For personal reference more than anything else.
Played it for a little bit to compare with 2007 and to also write this. Have played it before a fair few years ago but not enough for me to really remember playing that much, came back to it a little in the last year.
I went in to this one today not really expecting much, when I've played it recently I didn't think much of it and its the next game after 2007 so I figured at best there'd be a couple of improvements with the only real noticeable change being the graphics as its going from a PS2 game to a PS3 one. I was wrong though as this really seemed to improve a lot from the last game and multiple issues I had with 2007 were now either gone or changed for the better.
Difficulty is the main thing as the game is easier now, the reversal system seems the same but it just felt like I was able to actually reverse moves more often here which stopped fights being incredibly one-sided. Tap any button repeatedly sections are still here, but from what I could tell it was only when my character was on the ground and the time spent on the ground before being able to get up felt a lot shorter compared to the last game, gradually as the match goes on and my character took more damage they would be on the ground for longer but that's how it should be I think. So basically, button mashing isn't necessary for long. This does mean that the submission minigame has changed and I don't think I particularly like it, its just move the right stick until you either can't or shouldn't any more and its just kind of weird and dull.
The difficulty options themselves are mostly better now as normal and hard are fun to play, although they are a bit too easy I think now. Easy is kind of boring but funny at the same time as most of the time the opponent will just look at you and not do anything which makes it feel more like a practice mode perhaps. Legend is actually what I was looking for though as it doesn't feel too easy but its not too difficult either, it feels like a good balance and led to matches I could get really invested in and enjoy playing, there was an initial problem with the opponent being able to reverse basically everything all the time but thankfully this can be adjusted in the options and after that it finally felt right.
Some scattered thoughts:
• Customisation was better in this game as there were more moves to choose from but still the same amount of slots in create a moveset. Create a superstar was also better as while it was mostly the same, it just felt like there were more options and due to the graphical upgrade the characters you can make just look a lot better than the ones in 2007.
• Saving was no longer annoying as shit as the game could auto-save, so even though the game saved just as much as 2007 did, it wasn't constantly asking if I wanted to save or not.
• There are some things where my opinion just hasn't changed, I still don't really care about the career mode and I like the roster although how character selection works leaves much to be desired.
• The soundtrack though is another story as the music seems to be the same kind that was in 2007 but because I haven't really spent time with it I have no interest in it at all.
• There was this strange sense of slowness and awkwardness when it came to movement but I was just able to roll with it and quickly got used to it.
When I first realised that this game was a lot better than 2007, I was admittedly kind of pissed off because it felt wrong to have a higher opinion on this game that I have no real attachment to, instead of 2007 where I have a much stronger attachment. Its kind of a stupid feeling I think but it does come from a place of genuine surprise due to how much of an improvement was made between games, it is wild to me just how much more enjoyable this game is. I may not have particularly strong emotions regarding this game but I really like it and its a perfectly acceptable choice for when I want to play a wrestling game.
Played it for a little bit to compare with 2007 and to also write this. Have played it before a fair few years ago but not enough for me to really remember playing that much, came back to it a little in the last year.
I went in to this one today not really expecting much, when I've played it recently I didn't think much of it and its the next game after 2007 so I figured at best there'd be a couple of improvements with the only real noticeable change being the graphics as its going from a PS2 game to a PS3 one. I was wrong though as this really seemed to improve a lot from the last game and multiple issues I had with 2007 were now either gone or changed for the better.
Difficulty is the main thing as the game is easier now, the reversal system seems the same but it just felt like I was able to actually reverse moves more often here which stopped fights being incredibly one-sided. Tap any button repeatedly sections are still here, but from what I could tell it was only when my character was on the ground and the time spent on the ground before being able to get up felt a lot shorter compared to the last game, gradually as the match goes on and my character took more damage they would be on the ground for longer but that's how it should be I think. So basically, button mashing isn't necessary for long. This does mean that the submission minigame has changed and I don't think I particularly like it, its just move the right stick until you either can't or shouldn't any more and its just kind of weird and dull.
The difficulty options themselves are mostly better now as normal and hard are fun to play, although they are a bit too easy I think now. Easy is kind of boring but funny at the same time as most of the time the opponent will just look at you and not do anything which makes it feel more like a practice mode perhaps. Legend is actually what I was looking for though as it doesn't feel too easy but its not too difficult either, it feels like a good balance and led to matches I could get really invested in and enjoy playing, there was an initial problem with the opponent being able to reverse basically everything all the time but thankfully this can be adjusted in the options and after that it finally felt right.
Some scattered thoughts:
• Customisation was better in this game as there were more moves to choose from but still the same amount of slots in create a moveset. Create a superstar was also better as while it was mostly the same, it just felt like there were more options and due to the graphical upgrade the characters you can make just look a lot better than the ones in 2007.
• Saving was no longer annoying as shit as the game could auto-save, so even though the game saved just as much as 2007 did, it wasn't constantly asking if I wanted to save or not.
• There are some things where my opinion just hasn't changed, I still don't really care about the career mode and I like the roster although how character selection works leaves much to be desired.
• The soundtrack though is another story as the music seems to be the same kind that was in 2007 but because I haven't really spent time with it I have no interest in it at all.
• There was this strange sense of slowness and awkwardness when it came to movement but I was just able to roll with it and quickly got used to it.
When I first realised that this game was a lot better than 2007, I was admittedly kind of pissed off because it felt wrong to have a higher opinion on this game that I have no real attachment to, instead of 2007 where I have a much stronger attachment. Its kind of a stupid feeling I think but it does come from a place of genuine surprise due to how much of an improvement was made between games, it is wild to me just how much more enjoyable this game is. I may not have particularly strong emotions regarding this game but I really like it and its a perfectly acceptable choice for when I want to play a wrestling game.
GM mode is what's special in this game.
got me in to wrestling so u could call it the worst game of all time that ruined my life, decent SvR tho
I think that is one of the best WWE games ever or maybe could be nostalgia
Um jogo mediano. Mas era interessante para a época. Melhor coisa era pegar a cadeira e bater com ela.
The only one of the series I played on PSP! Probably not as good as it's console equivalent but I still played the hell out of it
text by Brandon Parker
★⋆☆☆
“STILL REAL TO ME DAMMIT.”
I think there’s a lot action video games could learn from wrestling video games. In most action video games, you run up, hit your opponent a few times, possibly with attacks that are either weak or strong. While that opponent is still going through his dying animation you’ve already killed the next six or so guys. There’s not a lot of time to get personal with your enemy.
Now me, I prefer circling around my opponent for a bit, sizing him up. We stare at each other for awhile maybe, move our fingers like we’re playing an invisible piano or what-have-you, then we start grabbing each other. There’s just something more satisfying to me about grabbing onto a man, trying to bend him into painful and awkward looking positions, reversing and countering my opponents moves while coming back from an ass beating, and generally just seeing two guys grappling on each other, pulling out their moves and trying to gain the upper hand.
The problem with wrestling video games for me is, they try too much to be like wrestling television. The wrestling you see on television is fake. Everyone knows this. For those who forget, you need only to make a wrestling related purchase and the sales clerk will undoubtedly inquire of you, “You know wrestling is fake, right?” as a reminder. It’s possible he might not say this verbally, look for clues in his body language such as a rolling of the eyes. You can also hear it from friends and family, if you have any of those and are comfortable enough around them to bring up the subject of wrasslin’.
Video games are fake simulations of “things,” you push buttons and if the game is good enough are tricked into thinking the task you’re performing is enjoyable. But wrestling is already a simulation. You watch it and if it’s good enough are tricked into thinking the two guys wrestling each other are really two guys pissed off at each other and wanting to beat the other guy, and JESUS look what he just did to that guys HEAD! Video games have their own limitations that require you to have a suspension of disbelief, I don’t see any reason they need to take on wrestling’s limitations as well.
In SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, there’s a part in the single-player storyline where you get hit on the head with a magic wand and as a consequence are turned into a female. This part got me a little excited, I think I even leaned forward to get a closer look. Here, I thought, maybe the designers have finally realized they don’t have to be shackled into pretending the game is a real TV show with real actor people. But they took the easy way out like the compromising bitches they are and went for the, “it was all just a dream,” bullstuff.
In a wrestling video game, Undertaker can really be a guy who comes back from the dead, instead of a guy who pretends to be dead. An old woman can really give birth to a hand. Why not have somebody, say Kurt Angle or whoever, get knifed to death in the locker room by some crazy wrestler out for revenge. Maybe Kurt spilled coffee on him, I don’t know. Anyway, say later on you’re investigating the murder, new clues surface, etc., and it turns out the guy who murdered Kurt is your opponent this Sunday, at the PAY-PER-VIEW! Not only that, you’re wrestling him in a flaming cage and there’s going to be a lion in there as well. You’re going to need help for this one so you talk to Papa Shango, who resurrects Kurt Angle as a wrestler eating zombie with his voodoo magic so you two can go and get your vengeance at what I’m sure is the VENGEANCE pay-per-view. If Vince McMahon could get away with that I know he’d do it. So why hold back in the video game?
You know what my ideal wrestling game is? Let me tell you. Imagine somebody, let’s say Shawn Michaels, is trudging through some type of African savanna or Australian badlands type of terrain. He comes across a watering hole. He’s thirsty, so he gets a drink. Mmm, that’s good. Wait! He hears a gazelle approaching, so he climbs up into a nearby tree. The gazelle cautiously approaches the watering hole. He looks around for predators and, seeing none, lowers his head to get a drink. Shawn Michaels strikes! “ELBOW DROP FROM THE TOP OF THE OAK TREE ONTO THAT GAZELLE, BAH GAWD! HE JUST KILLED THAT DAMN GAZELLE!! HE’S GOT NO SOOWWWWLLL!“ The Heartbreak Kid lifts up that damn dead gazelle and lugs it across his back, carrying it across the wasteland to his tribal leader Triple H. A great feast is prepared for the coming attack on the Luchadore tribe a few hills over, but they get into an argument over the food. For example, Triple H might say, “I want the heart.” Then Shawn Michaels may say, “No.” Then they beat each other with steel folding chairs.
So I guess it would be something like wrestling, Snake Eater and Afrika. Some sort of survival grappling game. Compared to this ideal game, this, rogue nation of wrestle heaven, I have to say that WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 doesn’t really come close. As a simulation of an actual episode of WWE television it’s pretty accurate though, but that’s more like living in wrestle hell. You have to listen to assy rock music at every menu and loading screen and have a roster of mostly generic and uninteresting people to play as. There’s also the repetitive commentary and stupid stuff like “bra & panty” matches.
I don’t have time for that nonsense. I’m a man and I just want to see two other men of great athletic skill pretend to fight each other. It’s also a bonus if there’s a compelling reason for their pretend fight. This hardly happens on TV wrestling though. So while it’s accurate as a TV wrestling simulator, they should worry more about making a fun wrestling game instead. It’s like a video game based on the game Madden based on the sport of football, when instead it should be a game based on modern day gladiatorial combat.
I still recommend you give it a play though if you’ve never played a wrestling game before or get embarrassed just from seeing it on television while flipping through channels. It’d be good for you to experience something new. You should round up three or more other people, get a controller for each of them, a multi-tap if you need one of those, and have yourselves a 6 man ladder match. It’s fun beating the stuff out of your friends, trying to be the first to climb up a ladder while anywhere around 4 other guys are trying to knock it down or get up there themselves. Next time you play Fight Night you’ll wish they had Tornado-Tag Matches.
★⋆☆☆
“STILL REAL TO ME DAMMIT.”
I think there’s a lot action video games could learn from wrestling video games. In most action video games, you run up, hit your opponent a few times, possibly with attacks that are either weak or strong. While that opponent is still going through his dying animation you’ve already killed the next six or so guys. There’s not a lot of time to get personal with your enemy.
Now me, I prefer circling around my opponent for a bit, sizing him up. We stare at each other for awhile maybe, move our fingers like we’re playing an invisible piano or what-have-you, then we start grabbing each other. There’s just something more satisfying to me about grabbing onto a man, trying to bend him into painful and awkward looking positions, reversing and countering my opponents moves while coming back from an ass beating, and generally just seeing two guys grappling on each other, pulling out their moves and trying to gain the upper hand.
The problem with wrestling video games for me is, they try too much to be like wrestling television. The wrestling you see on television is fake. Everyone knows this. For those who forget, you need only to make a wrestling related purchase and the sales clerk will undoubtedly inquire of you, “You know wrestling is fake, right?” as a reminder. It’s possible he might not say this verbally, look for clues in his body language such as a rolling of the eyes. You can also hear it from friends and family, if you have any of those and are comfortable enough around them to bring up the subject of wrasslin’.
Video games are fake simulations of “things,” you push buttons and if the game is good enough are tricked into thinking the task you’re performing is enjoyable. But wrestling is already a simulation. You watch it and if it’s good enough are tricked into thinking the two guys wrestling each other are really two guys pissed off at each other and wanting to beat the other guy, and JESUS look what he just did to that guys HEAD! Video games have their own limitations that require you to have a suspension of disbelief, I don’t see any reason they need to take on wrestling’s limitations as well.
In SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, there’s a part in the single-player storyline where you get hit on the head with a magic wand and as a consequence are turned into a female. This part got me a little excited, I think I even leaned forward to get a closer look. Here, I thought, maybe the designers have finally realized they don’t have to be shackled into pretending the game is a real TV show with real actor people. But they took the easy way out like the compromising bitches they are and went for the, “it was all just a dream,” bullstuff.
In a wrestling video game, Undertaker can really be a guy who comes back from the dead, instead of a guy who pretends to be dead. An old woman can really give birth to a hand. Why not have somebody, say Kurt Angle or whoever, get knifed to death in the locker room by some crazy wrestler out for revenge. Maybe Kurt spilled coffee on him, I don’t know. Anyway, say later on you’re investigating the murder, new clues surface, etc., and it turns out the guy who murdered Kurt is your opponent this Sunday, at the PAY-PER-VIEW! Not only that, you’re wrestling him in a flaming cage and there’s going to be a lion in there as well. You’re going to need help for this one so you talk to Papa Shango, who resurrects Kurt Angle as a wrestler eating zombie with his voodoo magic so you two can go and get your vengeance at what I’m sure is the VENGEANCE pay-per-view. If Vince McMahon could get away with that I know he’d do it. So why hold back in the video game?
You know what my ideal wrestling game is? Let me tell you. Imagine somebody, let’s say Shawn Michaels, is trudging through some type of African savanna or Australian badlands type of terrain. He comes across a watering hole. He’s thirsty, so he gets a drink. Mmm, that’s good. Wait! He hears a gazelle approaching, so he climbs up into a nearby tree. The gazelle cautiously approaches the watering hole. He looks around for predators and, seeing none, lowers his head to get a drink. Shawn Michaels strikes! “ELBOW DROP FROM THE TOP OF THE OAK TREE ONTO THAT GAZELLE, BAH GAWD! HE JUST KILLED THAT DAMN GAZELLE!! HE’S GOT NO SOOWWWWLLL!“ The Heartbreak Kid lifts up that damn dead gazelle and lugs it across his back, carrying it across the wasteland to his tribal leader Triple H. A great feast is prepared for the coming attack on the Luchadore tribe a few hills over, but they get into an argument over the food. For example, Triple H might say, “I want the heart.” Then Shawn Michaels may say, “No.” Then they beat each other with steel folding chairs.
So I guess it would be something like wrestling, Snake Eater and Afrika. Some sort of survival grappling game. Compared to this ideal game, this, rogue nation of wrestle heaven, I have to say that WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 doesn’t really come close. As a simulation of an actual episode of WWE television it’s pretty accurate though, but that’s more like living in wrestle hell. You have to listen to assy rock music at every menu and loading screen and have a roster of mostly generic and uninteresting people to play as. There’s also the repetitive commentary and stupid stuff like “bra & panty” matches.
I don’t have time for that nonsense. I’m a man and I just want to see two other men of great athletic skill pretend to fight each other. It’s also a bonus if there’s a compelling reason for their pretend fight. This hardly happens on TV wrestling though. So while it’s accurate as a TV wrestling simulator, they should worry more about making a fun wrestling game instead. It’s like a video game based on the game Madden based on the sport of football, when instead it should be a game based on modern day gladiatorial combat.
I still recommend you give it a play though if you’ve never played a wrestling game before or get embarrassed just from seeing it on television while flipping through channels. It’d be good for you to experience something new. You should round up three or more other people, get a controller for each of them, a multi-tap if you need one of those, and have yourselves a 6 man ladder match. It’s fun beating the stuff out of your friends, trying to be the first to climb up a ladder while anywhere around 4 other guys are trying to knock it down or get up there themselves. Next time you play Fight Night you’ll wish they had Tornado-Tag Matches.
boring
This was the best WWE game in my opinion. Absolutely loaded roster, fighting in the crowd, GM mode, it's just perfect.
Had an interessting Gimmick with the different Fighting Styles and the GM Mode was cool. But as with all WWE Games, the Gameplay is just bad
Lembro de ter jogado muito um wwe no ps2, não sei se foi esse e nem sei se tem modo história, mas vou acionar aqui por vai que.
sabú
This game ruined the series pretty much, has some novelty for the roster and gm mode/story mode but the gameplay is so much worse than earlier games
PSP'm olmasa oynamazdım.
A massive step down from SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, and definitely one of the weaker entries. There's a lot of negative to note upon playing this game, such as: the extremely limited roster, severe lack of moves, slow and sluggish almost sim-like gameplay, messy 24/7 mode that makes no sense, lack of moves in create-a-moveset, etc. One WWE game that can be skipped
Acho que eu passava mais horas criando meu lutador que jogando mesmo, mas só gostava de jogar com alguém. Sozinho era um tanto quanto entediante.
I abandoned him xd
I only remember that I didn't like it but I only played for a few hours
I only remember that I didn't like it but I only played for a few hours
PICA
SvR 2008 was so fun. I remember being so excited about ECW, and the game overall it a good experience.
I give Smackdown vs Raw 2008 a 7!
I give Smackdown vs Raw 2008 a 7!
Still quite fun after all these year. Wii version made your arms fall off though...
This rating is purely nostalgia. This was the first wrestling game I remember owning and as a kid I absolutely loved GM Mode. Playing it now, there's a few flaws to it; the smallish roster being noticeable after a bit is the biggest to me. But this game sparked a huge love of wrestling for me and I can't discount that
Where's the Chris Benoit build at, Yukes?
It’s a DS wrestling game. It’s actually a decent game
NOW FEATURING ECW.
Loved GM mode but the gameplay was subpar at best.
The earliest memory I have of this game was with me and my cousins going at it with hell in a cell matches for hours and hours
Really miss those times WWE games were this fun
Really miss those times WWE games were this fun
After 2006 this series started spiraling downhill
i'm having the worst mandela effect with this game
for some reason I remember this game having "hey oh" by red hot chilli peppers as its main menu theme and when I check every single soundtrack of any ps2 era wwe game there is no trace of "hey oh" by red hot chilli peppers
it's driving me crazy
for some reason I remember this game having "hey oh" by red hot chilli peppers as its main menu theme and when I check every single soundtrack of any ps2 era wwe game there is no trace of "hey oh" by red hot chilli peppers
it's driving me crazy
Depends on the version you get. The PSP, PS2, 360 and PS3 versions are alright, but a step down from previous games. The DS version is weird, but not terrible. The Wii version is trash, with less content than some of the GBA games. Ultimately, unless you're a big Kenny Dykstra fan, you're not getting much out of this game.
Um dos jogos mais fracos da "série". Os estilos para cada lutador limita a jogabilidade, deixando as lutas meio iguais. Sistema de "reversal" MUITO ruim. Muito difícil acertar o reversal mesmo apertando na hora certa. A dificuldade das lutas contra a maquina aumenta por causa disso.
O "24/7 mode" que é o único modo história do jogo é fraquíssimo, principalmente se comparado ao "Smackdown vs RAW 2007" (jogo anterior). A história como lutador é extremamente repetitiva e confusa. O sistema de desbloquear lutador é muito ruim, você precisa "comprar" o lutador com o "salário" que ganha. Upar o lutador parece não mudar nada no jogo. A história como "GM" melhora um pouco por causa da adição da "ECW" no jogo, mas mesmo assim é bem repetitivo.
O roster e as escolhas que você pode fazer na história são as poucas coisas positivas desse game.
O "24/7 mode" que é o único modo história do jogo é fraquíssimo, principalmente se comparado ao "Smackdown vs RAW 2007" (jogo anterior). A história como lutador é extremamente repetitiva e confusa. O sistema de desbloquear lutador é muito ruim, você precisa "comprar" o lutador com o "salário" que ganha. Upar o lutador parece não mudar nada no jogo. A história como "GM" melhora um pouco por causa da adição da "ECW" no jogo, mas mesmo assim é bem repetitivo.
O roster e as escolhas que você pode fazer na história são as poucas coisas positivas desse game.