WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 (Wii) Review

Nintendo in the past has always had a very strong showing when it comes to the wrestling game genre. From games like Royal Rumble on the Super Nintendo, No Mercy on the Nintendo 64 to the Day of Reckoning series on the Gamecube. But until now, we have never really seen the series that has always seemed that step ahead in recent years. The latest offering of the Smackdown vs Raw franchise has finally landed for its debut on the Wii and for this generations first effort, the game definitely has an intriguing spark to it.

The game offers a more simplified and arcade feel to it, compared to its counter parts on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation consoles. Straight off the bat first and foremost, gamers who are looking for an immersive wrestling experience, be warned this game has been created for quick game play. You will find at many times during the game, the matches can last less then 3 minutes and will sometimes feel quite rushed. I’m not saying that this is bad at all, as the game has definitely been catered for a true Wii experience. A flick of the wrist with the Wii-mote either up, down, left or right will activate your players basic moves, while the character control is done by moving your control stick on the Nun Chuck. Basic moves consist of the usual punches, kicks etc. There is no run button in the game, but running moves can be used by keeping some distance between yourself and your opponent. To use these you would flick you wrist in the direction of your opponent and you will find that your character will launch out with a clothesline and so forth. You can also use either A or B button to do a running grapple.

These moves vary depending on the style of character you are using. The heavyweight characters will do the more powerful moves like Powerslams and Gorilla Press lifts, while your lightweight wrestlers will do the more exotic, flamboyant aerial moves. Moves such as quick grabs and hard grabs feel very similar to the Day of Reckoning games on the Gamecube. These are pulled of by holding the A button for the quick Headlock Takeovers and the such while your B button will initiate the more complex moves. Finishing moves are just as easy to pull off, by holding down the A and B buttons together and flicking your Wii-mote in any direction, but these can only be activated when your opponents Health bar is in the Red, on the verge of losing the match.

Making your favourite wrestlers taunt is as easy as recreating or mimicking their taunts, for example, waving the Wii-mote while holding it vertically will get a wrestler like John Cena doing his famous You Can’t See Me taunt or by making a crotch chop action with both the Nun Chuck and Wii-mote to get Shawn Michaels to do the famous Suck It taunt. You will find this quite enjoyable in the presence of friends.

Overall, the game play is quite enjoyable but some people may find this game a bit lacklustre due to the simplified set up. People looking for a more strategic wrestling experience may not enjoy it as much. The game modes are single match, tag team, triple threat and k.o. matches. But unfortunately, this game does lack the options of some of the previously made Smackdown Vs. Raw games due to time restraints on the game. There are no speciality matches like the Steel Cage, Hell In A Cell, not to mention the game play is limited to only 4 players, so theres no 6 way play.

The usual Create-A-Wrestler option is thrown in the mix as well, but again options are limited. There is also a tournament mode which will have you competing in a King of the Ring or a Beat the Clock match, and then finally there is the Story Mode called Main Event.This is where the game really does lack. The main event mode consists of choosing a player, selecting a brand to play on and rising to the heights of a wrestling legend.

You can accept or decline challenges, ask for a partner to help with tag team challenges, or speak to Divas. You will find a lot of the time that the challenges come from the same characters and due to the lack of variety in the matches it can become quite repetitive. Also, when you finally make it to the Pay Per View event to challenge for a title, you will generally only get one Pay Per View option e.g. If you are playing on the Raw brand you will only unlock the New Years Revolution event to play at. You will find yourself coming back to the same Pay Per View time and time again to defend your title as well, so there will be no Survivor Series for you. The lack of any scripted story animation throughout the games storyline helps lose the depth and character of what the Day of Reckoning and previous Smackdown games were all about. Not to mention, that there is no use of any type of timeline which makes the whole thing feel very plain.

The graphics are still very clean and crisp, which is always expected for such a popular franchise and are on par with at least the PS2 version of the game with only a few glitches here and there. They’re noticeable when you try to pull off a Turnbuckle move on a downed foe to watch them flip up the right way when you land. The crowd is the usual cardboard cut outs we have seen for years.
The commentary of each WWE brands announcers help to add to the game and while the commentary is entertaining, the recorded scripting of the announcers can become tedious and repetitive as the comments are mainly based on the wrestlers themselves rather than the in ring action.

For its first year on the Wii, Smackdown vs Raw is still an amazing effort. It not only has brought the Smackdown brand to Nintendo, but it has managed to be very innovative. The game manages to make a simple to use control system to help un-clutter what would normally be a quite complicated experience, with Yuke’s really putting good thought into how to use the Wii-mote and it shows in the way the game plays. But, the lack of options and an underdone story focus in the overall game really hurts, and it shows in the final product.