Just like WWE is on a downfall after the Attitude era, THQ's Smackdown games were never as good after Pain.
NEGATIVES: Disappointing SFX again, No legends (Actual WWE Superstars), extremely poor physics still plague the series, career mode serves no purpose, the game is too easy and rarely poses a challenge, refractive AI.
No matter to what extent the previous Smackdown games have been critically panned, I am one WWE fan-man who's purchased every single THQ rundown of the wrestling arena, since its inception with WW(E) Smackdown: Know Your Role. But the standard, bar and level of the SD games has noticeably fallen since Here Comes The Pain, and the little bits of charisma that remained after Pain, viz. in SVR 05 & 06 in the form of good stories and cutscenes hugely diminished as SVR 07 & 08 heavily disappointed. Now, as good voice-overs and cutscenes make a return in SVR 09, they are bound to the Road to Wrestlemania mode, and you have no chance to play through the story mode with your created superstar, or any other superstar except the Power 25 biggies that made it in the game, which is very unappealing. Also the lack of former WW (E) Superstars and this whole business stratagem to promote the upcoming Legends of Wrestlemania is appalling. This makes for a dreary roster that you will in no time get bored with, as just like the new WWE it's new superstars don't even stand in comparison to the likes of Stone Cold, Masked Kane, The Rock and many other legends. Except a handful few like Undertaker, Kane, Shawn Michaels, Triple H & Batista, there is nothing to look for among the wrestler's list. You'll love the roster only if you're a fan of the likes of Shad, Paul London, Jesse, Jimmy Wang Yang and The Miz.
The Road to Wrestlemania mode is definitely the game's savior and except for this mode, the game doesn't have much else to offer. Albeit the nerds can spend hours at a stretch creating there own "DVDs" with the highlight reel tool and upload them to the respective Network. A major letdown of the highlight reel is that it is unusable during most hardcore and backstage matches though. Also, there is no use if you're not playing on the Hard & Legend difficulty levels as the game lacks appropriate AI equilibrium, and can be inexplicably easy at times.
The in-game sound effects, especially the ring mat-contact sounds are just plain dull and take the fight out of you. All you hear while wrestling in the game is the chants of the crowd and commentary from a very uninterested Michael Cole (voice acting by other commentators is fine, though). Interestingly, the SFX added to the Road to Wrestlemania cutscenes is excellent, but it is absent from the gameplay alright, which is no sense at all. The SFX from Here Comes the Pain was arguably the best, remember that whizzing sound of Brock Lesnar's clothesline hurling opposition in the air, and the brutal but riveting sound made by the Undertaker's punch. The return of the series to those sound effects would be desirable, as it is these sound effects that craft the in-game experience. Trying to come close to the broadcast style of WWE Programming by the SD games is of no use, as it is in the end a game, and that's why we make games, they make things far from reality seem real. Likes of GTA IV & MGS 4 wouldn't be ruling a million hearts if they were a fraction close to reality.
SVR 09 is unambiguously not the best of SD games, but it's a refreshing improvement after 2-3 years of laid-back "will-sell" programming by the developers. WWE fans and those looking for a game that would require you a good 30-40 hours to explore all its possibilities, can safely go in for this one. And that's the bottom line, coz…. Let it be, he's not in SVR 09, I'll throw out the Legends of Wrestlemania case the day I buy it if he's not in it!!! I'll keep the disk, okay…