When I think of a next-generation WWE wrestling video game the thoughts and visions that follow are usually far from positive, rarely reaching to the status of something that would be fun or enjoyable. It’s been a long time since I’ve has a good time partaking in a virtual wrestling match, maybe all the way back to the Nintendo 64. The point being that there was a time when games of this genre were fun, actually a blast, and I was really hoping that THQ and Yuke’s would bring the pain this time around. It only took a few hours with the all-new story mode to figure out that they succeeded far beyond my highest expectations. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 is easily the best next-gen wrestling game to come out yet, blowing all competition far out of the water. A deep story mode, impressive multiplayer features, new customization options, and more game modes than you will know what to do with help; but the real improvement comes with the general gameplay, something that has’nt been done correct in a wrestling title in a long time.
Yuke’s is famous for their wrestling games, it’s basically all they know so it was only a matter of time before all the dots were connected and they created a good one. It looks as though they put all their eggs in one basket with Smackdown 2009, including every single feature or gameplay mode that fans have ever dreamed of. The meat and potatos of the game is the completely new and revamped story mode. You can play through one of five different story lines, each with it’s own matches and dialog, based around a couple different WWE superstars. My personal favorite was John Cena’s story but there is also a Triple H one and a Tag Team story, along with a few others. The basic outline for the story mode goes like this: once you have selected your path the fun begins with a couple exhibition fights then some major ones. This story progression goes on, back and forth, for a couple hours and finishs with a major match (usually a Wrestlemania type PPV event).
Throughout the story you will control the WWE superstar backstage, on private jets, and in a number of different exotic-style match-ups against some of the more famous wrestlers. I serisouly cannot remember the last time a wrestling game’s single-player campaign gripped me like WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 did. During my review time I clocked well over 20 hours in total, playing through each of the storylines to completion. There was something about how the developers decided to tell each superstar’s storry that just grabbed, and held, my attention. Each one is unique enough (the Tag Team plot is fantastic) to not feel repetetive and to be honest I probably would have been happy with the game had it ended here. Fortunetly for us, and all other wrestling fans, it was only the beginning.
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 features the largest number of exhibition match types ever put into a wrestling game, totalling well over 50 if lined up one after another. Some of my favorites had to be the inferno match, the classic ladder match, hell in a cell, extreme rules, and first blood. I literally spent a couple hours with one of my buddies just trying out each match type, some being much better than others but either way there is a match type for every single wrestling fan out there. It makes me wonder what the guys over at Yuke’s are holding for next year’s edition of the game? The create-a-superstar mode is back with plenty more options to choose from, nothing revolutionary here but nice to have included in the game. The big customization feature that is new to Smackdown 2009 and really stands out above everything else has to be the “create-a-finisher” feature, which has never been done before. In this mode you can go through each step of your finishing move, customizing the entire thing along the way. This allows you to create some really unique, amazing finishing moves and the fun never ends.
