it does seem as if they were used as a cheaper replacement for cut-scenes.

Graphics are as good as they’ve ever been, and while the PS2 version doesn’t feature the sweat system found in the Xbox 360 version, the wrestler models still look as good as anyone in spandex would. For one reason or another, arenas don’t have roofs to them, and the crowd looks lifeless and far away, which brings down the atmosphere of the match.

One audio glitch that bugs me, beyond the fact that a large portion of commentary is repeated from last year, is that when a tag team is introduced, only the first partner is mentioned. It’s baffling to see that trio entrances manage to have all three members correctly announced, but a tag team can’t be. It’s not as if this may have just slipped past developer Yuke’s either, as the bug was spotted in early gameplay videos, and as such is disappointing to see it couldn’t be fixed.

With that said, Smackdown! Vs. RAW 2007 is still a solid game despite the few bugs and long loading times, and is worth at least a rental to those who are still hesitant on picking it up.