WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2009

[Baddar]

The crowd still seem pretty dead, especially looking at Santino's entrance there. It's not that they've been "dead" as such on entrances before, but they just don't sound like a real crowd to me. Maybe I'm just nit-picking.

And the way he won the match was funny, with legs on the ropes while the ref just counts it anyway.

Also, I don't like the beginning of Stone Cold's music hitting () every time someone hits a finisher.

[New Damage]

*Santino cock/gut punch*

"Talk about meeting of the minds."

Huh?

"I can watch these two superstars go all night JR", you mean like you've been saying in the last four SD! games in exactly the same tone? Ugh.

CAF looks like it's put together though and is about the only thing that interest me about the game. There was nothing different about last years game except typical new people in it. Though those epically long finishers that you know the twats are gonna make will be fucking annoying, which isn't THQ's fault by any means. The exploding screen after every move is lame. After watching all the TNA Impact videos, I've now grown acustomed to the reversal/finisher noises, but if I were to get this game, I don't know if an exploding screen will do the same. It looks like they've made the HUD smaller too, which is a good thing rather than having a six-man tag team match that fills up 50% of the screen with everyone's name meters.

I am definately looking more forward to Impact though, if not just for playing as different people like Styles, Joe etc, but new gameplay as well. People will say "lol, lack of modes", but the wrestling itself looks top notch and a match looks longer than a typical Smackdown match, which even on hard mode would take about 5 minutes.

[Media 2.0]

You can give up hope for new commentary.

They've got a system, they think, works, so they're just going to keep using it. Even when they have to do new commentary, like adding JBL last year, they're still using the same lines.

But as I saw someone else say, what else can you really expect from the game commentary? It's not like there's story to talk about. I don't see many other options, other then random lines of commentary that go throughout the match. The only problem is the glitches (Like, chairshot, Stunner!) which need to be fix, but other then that, I'mnot seeing the huge problem. At least we do get the few, new superstar specific comments every year. (Which will usually be overridden if you hit a high impact move though) Plus, at least you can turn it off.

although I hate complete silence during a match. Repetitive commentary or not.

[jase12881]

You can give up hope for new commentary.

They've got a system, they think, works, so they're just going to keep using it. Even when they have to do new commentary, like adding JBL last year, they're still using the same lines.

But as I saw someone else say, what else can you really expect from the game commentary? It's not like there's story to talk about. I don't see many other options, other then random lines of commentary that go throughout the match. The only problem is the glitches (Like, chairshot, Stunner!) which need to be fix, but other then that, I'mnot seeing the huge problem. At least we do get the few, new superstar specific comments every year. (Which will usually be overridden if you hit a high impact move though) Plus, at least you can turn it off.

although I hate complete silence during a match. Repetitive commentary or not.

Yeah, but there's a few moments when you can tell that they didn't give the commentators any kind of context for some of the recorded responses to each other. You can tell when they make comments with entirely the wrong voice inflection. They could at least fix something like that.

[New Damage]

Yeah that's what I mean.

You get "and here it is JR, the Stone Cold Stunner." as opposed to "OH MY GOD, STUNNAH!"

The former sounds flat, and the latter is hyped up, just in case you were wondering from a keyboard's lack of tone.

[Hutch2004]

In IGN's Match of the Week (or whatever they're calling it), there is a LOT of that. So it actually looks like the commentary is a little bit worse than last year. I never actually listen to what it's saying though, it's just there so I can hear J.R while I play a wrestling game. On another note, Coach is in it, which actually suits a game more than it ever did TV.

Benjamin looks the best model they've had so far. I was hoping for him in his all gold attire, but this one is quite good too. The Paydirt is in too, which is nice.

Anyone know what each of the special abilities do? We've seen Illegal Pin, where they place their feet on the ropes, and Possum Pin has been in the last few years, but I'm curious to know what "Hammer Throw" does. Benjamin seems to have the best set of abilities so far, with:

Benjamin's Abilities

Dirty Pin / Hammer Throw

Ladder Match / Outside Dives

Springboard / Possum Pin

The Ladder Match ability look interesting as well, no idea what it could do. My favourite one they've mentioned so far is the Nip-Up, where if you have a stored finisher, you can use it at any point, and bounce onto your feet HBK style, with full momentum. Could lead to some really interesting match-ups, which look a lot more natural in the moves this year.

It looks like a LOT of the basic animations have been re-done, which they say they've done every year, but this year actually looks like they've done it. All in all, I'm much more excited this year than last year, as it looks like a better game, and a lot more polished, where as last year just felt like they had one idea and stuck with it, even to the detriment of the game play.

Edited September 6, 2008 by Hutch2004

[JairusCain]

*sigh* Leave it to Michael Cole to even botch the name of a move in a video game. Can't just call it the Paydirt... OH NO!!! He has to call it the "jumping complete shot".. lol LAME

But of course, little things like this definitely wouldn't keep me from getting the game, as I get it every year regardless.

[Slogger]

*sigh* Leave it to Michael Cole to even botch the name of a move in a video game. Can't just call it the Paydirt... OH NO!!! He has to call it the "jumping complete shot".. lol LAME

But of course, little things like this definitely wouldn't keep me from getting the game, as I get it every year regardless.

First of all the voice overs and commentary were done BEFORE Shelton started calling it the Paydirt, That's why it's not called the Paydirt in game, Shelton is US Champ in the vid and he started using the move now known as the "Paydirt" just before he won the US title, That's when the cutoff date was.

[Gato]

If I didn't know better, I'd think the graphic of Shelton is a real photograph! Amazing!

[JairusCain]

*sigh* Leave it to Michael Cole to even botch the name of a move in a video game. Can't just call it the Paydirt... OH NO!!! He has to call it the "jumping complete shot".. lol LAME

But of course, little things like this definitely wouldn't keep me from getting the game, as I get it every year regardless.

First of all the voice overs and commentary were done BEFORE Shelton started calling it the Paydirt, That's why it's not called the Paydirt in game, Shelton is US Champ in the vid and he started using the move now known as the "Paydirt" just before he won the US title, That's when the cutoff date was.

True, true. Valid point. I didn't think about that. Sorry.

[zero]

Justin Roberts announcing in this game makes me want to stab myself in the ears with rusty salad tongs.

And the fact that Coach/Cole do commentary on SD venues pretty much guarantees I'll be avoiding that brand at all costs.

[TCO]

Shelton was using the name Paydirt for a long time, even before Wrestlemania, so theres no excuse for that.

[Hutch2004]

I don't care who the commentary is coming from, it's a set of pre-written, pre-recorded lines. Actual commentating ability has pretty much no effect on the commentary in game, so it can be Cole and Coach, or JR and King, it doesn't really matter.

Although Benjamin was using the Paydirt since before Wrestlemania, it was quite awhile before anyone gave it a name. I think it was randomly called in an ECW match. Like John Morrison's Moonlight Drive, it's a move that HAS a name, but doesn't often get called. I don't think it was until he moved to Smackdown that it actually started being called on a regular basis, wasn't it? Besides, the only part about it that's irritating is them calling it that in the commentary, and even then, it's a minor gripe.

What's the deal with finishing moves? It looks like you can only hit them when you're at full momentum, and if you store it, it becomes a signature move. So does that mean you get two finishers, and select three signature moves for trademarks? That's a lot of customisation, especially when you can then choose six abilities that give you different character specific things you can do. It's really going to be like what they said last year, that every character is going to be very different, and you're going to end up picking the character who has the combination of abilities that you like the best.

[Johnny Latino Heat]

I don't think this was posted yet, but here's some info and a video about the Road To Wrestlemania mode:

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/908/908887p1.html

I don't quite like the limited options for wrestler selection, but the rest looks quite awesome IMO.

[Zeel1]

I'm thinking DLC will have more storylines for Road To WrestleMania. They where probably working on a lot, and ended up finishing almost none of them before game release.

Edited September 10, 2008 by Zeel1

[zero]

That is really... really fucking stupid. So essentially if you're a fan of: Shawn Michaels, Edge, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Randy Orton, Finlay, JBL, Kane, Big Show, MVP, Shelton, or Mr. Kennedy, you're shit out of luck. Hell, they only have one heel on the list - Jericho, and knowing how far behind the Smackdown games are, he'll probably be a face. And roughly 14 hours to play ALL SIX stories? So basically you're getting about a set of six, two hour long storymodes. This reeks of laziness.

Edited September 10, 2008 by Zero

[Ruki]

But apparently there is going to be a mode where you can use other characters/CAW....maybe a non-voice acting season like HCTP?

[Gabriel]

That is really... really fucking stupid. So essentially if you're a fan of: Shawn Michaels, Edge, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Randy Orton, Finlay, JBL, Kane, Big Show, MVP, Shelton, or Mr. Kennedy, you're shit out of luck. Hell, they only have one heel on the list - Jericho, and knowing how far behind the Smackdown games are, he'll probably be a face. This reeks of laziness.

But it's still miles ahead of choosing your favorite heel, Edge, and then going through a storyline where you're not only inexplicably a face, but you get turned into a woman, then you start feuding with someone because they don't like your face, and then you become a wizard and fight McMahon.

Character specific storylines for Road to Wrestlemania are exactly where they need to be... but they need to have more options for characters... and there needs to be a storyline for created wrestlers as well, even if it's just something as simple as you starting out on house shows, working your way up, and eventually getting signed by one of the shows, where you go through set paths based on your decisions and yadda yadda.

[zero]

I like the idea of character-specific storylines, but for fuck's sake, SEVEN GUYS?! And no Orton, Edge or Michaels?

But apparently there is going to be a mode where you can use other characters/CAW....maybe a non-voice acting season like HCTP?

I didn't see that in the article, did I miss it?

Edited September 10, 2008 by Zero

[SRN]

There was a tag team storyline mode, right? And am I reading this right when it mentioned that you could choose once story-specific tag team and taht team was.. BATISTA AND REY MYSTERIO?!