SvR heads in the right direction, giving you creativity and the ability to enjoy yourself.
however, i give the game a hard to describe classification, as some issues in this game tried to ruin my experience. sometimes successfully, sometimes not. but the new features indicate that the series is definitely heading in the right direction.
Gameplay:
What I applaud is the fact that the designers have finally fixed so many problems that have shadowed the game series for years. What problems exactly? Well, as a huge SvR fan, i am pleased to notice that the gameplay is finally "Fun."
Your control over the characters no longer emulate a tank with 7000 protocols.
the move's effectiveness depend on the complexity of the move, for this reason, you will end up actually trying to display some impressive wrestling in order to defeat your enemy, instead of just suplexing your enemy until you knock them out, like in the previous games, unless your in a hardcore match, in which the best COA is to bloody your opponent to death. however, with the main gameplay, the wider range of options mean you'll be struggling to pull off an impresive string of attacks or a remarkable combo, and when you do, it will be much more rewarding.
In Short, for these reasons, gameplay is far less linear, and far more exciting.
Graphics:
The game has great presentation, but the graphics are a different story. the audience still looks awful. I don't understand why they refuse to improve the Crowd Members. High Quality, High Textured crowd members would greatly improve immersion.
The wrestlers look great, some more than others.
However, no part of the Game Graphics are very compelling.
Sound:
A Great Soundtrack, and a skip option was a downright godsend. The Commentary is finally good. the WWE commentary team are beginning to take Video Game commentary seriously, instead of the loud, obnoxious commentary seen in the earlier Smackdown games in which they would babble on about their sex life, rather than discuss the match.
The voice work in Road to Wrestlemania mode is extremely clear and high quality. They did a great job with sound, and all aspects of sound are customizable.
Features:
Apart from the pick up and play choice most gamers have with the SVR series, bringing your mate around for an extreme rules match between Cena and Jericho,
There's a multitude of features for those who want to get seriously into the game.
Create a Superstar, Highlight Reel, Road to Wrestlemania, Community Creations and of course, The Storyline Designer will all keep you busy. i'll discuss these features one-one.
CREATE A SUPERSTAR:
This mode is the reason SvR is so popular, and it's part of the reason i love it too. The creation system is great, with a whopping 50 caw slots, and 3 alternate attires for every one of them. A great CAW system apart from the issue of layer points. Getting Really detailed with Creating Superstars with complex attires, will be a total hassle for you. No System has been this frustrating in terms of layers, apart from that, and the lack of patterns for clothing, this is possibly the best Creation system in the SvR series.
another issue is around only 30 names the announcer will give your character. i would prefer it if they had it the old way, with every superstars name in the WWE, like on just bring it.
your creation can be placed into Smackdown, Raw, ECW, WCW or Legends brand, so you now know where to place your Goldberg or Mr Perfect CAS's.
HIGHLIGHT REEL:
at the end of a match, you are given clips of all the best scenes in the match, you can than take these scenes, edit the camera angles, filtering, duration, insert graphics and much more. Once your finished, you name your highlight reel, and you even get to design the DVD cover to your reel, it's all very fun.
you can than use your highlight reel for a titantron, or upload it to the community.
this mode can be greatly improved; the ability to add more effects, of more variations, the ability to record the entire match, entrance and victory. instead of just the key moments, and the ability to add multiple matches to your reel, which would be perfect for making the ultimate titantron video.
ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA:
The Name for the Storymode option for Svr 2010.
Now, if you're like me, and haven't enjoyed storymode since HCTP, you probably won't like this one.
it relies more on presenting itself as a high budget movie.
yes, there are choices, but the Story mode doesn't need heaps of choices, it needs to quit with Script Bondage, what i mean by that is that the fun isn't left up to what you do, because the tight scripting of Storymode doesn't actually let you do alot, by your own rules.
also, the choices themselves aren't good. early in the mode, i attacked vince mcmahon after choosing to give the belt back to him, i don't get it, i didn't wanna attack him! i just wanted to give the belt back. i'm a nice guy, atleast i thought i was.
COMMUNITY CREATIONS:
this is where players from all over the world upload their created content, for you to download, review or simply look at. i'm talking created superstars, storylines, highlight reels, screenshots & finishers. this mode is perfect apart from the fact that that you cannot edit the entrances of downloaded superstars, ruining custom soundtracks for this purpose. Eddie Guerrero does not have Papa Roach as his theme. i understand not being able to edit the actual created superstar, but why not the moveset or entrance?
SUPERSTAR THREADS:
Thank Neptune for this mode. with this, you can create 3 alternate attires to to every member of the default roster. well, you don't really get to change the attire, just the colors, still it is very effective in adding a breath of fresh air to every character's clothing. use this feature seriously or use it to make a homosexual undertaker or turn Goldust into Purpledust, who cares. it's your choice. it's a great feature that must never be removed.
STORYLINE DESIGNER:
I never thought a WWE game would offer this much creativity, and they not only made it creative, but they made it the funnest part of Smackdown vs. Raw 2010. however, a few major issues with this mode ruined a massive part of it, but it is still entertaining if you work with what you have.
The two big issues are,
1. a limit of 10 CAW appearances.
you can only make CAWs appear 10 times throught your story.
this is total madness, CAW is the biggest part of svr. yeah, i understand that alot of CAWs would mean it would be tough to upload, but they could have easily prompted you, telling you that you cannot upload if you use more than 10 caws. it's all about choice, THQ.
this issue ruined thousands of hours of potential fun i could of had, creating ECW, WCW and TNA storylines. fatality.
2. 50 scene limit for PS3.
what the point of having 10 years of programming when you can only have 50 scenes throughout those 10 years? blunder.
Storyline Designer is great, but these 2 problems amputated the game mode's potential for extremely fun, compelling and exciting storyline designer mode.
if you can fix these problems in the next game, guys, you will have it made.
OVERALL:
Smackdown vs. Raw is headed in the right direction, as THQ Yukes are beginning to realize that the gamers create their fun, instead of being told what to enjoy.
the game modes offer potential with their theory, but blunders make this game into more of a starting point for a great video game series. upon fixing the problems the series faced, they have brought in new problems, with the new features.
the Storyline Designer feels like more of a Trial Version of the real thing, to give you a taste of what's to come in the near future, i hope that's what it is.
There are enough features to make the game look worth getting into, but the game doesn't go deep enough for you to waste weeks & weeks customizing and creating.