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Developer: Yuke's
Publisher: THQ
Genre: Wrestling
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 29 Oct 03
User Rating
8.6 (54 votes) -
- Yukes shows all how it's done with this latest effort, which manages to improve on all aspects, and then some.
More Screens (17 total)
Overview
Wrestling games as of late have been struggling to do anything more then average. We have had new wrestling titles for both the Gamecube and Xbox and both have yet to really do anything new or exciting. Well now the PS2 gets its turn with THQ and Yukes latest installment of the Smackdown series, WWE Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain.
Gameplay
THQ and Yukes every year have their work cut out for them, as they try to please the fans of the series with new features, gameplay tweaks, and just quite frankly a better game. This year the two companies decided they were really going to go all out with this version, try some new things, and improve upon a lot of the old. Most of these promises have been fulfilled very nicely, but Yukes still leave themselves some room for improvement.
Right when you load up the game you will notice that the game is filled with just about every possible game mode. When you go to the exhibition mode you will be presented with the options of a single, tag, six-man tag, handicap, hardcore, royal rumble, survival, and main event matches. The main event selections are where all of the well known matches are found, these include: TLC, First Blood, Hell in a Cell, Iron Man, Lumber Jack, Special Referee, Cage, Bra and Panties, and Elimination Chamber. With all of these modes it is really easy to see that Yukes did a nice job of putting in all the necessary modes to give everyone the option to play all these different types of modes.
Like I mention in almost all of my reviews of wrestling titles, I have really been disappointed with how the season modes turn out. Smackdown has had the best luck creating these season modes but they have still left quite a bit of room for improvement, and have attempted to do just that in Here Comes the Pain. You start off by selecting a wrestler (either a superstar or created wrestler) and then selecting a show (RAW or Smackdown). Once you have done this you are ready to go into the mode. You start by seeing a few cut scenes and basically you're off to go onto your season, to go through the daily struggles of a wrestler. While this sounds all well and good, I still would like to see a more in-depth plot lines that would have you more interested in completing the mode. Instead the storylines are pretty similar to last year's version and really don't bring a whole lot of light to the mode. I would have liked to have seen more "new" in the season mode, but all in all this is still the best season mode available for wrestling titles.
Some of the big areas in which Yukes really put some effort into is the grappling system which got a little out of hand in last year's version, and now they have refined the system to make it a more accurate system. The system is pretty straightforward yet effective, you are given four different grappling types and each one is assigned a direction on the D-Pad.
One of the more notable upgrades to the game is the new body damage system. Next to each wrestlers name is a little human body that shows which part of your wrestler's body is taking damage and which is still in good condition. Constantly attacking a specific body part will weaken it, and makes it easier for you to secure a pin fall or win by submission.
WWE Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain shows some really interesting ideas and then shows that there is still always room for improvement. Some of the new gameplay additions have been very much welcomed, and others just seem to take up space. Overall though Here Comes the Pain is a well polished playing wrestling title.
Graphics
Some of the biggest differences of this version of Smackdown versus the previous versions come in the graphics department. In the previous version (WWE Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth) the graphics were starting to age a bit and really seemed like it was time for the game to get upgraded, and that is exactly what Yukes did.
This is by far the best-looking Smackdown title to date, and for good reason. The character models in the game are near perfect, and they really represent the real superstars quite well. Each character is heavily detailed and really just looks quite real. This is by far the best wrestling models to be found on any console.
The arenas in which you fight in have also been upgraded from years past, and this is quite noticeable when you look at the crowd. The crowd in Here Comes the Pain really looks more alive, and looks less like paper dolls and more like real people. The backstage areas are also pretty detailed, and really are a lot more user-friendly then they have been in previous years.
Overall the graphics of Here Comes the Pain are really impressive and end up being some of the best WWE wrestling game graphics that have hit the next generation console.
Fun Factor
The one thing that seems to apply to all Smackdown titles is that they are all a lot of fun to play. In WWE Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain there are a lot of different modes to choose from. With that being said you also get quite a bit of fun while playing the multiplayer portions of the game. The game is really quite fun in both single and multiplayer and what it comes down to is if you like wrestling games your going to have fun with this one.
Overall
WWE Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain is a really solid improvement from last year's Shut Your Mouth. The graphics have been upgraded quite a bit, and the Gameplay has been tweaked in many ways to really make this an overall solid wrestling game that will definitely please any wrestling fan.
- Gameplay
9.0 - Graphics
9.0 - Fun Factor
9.0 - Overall
9.0
