It’s the FU, the FU!It looks like the Undertaker is down for the count. John Cena is going to be the victor of this match! Oh no, waitaminit, the Deadman is rising, and he looks pissed!

The iconic J.R. screams from the ringside announcer’s table, throwing sparks of tension into the already electric atmosphere.

WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 (SVR 09) has come a long way since the days of the original WWF Smackdown!

Road To Glory

THQ has made many new improvements to this latest addition to the Smackdown series, not least of which is the widely publicised Road To WrestleMania (RTWM). Granting you control over 7 of the most famous superstars in the WWE pantheon (Triple H, John Cena, The Undertaker, CM Punk, Chris Jericho and tag-team co-op of Batista and Rey Mysterio), you’ll fight their battles in the storylines leading up to Wrestlemania XXIV.

THQ has created an engaging single player mode in RWTM. Storylines co-written by the WWE writers make each character’s personal Road To WrestleMania journey just as interesting as the actual WWE ones and will leave you wishing that there were more than just 7 superstars in this mode.

As is in real-life WWE universe, plot twists are commonplace and you will see many of these being featured in the RWTM. In one point of Triple H’s plotline, he guest referees a matchup between 2 superstars belonging to separate rival factions. At this crossroads in his storyline, Triple H’s future allegience will hinge on the outcome of this pivotal match – resulting in him joining either one of the 2 most famous wrestling stables in WWE history: D-Generation X or Evolution and his choice will decide his eventual fate at WrestleMania XXIV. Here’s the thing: no one ever said anything about fair refereeing – biasing the outcome in one particular superstar’s favour by way of underhand means is perfectly legal.

The Good, The Bad, And The Downright Ugly

Not only has THQ given fans intricate storylines to play through, they’ve also allowed them to create and extensively customise their own character using the Create-A-Superstar feature. Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 is one of the first of its kind to provide such massive customisation options to its players. Not only is there a Create-A-Wrestler, there’s also Create-An-Entrance, which features an extension to create entrances for your personal tag teams.

However, one of the most defining things about Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 is the Create-A-Finisher mode. You can chain together 10 different moves out of about 500 different ones to create a personalised finisher for your own superstar. However, even though this is a new feature for the SvR series, the choices are still rather limited. Selecting a certain move as your second or third choice will only lead into a couple of other preset moves. Thus, although the much-vaunted Create-A-Finisher mode is rather entertaining, sometimes it just doesn’t give you the truly freeform customisability that you’d expect.

Once you finish slowly polishing your character as meticulously as you can, its time to take him (or her) into the ring. Career mode is where you get to slowly train up your character and win the various title belts. Starting off at a measly overall score of 30, you have to keep fighting matches to bring your character to the lofty heights of 100. Very few wrestlers have reached that, and within the game itself, only Triple H, John Cena, the Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton are in the 90s.

Another added feature in SvR 09 is abilities, of which each character has a set. Abilities allows them to use special moves or attacks in specific situations. Durability is one such ability that allows the player to heal a certain amount of limb damage when in a match. These abilities can prove invaluable in turning the tide of a match when used correctly. Unfortunately, unlocking these abilities isn’t as easy as you’d think. For one, there aren’t any specific instructions on what are the requirements for each ability, and you’ll only find out what it requires after you have unlocked the ability.

To be fair, several problems also plague SvR 09. There are clearly some bugs in the game, for example, when in a Tornado Tag match, you can actually pin your partner and have it result in a win for your team. Using The Hardyz against the Brothers of Destruction, UrbanWire knocked the Undertaker out of the ring and brought Kane down to the canvas, then as we tried to pin Kane, we instead went down on our partner, who was knocked down next to him. Before we knew it, the referee counted to 3 and UrbanWire had won via pinfall on Jeff.

 

Granted that even in the best games, occasional bugs exist, this is unacceptable for game with SvR 09’s proud lineage. However, with the makings of a fantastic game, SvR 09 looks to be a first in a fresh new lineup of wrestling games in future.

UrbanWire gives WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 09 an overall score of 7.5/10.0
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 09 is a B game.

WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2009 is available on the Xbox 360 ($71.90), PS3 ($81.90) and a special
PS3 collector’s edition ($109.00) from Replay Interactive.

Screenshots taken from Replay Interactive